Carleton Varney: Redecorating? Think classic blue and white for your living room

I love the classics, and you can’t get much more classic in decorating than blue and white. It is among of my favorite color combinations for Palm Beach living.

And the nautical combo seems especially perfect for summer. It makes me think of deep-blue beach umbrellas and bright-white beach towels.

Here’s a blue-and-white scheme for a living room that is as lovely and relaxing as a day at the seashore.

Let us begin by painting the walls a rich sailor blue, complemented on the ceiling by soft powder blue. All the woodwork will be sparkling white.

Those blue walls will certainly make your windows glow. To emphasize that lovely effect, hang shiny blue-and-white-checked fabric from white rings on white-painted poles, and be sure the curtains are lined in white linen. Under the curtains, hang roller shades of rich sailor blue to match the walls. These days, you can find roller shades in a host of what are called designer colors.

I love sofas and club chairs slipcovered in white linen, perhaps with piping of rich blue. When slip-covering with white fabrics, make certain that the chairs and sofas being covered are upholstered in muslin or in some light-colored upholstery. After all, you don’t want dark fabric designs showing through the white coverings. If, however, the upholstered pieces are dark, you should order slip covers that have their own linings.

Accent chairs can be covered in a blue-and-white print.

More from Carleton Varney:  Watermelon serves up a juicy decorating scheme

‘If it looks right, it is right’: Carleton Varney's updated bio of mentor Dorothy Draper toasts legendary decorator

You might want to bleach your floors and then accent them with rugs of a blue-and-white sisal, a look perfect for the beach.

Decorating today offers such a variety of opportunities that were unheard of years ago. As with window shades, sisal now comes in colors, as well as in multi-colored patterns, too. Chevrons, blocks, stripes — you name the design and sisal will be available in patterns that work in a variety of settings.

For lamps in your new living room, choose ceramic bases, such as the gourd-shaped classics designed by Christopher Spitzmiller, one of my favorite manufacturers. His lamps come in all colors, including light blue, deep blue, skipper blue and turquoise blue. What a wonderful world of color.

We’ll also want to accent your white upholstered pieces with cushions in a variety of blue shades. And what about a rich, sunny-yellow cushion or two for a bit of sunshine?

For wood furnishings — maybe a coffee table or end tables — you can go with white, but you might also consider a Swedish antique piece or two.

Now, wouldn’t you look great sitting in your new living room in a navy-blue jacket over a white ensemble?

*

Palm Beacher Carleton Varney is president of Dorothy Draper & Co., an international design firm with offices in New York, West Palm Beach, London and White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. His new book is titled "The Draper Touch: The High Life and High Style of Dorothy Draper." Visit CarletonVarney.com or email him at cvarney@dorothydraper.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Living room design: Consider blue and white, says Carleton Varney