I’ve never been a big color person, but as a renter for 9+ years, I always had white or neutral walls and longed to paint them some exciting color. By the time we had moved into our first home and were finally able to paint, my tastes had changed a bit and I was now actually drawn to decorating with white in more of a farmhouse style. But now that I actually wanted to go the white route, I had cold feet… Not only because I have three young kids (read: dirty), but also because I feared I couldn’t pull it off.
It takes a bit of skill to master white decor. You have to have a nice balance of white and neutrals and make sure there is plenty of texture and some pattern is nice too… see what I mean? It’s complicated.
I have become so inspired by searching around on Pinterest and finding some of the coziest white farmhouses. From white wood planked walls and floors to white couches and shelving, there are so many ways to ease into the white decor trend one piece at a time – which is exactly what I am doing.
Here are some of my favorite white decor pictures (in my own little do/don’t list format) from around the web and looks that I will be incorporating (i.e. stealing) into my own home this new year.
Do mix white with dark wood:
And antlers; plenty of antlers.
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Do embrace white planked floors (I mentioned wanting to paint our floors to my husband and he gave me the “you crazy” look – ah well):
Don’t be afraid of a white kitchen (and a beadboard backsplash – drool):
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Do invest in white curtains (and see the difference it made on sawdustgirl.com):
Don’t be ashamed to use Ikea to accent and hack your way through this trend (honestly, you just have to):
{ ektorp couch, expedit nightstand }
Do add board and batten everywhere, especially to brighten up hallways (it’s really easy, we even did it for our mudroom built-in):
Don’t be afraid to display your stuff with white open shelving – even in the bathroom!
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