When you buy furniture you really cannot go far wrong if you go for white!

The popularity of white furniture has increased a lot in recent times. People seem to be returning more to the minimalist look and the clean feeling that comes with it. When furnishing our homes the choice goes on and on. White furniture is made in dining tables and chairs, wardrobes, dressers, bookcases and much more.

You will find that the most used colour in interior design is white. This is particularly the case in bathrooms and kitchens where cleaning and most importantly, the preparation of food is carried out. This is primarily due to hygiene and it makes sense that dirt shows up significantly on white and surfaces are more readily kept germ free.

It is said that technically this is not really a colour as such, it is in fact a neutral.

It was Sir Isaac Newton experimenting in 1666, using a hole in a window shade that allowed a ray of sunshine into a dark room, where a glass prism was placed in such a position that enabled the light to pass through it. He found that that the ray of light was refracted when passing through the prism and spread a beam of multicoloured light in all the colours of the rainbow which in turn appeared as white on the wall beyond.

Newton’s conclusion was that white sunlight was a mixture of many different types of light, each one being a single pure colour and that each colour was bent at different degrees, violet by the most and red by the least.

So it was found that white light does in fact contain all the colours within it, they are simply not visible as they are being reflected.

I have seen some wonderful interior designs that are entirely white with maybe the odd addition of one or maybe two other colours introduced into the design. So don’t dismiss the use of white painted furniture in your decor because white interiors tend to have a very calming effect and help you relax and feel at home.

It is a general term often used to refer to a person or even an article which is stylish rather than fashionable and where the style reflects quality as opposed to newness.
You hear a lot about this type of furniture etc nowadays and it is first and foremost a fairly casual style of decorating mainly in pastels and sometimes using antique accessories.
It conjures of the idea of old lace tablecloths, light white painted furniture and soft comfortable sofas.
Shabby chic is really no particular style, but it balances out tasteful pieces with both old and new together. If you prefer a bold colour scheme then this is not for you. Usually soft whites, muted grey and pale pinks, blues and greens are very popular shades to use.
People buy new old fashioned looking fabrics and sometimes stain them to give the appearance of age and this they do by using tea! The overall effect is then a pattern that looks a soft creamy white instead of stark white, that just would not look right.

Often the use of floral, striped and checked fabrics are combined to achieve a warm and inviting look. It is however best to keep the colour background the same, for instance white or cream. Then try to select a colour to repeat in every pattern fabric to get the right effect.
Almost any piece of white wooden furniture will suit a shabby chic interior design. Sometimes you may have a piece which could either be sprayed or painted white then sanded at the corners and roughed up a bit to give the appearance of age.Painting furniture white, completely changes it from dark and heavy to light, fresh and clean.

What completes the look of shabby chic is the appearance of chunky large “sink in” sofas and chairs which are warm and welcoming and make you feel right at home.