Keeping It Bright

Against a crisp white backdrop, an Ontario designer layers in low-cost style and punches of color

Written by Bernadette Baczynski • Styled by Nicola Marc
Photographed by Angus McRitchie

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Kathy Monkman's daughter Helen describes her mother's white-on-white town house in Ottawa as "kind of like living on a cloud." For this self-taught faux artist and teacher, it's a matter of preference. "I just like white," Kathy says. "It lifts my spirits—my daughters joke that I can't think unless I'm in an all white room."

Something else that lifts Kathy's spirits is a good bargain. No slave to trends, she has a house filled with things that have a history. Her look starts with decluttering, then slowly reintroducing objects in ways that create impact through shape or color. Against a serene white background, inherited pieces, hand-me-downs and roadside finds all get new lives. "Hints of color—like inexpensive throw pillows and fresh flowers—are the first thing you notice in a room," she says, "and they perk up the look in a controlled fashion."

"I'm very visual and am stimulated by color, but too much of it can be jarring," Kathy says. Her solution is accessories that change with the seasons: pink and lime-green in summer, warm pumpkin tones for fall, whites in the winter and periwinkle-blue in spring. "Sometimes I get a little thing for red," she says. "I like having things look a certain way at a certain time."

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