Florida Home Decor: White Is In – With a Caveat

Just purchased a Florida home and want to design it well? Or perhaps you’ve lived in your Florida home for a while, and are looking for a change in design to spice things up. Home decorating, like clothing fashions, has trends. Of late, a survey of Florida home decoration suggestions yields one sweeping truth: White is in. Just be sure to splash it up with color.

When we think of Florida, we think sun. We think sand and sea. We think vegetation, and we think light blue skies. All in all, a smattering of brights, pastels, and deeps can serve you well in your Florida home, and lately the recommendation is to place the color all against a background of the open, airy feel of white.

Here’s how to combine a white base with the life of color in your Florida home decor.

1. An oft-repeated suggestion is to choose one wall in a room and paint it a single color. This “wall of difference” offsets the other white walls, and even gives the illusion of depth to the room, making it feel larger than it is. Deep or pastel greens are particularly popular these days. Depending on your furniture and/or accessory colors, you will choose a color to suit your tastes best.
2. Choose one piece of furniture in the room that you want as a focus for all who enter. It could be your 3-seater sofa, your dining room chairs, or a display shelf. The furniture’s colors should stand out in a way which draw attention warmly and pleasantly, as if the viewer smiles inside just by looking at these focused pieces. For example, to accentuate a display shelf, place it against the wall that you painted a single shade of blue, and paint the display shelf a pastel yellow. Then, border it with a wooden design in white in order to pick up the surrounding white walls.
3. It’s all in the throw pillows, throw blankets, and throw rugs. A quick trip to Costco, Target, or Pier 1 Imports, and you’re set to accessorize any inside room or even covered deck. The accessory colors can pick up on the single-colored wall as well as the accentuated furniture.

Whichever colors, furniture, and accessories you choose, the idea is to really make it your own. Don’t just decorate because the neighbors are, or because you’re bored, or because you feel like you need to impress company. Decorate to make yourself fall more in love with your home. This feeling will exude to all of your home’s residents and visitors alike and will provide you the feeling of hominess you so deserve.