Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.\u00a0In 1884, Oscar and Constance Wilde commissioned the fashionable architect EW Godwin to transform their Chelsea home from a conventional terrace to a light, avant-garde setting typical of the Aesthetic movement. The rooms were a riposte to the dark, fabric-choked style of Victorian interiors. Floor coverings were plain; the furniture slim and streamlined. But the most radical feature was the white paintwork. Its stark, unornamented simplicity signalled the couple\u2019s aspirations to be liberal, bohemian \u2014 and progressive.It was Charles Rennie Mackintosh who went one further with an all white room in the early 1900s. With ivory walls, furniture and floors, his creation predated the stripped-back interiors of 20th-century Modernism. Fellow architect Edwin Lutyens called it \u201cvulgar\u201d. But Mackintosh was on to something. In her 1913 book The House in Good Taste, New York society decorator Elsie de Wolfe railed against early 20th-century American decor as oppressive and gewgaw-crowded. Her ideal: plain furniture and \u201cplenty of optimism and white paint\u201d. By the 1920s, decorator Syrie Maugham\u2019s mirror-wrapped salons filled with bleached, \u201cpickled\u201d furniture were glamorous inspiration for homes everywhere.\u00a0Today, white may no longer shock but it can still make a statement.\u00a0\u201cThere\u2019s a directness and elegance to it that focuses the mind,\u201d says Cassandra Ellis, whose paint company, Atelier Ellis, specialises in off-whites whose names \u2014 Beginnings, Ode, Mourning Dove \u2014 conjure images of contemplative havens. They are part of a new breed of milky, luminescent neutrals that are far from the blinding whites beloved by unimaginative landlords. These complex tones are shown brilliantly in artist Marianna Kennedy\u2019s Spitalfields home, its Georgian panelling is as white as her gesso-based creations; food writer Nigel Slater\u2019s refectory-like kitchen; or the white-on-white rooms that interior designer Rose Uniacke, queen of serene, is renowned for.In restive times, a return to neutral feels apt. \u201cIt\u2019s a refuge for busy minds,\u201d says Ellis. She draws a parallel with the uncertainty of the 1930s, when subdued schemes contrasted with the \u201ccolourful hedonism\u201d of the previous decade. \u201cWhat we\u2019re craving now is undone-ness.\u201d Her new factory in London\u2019s Bermondsey, opening in June, will be mainly white. \u201cThe tabula rasa; quietness.\u201dAnother paint producer, Edward Bulmer, offers a different perspective. He says that brighter colours \u2014 derived from precious stones such as malachite \u2014 were the preserve of the wealthy. Most of our ancestors made do with earthier hues. \u201cSo I believe it is no accident that so many of us are comfortable with neutrals.\u201dWhite has long fascinated creatives because, traditionally, it was hard to achieve, says paint historian Patrick Baty. Historic schemes, such as William Morris\u2019s porcelain parlour at Kelmscott Manor, in Oxfordshire, used lead-based paint. This poisonous ingredient was phased out from consumer paints in the 1990s but is still permitted for listed buildings.Some manufacturers have replaced lead with clay, calcium and marble dust. These create gentle undertones suited to softer light. Interior designer Beata Heuman painted her sitting room in the \u201cdo it all\u201d shade she devised for Mylands \u2014 \u201cslightly broken\u2009.\u2009.\u2009.\u2009with a bit of grey and a tad of warmth\u201d, she says \u2014 as a foil for art and antiques. \u201cIt is a world away from the cold, static white often used in rentals.\u201d Artist Kennedy incorporated \u201cyellow oxide, umber and black\u201d pigments into the whites in her 18th-century home, to forge \u201ca quiet connection with the past\u201d. And interior designer Jessica Buckley collaborated with Edward Bulmer on a \u201cwarm, rosy white\u201d that counters the cold northern light in her Edinburgh studio.A temple to whiteness is the only way to describe designer Georgie Stogdon\u2019s Holloway home. She sampled \u201cendless\u201d testers before choosing a \u201c\u2018creamy, chalky\u201d tint by Francesca\u2019s Paints. \u201cWhite sounds safe and boring,\u201d she says, \u201cbut for me it feels considered.\u201d Interior designer Nicola Mardas agrees, citing a south London project: as the seasons change, \u201cthe mood shifts and [the white] becomes lilac in the warmth of a summer afternoon\u201d.For Bridie Hall, artist and co-founder of interiors shop Pentreath & Hall, it is about nostalgia. The \u201ctrend-proof\u201d white walls in her north London home evoke memories of growing up in a Modernist house in New Zealand \u2014 particularly when the light filters through the blinds, tinging the walls shades of lilac or gold.\u00a0Indeed, many of these contemporary takes feel filtered through the prism of the past. One reference coming to the fore is architect Max Clendenning\u2019s 1960s north London home, which captured the decade\u2019s experimental spirit. The \u201cshimmeringly\u201d white interior, says Simon Andrews, author of a forthcoming book about Clendenning, combined sculpted foam with plywood furniture and vinyl curtains. \u201cMackintosh on acid\u201d, as one commentator at the time put it.You can see a more restrained interpretation of Mackintosh\u2019s scheme at the postmodern Cosmic House, the former home of architectural critic Charles Jencks. He commissioned architect Sir Terry Farrell to redesign each room in the west London house to reference a different era. The bedroom, a concert of pearl and oyster shades across walls and furnishings, feels ageless.\u00a0As Ellis puts it: \u201cOnce you\u2019ve found the right shade [of white], you might never want to use another colour again.\u201dFind out about our latest stories first \u2014 follow @ft_houseandhome on Instagram<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor\u2019s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.\u00a0In 1884, Oscar and Constance Wilde commissioned the fashionable architect EW Godwin to transform their Chelsea home from a conventional terrace to a light, avant-garde setting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":306000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-305999","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-culture"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":306001,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305999\/revisions\/306001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globetimeline.com\/ar\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}