I am a colour person.

I like bright, bold, captivating colour, from what I wear to the environments I surround myself in. And when we designed and decorated our first home (having no interiors experience whatsoever) I was naturally drawn to colour. Mustard yellow and dark grey were the colours of the moment and we created a bold, dramatic dark grey feature wall that I am still very proud of. Pops of mustard yellow feature in our living room to contrast against this deep rich palette and it does work. We have pops of hot pink and orange also featuring throughout our 3 bed home and it's modern, striking and fun. But we have outgrown it. 

This isn't to say you can't do colour and love it for longer than a couple of years. But I have found it interesting to see how quickly we have outgrown strong colours - from feature walls to smaller accessories, we've got bored. 

I grew up in a very colourful house. I have strong memories of our home and colour. I remember coming home from school and being ordered to help Mum finish painting our entire living room bright terracotta orange before Dad came home from work and tried to tell us to change it. It was exciting, fun and created a really vibrant Caribbean beach-front home that is still just as colourful today. I would have never thought that I would start to steer away from colour once I had my own home. I even wear bold colours and always prefer strong colours to patterns or black or white. And yet as I grow a smidge bit older and busier and more stressed, I'm really really drawn to white. 

White is serene, classic and calming. When treated as a feature 'colour', white can be striking.  Country Living did a feature on "How to decorate with white" and explained the white experience very well:

"White is indeed a colour - with lots of range. Benjamin Moore alone offers 200 different shades of white! If you look carefully at the undertones some are blue, pink and green. You really need to paint a wall white and see the undertones at different times of the day to see how the light changes the colour." 

And yet white is so often overlooked.

Most of our home is white, but yet the feature walls take all the credit by distracting you from the spaciousness and clean colour of the rest of the room. Yes, it creates contrast but my eyes certainly tire from the busyness of each room.  There is something to be said for painting a room all one colour - whether this is white or not, as the eyes are mellowed by the consistency. The contrast of dark against light can become quite tiresome and outdated very quickly, and this is something we want to avoid when decorating our new home at Vela. 

White walls.

White kitchen.

White plates.

White bedlinen.

White undies.

Let's not go too nuts for white.

However, bringing in fresh, timeless white can really upgrade your home space and it will hopefully last the test of time - well, with a few paint touch ups over the years.

Yes, like you I naturally thought 'Won't white stain quicker?' 'White won't last with our busy, messy lives?' 'Is white really that animal friendly?' And these are genuine concerns, yet, I think white is worth the risk. In high, traffic, busy areas white is certainly going to be a riskier choice. But by choosing more durable white materials -  caesar stone countertops, porcelain or white subway tiles and eggshell mark resistant paint - the fragility of white can be overcome.

With a busy corporate lawyering life, I find myself really craving a minimalist home. I know my trinket collecting instinct will never allow for this in its complete form. But, I think by reducing the colour spectrum and busyness of my surroundings, my home will become the calming sanctuary I'm seeking.  For Vela we're certainly trying to keep things neutral:

Our KITCHEN will be white shaker cabinets, light white/grey marble countertop and white mosaic backsplash.

Our FLOORING throughout will be warm, natural stone against soft off-white walls and light furniture and wooden features. Our pops of colour will come from smaller accessories that can be easily changeable and our only spark of true colour and vibrant design will be in the bathrooms - smaller areas where we won't tire of decor so quickly.  

In fact, here's a great moment to share a sneak peak of the Master bath and powder room feature tile. Please bear in mind this was my first go on photoshop so the walls are NOT straight...I'm aware!  For full details of the sourcing of the items we've purchased in the mock ups below, check out my instagram account and the product tags included there. 

Cayman is a perfect setting for the base colour of white. The tropical setting of brightest blues, lush greenery and year round sunshine truly doesn't need any colour to match.

And today was no exception on our beautiful island. Stefan and I regularly take drives to explore the new neighbourhoods and new properties popping up and today we discovered this beautiful new property in Crystal Harbour.  This new build by BCQS looks fantastic. The clean architecture and beautifully simple wooden panel fencing made for a simple stunning silhouette that we both fell in love with from the pavement.  

We can't wait to see the finished project - if you're reading this from your stunning new living room then please do reach out! We would LOVE to do a feature!