White Walls

My mother loved white walls in an eggshell finish, and with the exception of a few rooms, all of the walls in her houses were white. Usually the ones that weren't white had color because the room had that color when we moved in, and one of us liked it, or we were repainting our bedrooms and she let us choose. When she chose, however, she landed somewhere on the strip of pale paint chips.

So of course I rebelled against this. In my houses, I have chosen everything from pale yellows and beiges to deeply saturated reds and blues, steering far away from white because, as I often said while growing up, "Why would you paint a white wall white?"

Why? Because it's glorious, that's why:

Gubek Design

Homedit.com

Homedit.com

I am beginning to see what my mother saw - that white walls gracefully step aside and let your belongings take center stage. White walls are wonderful marriage partners with gold and other metal tones, and sing in harmony with nearly every wood tone.

I still believe that a white wall looks best when flooded with light, but even the warm glow of dim lamps against white looks, well, warm.

We aren't repainting anything until our children grow to an age where they are treating the walls a little more consistently kind, but when we do: I don't know. I might just go with white, or a close relative.