White-on-White Guest Bedroom Makeover

The guest bedroom of a West Hollywood, Calif., home is designed using various shades of white. By painting the walls a shade of white known as blue-white, then introducing small touches of blue on the baseboards, window casing and doors, the room instantly takes on a faint blue appearance.

Varying textures and shapes is an important part of keeping a white-on-white room from coming across flat or one-dimensional. Since the reading corner is made up of two pieces that each have similar smooth finishes (the end table and the lounge chair), it is important to ensure they have different shapes. The straight lines of the lounge chair paired with the organic, biomorphic, round shape of the tulip-style table complement one another, achieving proper visual balance.

The key to using white successfully, and in a sophisticated way, is to pack a space with interesting materials and textures featuring different shades of white. In the reading corner of this guest bedroom, a white Arabescato marble side table not only keeps books, reading glasses and coffee nearby, but it also adds a layer of organic pattern and texture to the room.

Since the streamlined stitched-leather club chair is sleek and smooth, a nubby throw pillow is introduced to add visual tension.