Is white furniture "girly" ??

[minta]

Not a decluttering question as such but trying to "grow up" our boys' room a little bit without having to replace a lot of stuff. Anyway, I was going to paint everything white to unify it and keep things from looking cramped but a couple people seemed surprised and said white furniture was kind of "girly" and too "shabby chic" for boys. We're not really big on gender stereotyping but I also don't want to give my guys a room that looks like I wished I were decorating for girls instead.

Thoughts?

[clutterwarrior]

I don't think it has to be girly...It really depends what colours you put with the white! A room of white furniture with typically 'boy' colours like red and blue or green and blue, would look very masculine.

[mkksmom]

I do think of white furniture for a little girl's room, but it doesn't have to be. But if you want to avoid that, you could paint it black to be sure. But I agree that it depends on what you put with it. blue, green, red, orange would make it more masculine. I think it also depends on the style of the furniture.

[eirual]

Originally Posted by mkksmom 

 I think it also depends on the style of the furniture.

Totally!

If you take a piece of furniture that has lots of curvy lines (I'm thinking old bed posts or something) but is in natural wood it seems more masculine than if you were to take that same piece and paint it white (typically, I think masculine furniture is a little more "hard" either in colour or line- you can have softness in one, but not in both without it going "girly".....this is my thought I conjured in 45 seconds, I could be wrong, but that's my instinct). 

[doubledutch]

i was also going to suggest black as an other option!  but no, white furniture can be cool for a boy.  how old?  i like white with navy and sailboat/nautical stuff, or white furniture with fun brights, like bright blue, orange and grass green.  do you currently have anything other than the furniture that you still want to use in his big boy room, which might influence the style/colors, like a lamp, rug, curtains, bedding?

[beebalmmama]

Originally Posted by eirual 

Totally!

If you take a piece of furniture that has lots of curvy lines (I'm thinking old bed posts or something) but is in natural wood it seems more masculine than if you were to take that same piece and paint it white (typically, I think masculine furniture is a little more "hard" either in colour or line- you can have softness in one, but not in both without it going "girly".....this is my thought I conjured in 45 seconds, I could be wrong, but that's my instinct). 

This is kind of what I was thinking too. When I think of shabby chic I think of more curvy lines and floral patterns as accents. But a boys room could look great with white if done with the more boyish colors......I'm kind of thinking like a nautical look, kwim (not necessarily though).

[weliveintheforest]

I think white is totally fine for a boy's room.  I would make it solidly white and not distressed or white-washed looking.  

I'd think of it more as simple, Ikea-style than girly!

[HollyBearsMom]

White furniture is a complete neutral to me. Its all about what you do with it. When we did our sons rooms I poured thru catalogs to get ideas.  We ended up with natural wood but painted the walls and ceiling bright white with a bright yellow floor,

Nautical like a PP mentioned would be really cute-lots of bright reds and blues for the bedding, rugs.  Print of boats, light houses etc. Kind of like this: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/room/rom/romboy/romboykng/

Stars Wars bedding would be awesome on white furniture: http://www.potterybarnkids.com/products/star-wars-duvet-cover/?pkey=rromboystrril

A aquarium or fish theme would be cool too: http://www.everythingfurniture.com/ss-pwm-bdrm-set-1.html#axzz1Hk1TUzoi

Look how cute the Dr Seuss room is! http://www.potterybarnkids.com/room/rom/romboy/romboydrs/?cm_type=lnav  So easy to recreate (and not pay those prices!)

[minta]

Thanks so much for the replies. I actually have more than 1 boy in this room, which is why I was thinking of going white to lighten things up. But those last few links made me realize that while I don't see white as necessarily girly, it does seem kind of young boy, rather than older boy to me. The furniture we have right now is timber and blocky and would look gender-neutral if painted white but I'm thinking my boys might not like it so much once they're tweens. So I guess I need to brighten the room in other ways!

[doubledutch]

does the room maybe just need better lighting?  what color are the walls?  bedding?  there may be different ways to brighten the room without going white on the furniture.

you could paint the furniture white, and if that seems too young 5 years down the line, repaint or you may be able to sell the white furniture and get something different.  or you could paint it a color now that will be more likely to work as they get older.

[Greenlea]

I think as long as you are painting the walls a nice bright "boy" color, then white furniture wouldn't be too bad.  My DS has all white furniture in his room, but he's 2.

[Mothersday]

The beauty of white furniture it will fit in anywhere, and match anything. Yes its true there is a lot of white girly furniture about but it all depends on which style you choose i suppose!

[philomom]

To me white furniture is beachy or nautical.

[Lillian J]

I think it would be good to leave the decision up to the boys - they might as well get in as much of the things they're attracted to while they're young enough to not have to balance their likings against rather arbitrary cultural expectations. If I could change a few things about the way I'd raised my son, this would be one of them - I wouldn't put so much concern into how things are expected to be but more into what his own whims were at given times.  ; )    Lillian

[philomom]

You know, black is a great unifier of mismatched furniture, too. It makes a great backdrop to brighter colors in the room.

[alsoSarah]

I don't think that white furniture always looks girly, but I do think that it might mean having to be extra careful with the other colors and prints in the room, if an overall impression of "masculinity" is the goal.

Personally, I'm not into the black furniture idea as much, but it may be just me...

Another idea is to paint the furniture kind of a dark, barn red. That would look great with white, beige, soft light gray or blue-gray walls and would go well with lots of bedding and accent options.

Dark blue would be versatile, too.


alsoSarah

[SubliminalDarkness]

Our boys' room has white furniture. It's all IKEA stuff and it doesn't have any accents. It's just really clean, simple lines. I don't think it's feminine at all. 

[woodchick]

I like white furniture...  But this blogger likes black and has posted a couple times about painting furniture black for her son's room  http://thefrugalgirl.com

[onlyzombiecat]

I think like pp's stated it depends on the furniture style if it will look girly. I think white furniture can look very crisp and modern.

One thought I have is that the white will show more dirt or marks over time so you may need to repaint at some time in the future anyway. 

I'd let your children choose  the color if you are concerned about them liking it long term.

My dd chose a silver gray bed frame and it looks good with lots of colors. She has a bright blue and green comforter and purple and black walls. It isn't too dark or too light.