White’s right at home… even after Labor Day

There may be a moratorium on wearing white after Labor Day… but for interiors, white doesn’t need a season!

Restricting the color white to a period between Memorial Day and Labor Day was set in motion by the fashion world, when folks in the early 20^th century (with money to do so) established separate wardrobes for the seasons.  White, they reasoned, belonged to warm weather… making it a faux pas to wear the color (especially below the belt) unless it was summer at home – or you were summering somewhere exotic!

The Ainsley chair by Sam Moore

While the no-white-after-labor-day rule still carries some weight in fashion, opinions about white for home have differed.  Like in apparel, white was considered a ‘cooling’ color, but it became synonymous with style, as much as climate. Sam Moore’s armless Ainsley chair is a great example of style so cool that it warms your home.

In interiors, pure white was first thought a modern color. Stark white paint required invention of an artificial substrate (pure white doesn’t appear in nature) and modern designers of the early and mid 20^th century applied it generously to rooms as a way to increase their perceived size and to clean-up what they considered the ornate clutter of the past. The Felicity accent chair has just such a soothing effect.

The Felicity chair from Melange

Even today, there’s no doubting white’s contemporary vibe. Pure, cool, clean, hip and youthful… it blankets our home in daylight and makes a room look freshly cleaned, peaceful, and other-worldly (especially when whites are layered with off-whites – and used throughout).  But white paint and whitewash finishes can also breathe new life into tattered furnishings, or remove the formality of traditional furniture. Applied to a slightly distressed or grainy wood texture, it feels both warm and cool, adding a casual, summer beach-house mood that’s perfectly in tune with the fashion world’s white=warm weather credo.

Melange cane mirrored desk

The cane mirrored desk from Melange combines a white finish with a mirrored top for an extra sense of serenity and freshness.

Whether you prefer home furnishings in a bright summer white… or in a modified winter white (less stark, but equally up-lifting) – white’s so-cool-it’s-hot status makes it a fashionable, fresh choice any time of year.