White walls have always been commonplace, no matter the design of the house. But should you paint your living room walls white? Well, in this article, we have scoured the internet for answers, and we will tell what we have found.
You can take our word for it, that when you paint your walls white, it makes the room appear cleaner, feel spacious and breathable, and is very easy to color match. It still depends on your personal preference, but painting a living room white has many advantages.
Want to learn more about white walls? Stick around as we discuss further topics such as what color goes well with white walls, how hard are they to maintain, are they already out of style, and many more details that will surely help you with your decision if you are thinking of painting your living room white.
What do white walls do to a room?
There is much symbolism associated with the color white. Specifically, if you use white as home decor for your living room, it can symbolize purity and cleanliness. White can also signify divinity, holiness, and reverence.
One of the biggest effects that a white wall can give you is an illusion of space, meaning it helps a room appear larger than it is. White walls are also very popular for those who strive to achieve a minimalistic look and design.
But white walls may also have some negative effects, especially if you use them improperly. White because of its simplicity, can sometimes be associated with dullness, it also gives out a feeling of isolation and being alone.
This can easily be countered with specific color combinations and different shades of white, which we will be explaining later on.
The biggest attraction for white walls though, is how easily they can go with any design. Think of it as a blank canvas where you can paint or color anything on it as almost every color coordinates well with white. This will give you more flexibility in your choices of decorations.
Are white walls going out of style?
White walls are still trendy even today and they might never end as they are a classic go-to look, especially with the different shades available.
There is something that’s just so majestic with white that will never make it out of style. If you look at nature, white is one of the prominent colors that we see every day from flowers to animals to snow, and the most common white we see every day, is the clouds.
Even the human body has white colors, from your eyeballs to your teeth they are color white. This is one of the reasons why white accented or colored walls will always be a trend.
This is more so with the rampant trend of minimalism wherein the color white is its flagship color. White is also very aesthetically pleasing to the eyes, it is not heavy when you look at it, it is just neutral.
White walls are just not trendy but also utilitarian. In hot places, white walls are very ideal as they reflect sunlight off and do not absorb them. This is also one of the reasons why white walls will never go out of style.
And because white is one of the easiest colors to decorate – as we mentioned earlier – they are very easy to be picked up by a trend.
Are white walls easy to maintain?
One of the caveats of having white walls is maintenance. As we all know, white attracts dirt very easily, so having a white wall, especially in a living room where people spend a lot of time can result in more maintenance and cleaning of the walls.
If you are living alone, a white wall would not be much of a problem to maintain as you can find yourself cleaning it rightly every six months. But if you are living with pets or children or both, you may need to clean it up more frequently.
Living with white walls would also mean that you would have to be careful to not spill anything that can ruin or discolor the paint as stains can be easily noticeable and can ruin the overall aesthetics.
To clean white walls, use a microfiber cloth, non-abrasive sponge, magic eraser, or clean cloth, with warm water -it should do the trick. Be careful though as some paint reacts to cleaning chemicals, so we highly recommend that you know the type of paint and recommended cleansers to avoid damaging your paint.
Hiring a cleaning professional might be expensive, but if there are marks that you cannot remove no matter how hard you try, it would be best to consult them. This way you avoid the possibility of damaging your walls. In the worst case, you’ll need to repaint the walls.
Regular maintenance of your walls is one way of helping it last long though it may require you some effort, but it is worth it for an everlasting, fresh look!
What color goes well with white walls?
Yes, white is easy to pair with other colors, but it doesn’t mean that you should mix it with any of them, especially if you are trying to stand out with your wall design.
In this section, we will be showing you some ideal color combinations for your white walls that can give that added flavor of aesthetic and exquisite feel for your living room.
Black & White
These two are partners in crime the yin and yang of colors. The other one is the lightest while the other is the darkest. Simply put, they are in such contrast with one another that each complements the other well. The balance of dark and white in your room would be phenomenal.
White & White
No other color better suits itself than its own. A white-on-white design will give you a plush and very clean appearance, and if you decide to redecorate it in the future you can easily add tones to it.
Reds & Pinks
The combination of red, pink, and white would bode well if you are going for a more feminine design. Each color just simply compliments each other and adds more life and flavor to the room.
Should you paint all the rooms in your house the same color?
You don’t have to paint all the rooms in your house the same color if you want you can’t paint them at all. But if you are going to for style you can paint them the same color or not, just as long as you have colors that are connected.
One way is by choosing one color and having different shades of that color be the theme of each room. For example, gray tones have different shades and bridge the gap with black and white.
You can have a lighter shade of gray in your living room to make it appear more open and spacious and a darker shade on your bedroom can make it more intimate as darker colors can make the room smaller in appearance.
Of course, this will all have to boil down to your sense of taste and preferences. If you want a very colorful house with loud bright and different colors in each room, no one can say otherwise because you deserve the right to choose whatever you want.
But if you are having a difficult time choosing your color scheme, you can always use this article as a reference as this was made to help you in your decorating.
Does wood trim go well with white walls?
Yes, it does! Whites and off-whites work hand in hand with wood trims as they give a very natural and organic sense to the room.
White walls and wooden floors are the go-to design on vacation houses, high-class hotels, and beach houses for a reason, as they give a comfortable and elegant feeling to the room.
A more modern look would be a white wall and a darker trim of wood for your floor as this creates a high contrast that would be offset by paintings, curtains, and artwork to achieve a luxurious and expensive look.
In conclusion
You can never go wrong with painting your living rooms white, they are easy to decorate, classic and most of all never goes out of style. And the most important is to enjoy whatever design you opt to.