White Space in a Modern Home

Here at Visual Jill, we love our color accent walls. Orange? Oh yeah. Blue? Always. And green? You know it. But there is really something to be said about pure white walls, especially when they are offset by beautiful wood floors -- or ceilings!

This is our most recent project -- decorating a spectacular brand new house in Berkeley. By having white and wood as our backdrop, we were able to combine many fun colors throughout the home.

Check out the folding glass doors that truly bring the outside in!

We were lucky to be able to feature original acrylic and mixed media paintings by artist Kristen Jensen -- her bold patterns and colors were perfect for the space.

A large upstairs landing can serve as a lounge, play area or office.

The bedrooms feature the same modern, simple and clean feeling as the rest of the house.

We absolutely love this house! Kudos to architect Matt Baran and developer Caleb Inman.

All photos courtesy of LucidPic Photography.

Five Reasons to Use White

This week we once again visited the SF Benjamin Moore showroom, where we were treated to a presentation about the power of white in interior design. It may seem strange for Benjamin Moore, which is known for its vibrant color selection, to be promoting white. It also may seem a little strange for us, self-professed color-lovers, to get excited about white. But we learned from the experts on the panel (Linda O'Keeffe, author of Brilliant: White in Design, designer Jay Jeffers, and designer Elizabeth Martin) that there are plenty of reasons to love white in your decorating scheme.

1. White is timeless. White walls, white sofas, white rugs -- they always look modern, and they never go in and out of style.

(from Brilliant: White in Design, photographed by Carlos Domenech)

2. Everything looks good against white. Think of bright green lettuce or red peppers on a white plate, or a colorful Jackson Pollack painting hanging on a white wall. And, as Linda pointed out, "almost every person looks great in a crisp white shirt." White provides a background that showcases everything around it. It certainly makes these macarons pop!

(from Brilliant: White in Design, photographed by Carlos Rodriguez)

3. White is not distracting. When a rug, or a vase, or a computer is white, you can really see the form of the piece itself. Your eyes take in the curves, angles or texture, instead of being distracted by the color. Check out the different texture layers in this all-white room:

(from Brilliant: White in Design, photographed by Barbel Miebach)

4. White is expansive. It is definitely true that white walls open up a space. White allows you to think, and to imagine what else might be possible. It is the perfect canvas for enjoying variations in light and shadow, as seen in the photo below.

(from Brilliant: White in Design, photographed by Undine Prohl)

5. White is flexible. When you use white, you don't have to worry about if other colors will complement or clash. White plays well with every other color in the rainbow.

Of course, there are some challenges in working with white. Elizabeth cautioned that stark, bright, glacier whites are difficult to use in real life. It's best to stick with slightly off-whites with either warm or cool tints. It's important to paint samples of your chosen hue on your walls and watch how it responds to different light throughout the day -- you might find that the white you love during the day turns lavender at night.

Anyway you look at it, as Linda said, "White is as much at home on a picket fence as a spaceship." We couldn't agree more, and we look forward to working more white into our projects.

One Love: White Pottery

Nothing looks more fresh than bright white pottery. We especially like to mix matte and glossy whites with glass and silver. No matter what your budget is, you can find the right white piece for you.

For example, all of the vessels shown in the grouping below are available at West Elm, and prices start as low as $10 for the small bud vases.

If you're ready to make more of an investment, Jonathan Adler is a great source for fun, funky shapes and textures. We have the Pinch bowl and the Belly Vase on our coffee table.

And for a different look, on our console we've grouped the Platinum Abacus vase from Jonathan Adler, a tall textural white vase from Room Service, and a CB2 black-and-white vase (no longer available). They are a good complement to our Geneva sound system.

There are many other options for incorporating white into your styling -- look for white arts-and-crafts pottery (like the McCoy piece below) or vintage white enamel pitchers at flea markets. These look great next to more modern pieces.

Ikea offers three sizes of white enamel pitchers for bargain prices.  Just fill with some bright orange gerber daisies and you're all set.