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"&amp;quot;I had traveled widely and lived all over the world,&amp;quot; says entrepreneur Jim White, a former newspaperman. &amp;quot;But when I landed in Napa in 1980 for an assignment on Robert Mondavi, I felt I was truly at home for the first time in my life.&amp;quot;  In the early 1990s, after almost a decade of frequent trips from Canada to California for his packaged-food business, Jim started bringing his wife, Carol, a cookbook writer and a former food editor at Canadian Living, down to Napa to look for a second home. Five years and several hundred disappointing properties later, the couple stumbled on a 4,200-square-foot French colonial-style house built in the early 1980s by noted landscape architect Jack Chandler.   &amp;quot;Chandler had done some really beautiful things to the house,&amp;quot; says Carol, &amp;quot;so we kept it as it was. But when we decided to move here full-time, we wanted a floor plan that suited us better.&amp;quot;  In a gut renovation that took three years, architect Howard Backen, contractor Bill Wade of Mitchell Construction, and interior designer Erin Martin transformed the four small rooms and part of the porch on the main level into one large living/dining/kitchen space with an adjoining master suite. Below, at ground level, they created an office for Jim, now a partner in a commercial bakery and in Charter Oak Winery. Plywood subflooring and wall-to-wall carpet were swapped out for hickory-pecan hardwood floors, and plasterboard walls were replaced with actual plaster.  When construction was complete, Erin Martin painted all the walls and ceilings in Benjamin Moore&amp;#039;s Swiss Coffee, the perfect backdrop for a creative mix of antique, new and custom furniture, mostly in shades of cream and white.  White is just so serene and welcoming,&amp;quot; says Carol White. &amp;quot;And besides, it just seemed wrong to have a lot of color inside when you have so much greenery right out the window.&amp;quot;  Those windows\u2014and a Japanese soaking tub on the porch\u2014offer glorious views of Napa Valley. &amp;quot;The light here changes throughout the day,&amp;quot; says Martin. &amp;quot;That constant shift is another part of what gives a white interior its personality and warmth.&amp;quot;  But while the home feels welcoming and altogether at peace with the rural setting, there&amp;#039;s not a kitschy-cozy touch in sight. &amp;quot;The three words that guided every decision we made,&amp;quot; says Jim, &amp;quot;were &amp;#039;edgy,&amp;#039; &amp;#039;French&amp;#039; and &amp;#039;farmhouse.&amp;#039; &amp;quot; Among the decor&amp;#039;s clich\u00E9-busters are three rustic Wine Barrel chandeliers by Bobo that are suspended by thick ropes from the 18-foot peaks of the great-room ceilings. The dining area features a walnut dining table edged in pewter and English wing chairs with arms wrapped in leather strips.  &amp;quot;I saw a chair a while back in a French interior-design magazine that had arms wrapped in scraps of fabric and twine, and I just loved it,&amp;quot; says Martin. &amp;quot;And it&amp;#039;s smart, too: The arms are always the first part of a chair to go.&amp;quot;  That mix of smarts and style is well in evidence throughout the house. When Martin wanted an alternative to the usual rectangular air vents, she designed a series of circles in graduated sizes that were cut out high on the walls around each room. Then, by repeating the motif on the marble range hood and the shower doors, she turned her practical solution into a chic design element.   For the master bedroom, Martin designed a combination headboard/storage unit to supplement the home&amp;#039;s scant closet space and upholstered it in flax-colored Belgian linen with nail-head trim. Sliding barn doors that conceal a closet and open to the great room are trimmed in white wood lattice. &amp;quot;The wood doors against the plaster walls add important contrast, even though they are all the same shade of white,&amp;quot; says the designer.  Though the third floor&amp;#039;s guest bathroom is clad in vintage-looking subway tile and outfitted with an antique tub, the space seems fresh and unfussy thanks to modern pieces like the glass table near the tub and Garth Miller&amp;#039;s streamlined, Shaker-like cabinetry.  Carol and the design team spent months sourcing every handle, bolt and doorknob in the house, including the kitchen drawer pulls, which she found in Wales after looking all over the world for the exact cylindrical shape she wanted. But while the Whites were driven by an almost obsessive attention to detail in creating the house, their attitude toward living in it is much more relaxed. Jim&amp;#039;s red wines flow right along with the conversation at the couple&amp;#039;s frequent parties, and the two guest rooms are always open to their grown children, new granddaughter and far-flung friends.  &amp;quot;Nothing here is precious,&amp;quot; says Martin. &amp;quot;When people ask how you make a white space warm, part of it is obviously about the pieces you choose, but honestly, a big part of it is the personality of the people who live here and their great attitude.&amp;quot; What the Pros Know Go too cool or too sleek with white, and you&amp;#039;re likely to end up with a surgical suite instead of a living room. To keep white warm, advises designer Erin Martin, choose your shades wisely, use a variety of fabrics and finishes and layer texture on top of texture. &amp;quot;All the paint throughout the house is Benjamin Moore&amp;#039;s Swiss Coffee,&amp;quot; she says, &amp;quot;but we mixed up the finishes: flat here, sheen somewhere else, and milk paint on the ceiling.&amp;quot; Surface and furniture textures vary widely throughout the home, from the rich pile of antique Moroccan rugs to the smooth Calacatta marble counters and coffee table; from the white plaster of the walls in the master bedroom to the room&amp;#039;s lattice-trimmed wood doors and the faux-fur throw on the bed. &amp;quot;Everything in this home has its own life to it,&amp;quot; says Martin, &amp;quot;and the fact that everything is different shades of white is what connects it all.&amp;quot; Click here to see the resources. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elledecor.com/home-remodeling-renovating/a3869/a-comfortable-quirky-home-a-53124/>