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Ashley Whittaker
In a New York apartment, interior designer Ashley Whittaker adorned the master bedroom walls with a custom-colored Bennison fabric. “The delicate pattern on the walls contrasts with the larger pattern on the canopy,” she says of the room's blue-and-white decor, which she accented with soft pink. Photo by Erick Piasecki. More on Ashley Whittaker.
Bunny Williams
In a vignette so simple but so dreamy, Bunny Williams highlights a single blue-and-white plate among a collection of white ceramics, set against soft green eighteenth-century chinoiserie wallpaper found at auction. Photo from Williams' book Love Affairs with Houses (Abrams, 2019). More on Bunny Williams.
Cece Barfield Thompson
In the foyer of a historic Colonial home in Larchmont, New York, Cece Barfield Thompson placed a thrift store console in the posh company of Vaughan lamps and fine antiques, including a collection of large blue-and-white ginger jars underneath. Photo by Lesley Unruh. See next slide for another look from Thompson.
Roi du Lac
The youthful couple behind Roi du Lac wallpapers—designer Marco Kinloch Herbertson and his wife, business mastermind/Italian princess Antea Brugnoni Alliata—are known for creating Old World grandeur for the modern age. Featuring blue-and-white vessels and peacocks against muted blue scenery, this paper from the Chinoiserie collection nods to Casina Cinese in Palermo, Italy. “It’s a Chinese temple that dates to the 18th century, but it’s a Western interpretation of China,” Herbertson says. Photo by Fabrizio Cicconi. More on Roi du Lac.
Garden District
Delftware vessels overflow with delphiniums on a table nestled in the fields of the Wigchert family farm in the Netherlands. Floral designers Greg Campbell and Erick New of Garden District, based in Memphis, chose the vessels as a salute to 17th-century Dutch history, when the city of Delft was a major center of production of blue-and-white pottery. Photo by Sarah Bell of Sélavie Photography, from Campbell and New’s book Florists to the Field (Southerly Media, 2018). More on Garden District.
Pineapple, Palms, Etc.
Florida interior designer Lisa Peterson varies her style according to her clients’ desires. However, her shop, Pineapple, Palms, Etc., which she co-owns with sister Shelly Bascetta, conveys her preference for white, blues, and greens, as well as wicker and rattan, stripes, and bold, colorful art and pillows. She believes a room is successful when “you feel like yourself when you are in it. You can let out a big ahhh and sink into the environment." Photo by Carmel Brantley. More on Pineapple, Palms, Etc.
James Farmer
In a historic Alabama home re-envisioned for a young family, hand-painted chests reminiscent of Chinese export porcelain were the starting point for the master bedroom’s blue-and-white palette. Designer James Farmer chose Matouk custom scallop-edge linens as a crisp counterpoint to the knotty wood pencil-post bed and oversized inlaid mirror. Photo by Emily Followill. See next slide for more blue-and-white decor from Farmer.
In the same Alabama home, a screened porch epitomizes Southern style with a bed swing made in South Carolina and chairs from Georgia. James Farmer finished the look by layering blue-and-white textiles in an assortment geometric and organic patterns. Photo by Emily Followill. More on James Farmer.
Jessica Latham
Event designer Jessica Latham, founder of the firm Social Studies, shared two distinct blue-and-white table settings with Flower magazine. The first is this pretty summer table for a party in the Hamptons, with mix-and-match dinnerware patterns, blue glassware, and potted plants. Photo by Donna Newman. See next slide for the second look.
For a decidedly more modern take, Jessica Latham paired blue-and-white plates with gold-toned flatware, black napkins, and a casual grouping of small vases. Photo by Jessica Latham. More on Jessica Latham.
Pamela Babey
Design virtuoso Mariano Fortuny began producing his mysterious shimmering fabrics in Venice in 1907. Today, Fortuny fabrics continue to enchant with their inherent beauty and ingenuity. Here, in the San Francisco residence of designer Pamela Babey, a blue-and-white chair outfitted in the Veneziano print is resplendent standing against gold-and-white upholstered walls in ornate Caravaggio. Photo by Erik Kvalsvik.
Mark D. Sikes
In the California home of designer Mark D. Sikes, a terrace becomes a natural extension of indoor spaces with its blue-and-white furnishings and accessories surrounded by ficus-covered walls. "The pairing of deep green with a lighter blue mirrors the naturally occurring contrast between plants and sky," he says in his book, Beautiful: All-American Decorating and Timeless Style (Rizzoli, 2016). Photo © Amy Neunsinger. More on Mark D. Sikes.
Frances Schultz
At her former home, Bee Cottage in East Hampton, writer and tastemaker Frances Schultz created two distinct looks for blue-and-white decor in a bedroom. The first features sky-blue walls and cloud-white bedding trimmed in blue. A half-canopy camouflages the sloped ceiling while creating height and adding drama to the master bedroom. Photo by Tria Giovan. See next slide for the second look.
In the guest room, Frances Schultz enveloped the walls in Benjamin Moore’s Galapagos Turquoise in a high-gloss finish. “It reminds me of the ocean, waves and all, thanks to the bumpy old stucco walls,” she says. Photo by Tria Giovan. More on Frances Schultz.
Leta Austin Foster
“One of my favorite color combinations is aqua with cobalt blue, and mixing them with the warmth of copper and wood makes the kitchen such a pretty room to sit in,” says interior designer Leta Austin Foster. For a dash of cobalt in the kitchen of an alpine-inspired Colorado home, she used blue-and-white tiles from Solar Antique Tiles. Photo by Fred Licht. More on Leta Austin Foster.
Willow Crossley
Based in Oxfordshire, in England’s bucolic Cotswolds, floral stylist Willow Crossley is known for airy, unruly bouquets as well as her love of juxtaposing freshly cut stems with patterned walls and fabrics. Here, the reds, pinks, and yellows in a vibrant bunch of tulips pop against blue-and-white wallpaper and a matching cachepot. Photo by Emma Mitchell. More on Willow Crossley.
Nathan Turner
For a table featured in his book on West Coast–style entertaining, Nathan Turner’s I Love California (Abrams, 2018), Turner layered blue-and-white patterns, setting Williams Sonoma’s Japanese Garden dinnerware on Ralph Lauren’s Nanking fabric. More on Nathan Turner.
Marshall Watson
In a Palm Beach living room, Marshall Watson used a palette of pale blues and creams to ground the many patterns in the fabrics, moldings, and marquetry occasional tables, as well as decorative elements of the sea, such as starfish, sand dollars, and coral. The Greek key motif, seen in the rug, lampshade, and pillows, is another unifying element, which links the rooms of the house. Photo by Max Kim-Bee from Watson's book, The Art of Elegance: Classic Interiors (Rizzoli New York, 2017). See next slide for another look from Watson.
On the patio of the same home, Marshall Watson continued the blue-and-white theme, contrasting it with magenta bougainvillea. Long striped curtains bring a chic attitude to the outdoor living space. Photo by Max Kim-Bee. More on Marshall Watson.
Mary Evelyn McKee
“I believe in making a room symmetrical, beautiful, and harmonious, and then throwing the boomerang in,” says Alabama designer Mary Evelyn McKee. That boomerang might come in the form of art, the inherent wildness of flowers—or perhaps a modern metallic lamp punctuating the serene blue-and-white decor of a master bedroom. Photo by Tria Giovan. More on Mary Evelyn McKee.
Jennifer Amodei
At her California home nestled in a 30-acre lemon orchard, designer Jennifer Amodei chose blue-and-white decor for the outdoor sitting area, which she filled with furniture from Sunset West and pieces from her collection of blue-and-white porcelain. Photo by Todd Tyler. See next slide for another look from Amodei.
Jennifer Amodei describes her home's style as "California coastal with a Provençal attitude, mixed with an Italian influence." Here, large blue-and-white ginger jars and hydrangeas adorn an alfresco table. Photo by Todd Tyler. More on Jennifer Amodei.
Francie Hargrove
In a client's home in Cashiers, North Carolina, interior designer Francie Hargrove captures "mountain chic." A chaise and bedside lamp add a touch of pale ice blue to the master bedroom's white-on-white palette, while layers of contrasting textures, including rough shiplap walls, smooth porcelain plates, and a coarse hair-on-hide bed, provide depth. Photo by Emily Followill. See next slide for another look from Hargrove.
In the master bath of the same home, France Hargrove extended the pale blue hue to the walls. Floral prints and a French mirror and commode give the bath a sense of luxury rather than utility. Photo by Emily Followill. More on Francie Hargrove.
LuRu Home
Founded by Americans Liza Serratore and Claire Russo in Shanghai after college, LuRu Home collaborates with Chinese artisans to create textile designs using an ancient dying technique known as Nankeen. Here, a collection of the line's blue-and-white patterns makes a statement in a courtyard garden in Suzhou, China. Photo courtesy of LuRu Home. More on LuRu Home.
Ted Kennedy Watson
Seattle shop owner Ted Kennedy Watson entertains and unwinds at his Vashon Island cabin with sunset-facing views and rustic charm. For a summer dinner with friends, he set the table with cobalt glassware and a mix of casual blue-and-white china. Photo by Claire Takacs. More on Ted Kennedy Watson.
Meg Braff
In a blue-and-white bedroom with green accents, an intricate Chinese pagoda-style mirror complements a bamboo trellis wall covering. Designer Meg Braff selected the wall covering from her eponymous collection, which revives designs from the Philip Graf wallpaper archives. Photo by J. Savage Gibson from Braff's debut book, The Decorated Home: Living with Style and Joy (Rizzoli New York, 2017). See next slide for more blue-and-white decor from Braff.
Alexa Hampton
Airy white shiplap walls and a neutral rug balance the elaborate upholstered headboard, canopy, and valances in a blue-and-white bedroom designed by New York's Alexa Hampton, who followed in the footsteps of her legendary designer father, Mark Hampton. Photo by Steve Freihon. More on Alexa Hampton.
Cathy Kincaid
Antique Portuguese hand-painted tile graces the walls of a dining room by Dallas-based designer Cathy Kincaid. The antique display shelf and marble-topped console highlight the owner’s collection of blue-and-white porcelain. Pleated lamp shades by Charles Birdsong in a Robert Kime fabric top the hand-painted wooden lamps. Photo by Durston Saylor. More on Cathy Kincaid.
Elizabeth Locke
When jewelry designer Elizabeth Locke entertains at her 1816 Federal-style farmhouse in Virginia, she considers every last detail just as she does when designing her eponymous jewelry collection. For a ladies lunch, she dressed the porch in a blue-and-white scheme with exuberant tablecloths found in India, painted ballroom chairs, and her antique Minton china, monogrammed linens, and repoussé silver. Photo by Kip Dawkins. More on Elizabeth Locke.
Heather Chadduck Hillegas
The 1920s home of designer Heather Chadduck Hillegas and photographer David Hillegas in Birmingham, Alabama, features inspired blue-and-white decor in almost every room, starting in the foyer. Heather chose China Seas’ ‘New Batik’ in French Blue on Tint for the table skirt. Photo by David Hillegas. Tour this Blue-and-White Home.
Produced by Terri Robertson
BLUE-AND-WHITE IS ALWAYS RIGHT
The classic color pairing makes a fresh addition to almost any room, as beautifully captured in the home of interior decorator and textile designer Heather Chadduck Hillegas and her husband, photographer David Hillegas. See story.
