This little nook adjoining the kitchen at Fox Hall is always filled and overflowing with family during the holidays! I commissioned the artist to paint our son, Stuart III, with his dog Higgins. I asked the artist to make his sweater a soft blue, knowing it would always work well with our kitchen's blue-and-white color scheme.
What is my “secret” color combination for a charming, timeless, and tailored kitchen? It’s a “blue-and-white” color scheme! Why? It is TIMELESS! This traditional color combination has been around for centuries, so maybe it does not qualify as “my secret,” but more of my “tried and true'' color combination for a kitchen… and other rooms, too, for that matter!
Mummy convinced me to consider a blue-and-white color scheme for my first “big-girl” house, in the kitchen. This was sage advice for me as a young bride of 21. She drew from her well-earned experience and encountered several rawwther unique interiors whilst moving our family over 33 times internationally.
A blue-and-white scheme also works well with yellows, greens, reds, and even pink accents. Our kitchen in Palm Beach, Fox Worth, has blue foo dogs and dragons as a design on the pink background wallpaper. Do you spy a pink refrigerator?! Couldn’t resist.
To me, the blue-and-white theme utilized in kitchens adds an air of contentment and joy, similar to a bright blue sky adorned with enchanting, puffy white clouds… a joyful, welcomed sight! Even the blue-and-white images of kitchens I share on my Instagram garner more views than any other color scheme.
A blue-and-white kitchen will stand the test of time!
Photo Credit: Scheffer Interiors via Instagram
There is a universal appeal and charm of a blue-and-white color palette. It remains an enduring color combination because of its long history and staying power. It originated on pottery in China in the Tang dynasty 618-906. In the Yuan dynasty of 1279-1368, the cobalt blue used on pottery and porcelains became even more vibrant. Blue-and-white porcelains arrived in Europe in the 16th century. In the 1850s, the British were simply charmed by the appeal of a blue-and-white scheme, which became quite fashionable. (And, of course, it brightened their dark Victorian interiors!) Impressionist artists such as Auguste Renoir sprinkled blue-and-white porcelains into their works of art. The universal appeal and charm of blue-and-white in rooms or on porcelains continues. It is a traditional, not trendy, choice.
Please pass this advice along to a young bride, a first-home owner, or someone designing a resort house. From my experience, it will always serve them well!
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Holly