White has always been a scary prospect for me - both in personal attire and home furnishings - simply because I am clumsy by nature, in addition to suffering from serious bouts of carelessness, which invariably means that white never stays pristine white on me or around me . And believe me I have tried curbing my genetic inclinations, but no matter how conscious I am and take infinite care, somehow from forces in action unbeknown to me, I always end up spilling something or other, marring the snowy whiteness.And just like things you know you can't have, being dressed in white from head to toe, looking ultimately cool and put-together day in day out is one of my ultimate fantasies.
I remember when my son Dan was in year 2, a new boy Alex joined his class. The class teacher, knowing my son as the shy, quiet one - asked him to buddy Alex for a week. Before the week was out, the boys became inseparable in class and on the playground - and I got to know Alex's mum at pick and drop times, a petite, pretty Irish lady always dressed in pristine white, who had three other younger kids as well. I always marvelled at her ability to stay white, cool and put together despite drooling babies and sticky fingered toddlers always in her vicinity. But what rendered me really speechless was the inside of her lounge which I got to see on what became the first of many play dates of the boys - it was all white, white carpet, white settees, white lamps and white walls and that with four children all under the age of eight! It turned out that white had been her colour of choice even before marriage and she had decided long before the babies even came that she wasn't going to change her life to suit the kids, the kids could bloody well learn to live her way and surprisingly, they had - there wasn't a grubby hand print in sight anywhere! Since then I learnt, white interiors need strong, confident and stubbornly headstrong personalities to be successful- nothing less works.
I admire people who are confident enough to carry all white design themes inside their homes and in their wardrobes - I can only manage snippets of white in mine.
