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White has lost its innocence. Once a simple mix of crushed limestone and daylight, it now comes accessorised and rebranded with more tonal complexity than a sommelier’s tasting notes. Step into any paint shop and the humble hue that once coated monasteries and Mediterranean courtyards now parades under names that sound deliciously literary or edible.
At paint heroes Farrow & Ball, over twenty shades of white flirt with the light, each with a distinct personality. All White is pure and pigment-free, Wevet a whisper of translucence, Strong White the discipline of pressed linen, Skimming Stone calm as chalk, Ammonite the architect’s quiet grey-white, and Wimborne White a gentle cream kissed by sunlight. Across the pond, Benjamin Moore orchestrates an even grander symphony with more than 150 whites, from Chantilly Lace and Simply White to White Dove, Linen White and Pale Oak, each one fine-tuned to capture a different light, mood or moment.
Gone is the idea that white is sterile or cold. The new whites are marshmallow soft, biscuit warm and toffee glazed. They love aged stone, honeyed timbers and the play of light on brushed plaster. White is no longer a blank; it is the quiet stage for texture, art and the architectural bones beneath.
Why this fascination with white? Well, the London Casa is in need of a refresh. A simple tin of lofty white was my thinking. How wrong I was. Inspiration came while sketching out this week’s gorgeously designed Alpine hotel to join The Aficionados family, which, as you can guess, is wrapped in a smooth remit of moody whites and their oaty cousins.
Later, I wandered into a London paint shop seeking inspiration. 'I need some white paint,' I said. The assistant asked, 'What kind of white are you after?' 'Béchamel,' I replied. I had done a little homework. She blinked.
I showed her an image of the sauce on my phone. 'It’s made from flour, butter and infused milk – the very hue of restraint.' She disappeared and returned with a sample of Tallow, a near-perfect match.
Paint samples were drying on the walls and the Austrian at home muttered something about 'it looks like macaroni cheese on the walls.' I smiled and said softly, 'Mein Schatz, that would be palate as opposed to palette.' With a slight giggle in my stride, I returned to writing up this week’s new hotel dispatch. Taking its design cue from a quiet dance of white palettes, this June-born outpost of seductive modernity is cloaked in soft whites, mellow oak and natural stone. At its heart rises a curvaceous stairwell, the sculptural feature that lends the hotel its name. The balance of design, comfort, heritage and style is the architectural equivalent of a raised eyebrow.
Architectural designers know better than anyone the vast dictionary of whites, which tone will make an old Umbrian farmhouse breathe again or help a monastery-turned-hotel sing once more. My candid advice: don't over-complicate things, take your time, preferably over a glass of 1976 Bodegas Corral Gran Reserva Rioja (was fortunate to consume a bottle recently – delish).
In the meantime, if you want to toy with the palettes of Blancs, check in at one of my picks of theatrics in white below from Umbria to Sicily.
Enjoy your Sunday, amigos. There’s a new Alpine pad flirting with soft whites in the hood of the mighty Hochkönig. I, meanwhile, will be testing a few more shades of white. Perhaps the Austrian at home was right – the sample was too buttery for my liking; it could do with a little more soft flour in the mix, or as he put it, 'it should be more the shade of Schlagobers.' Imagine a tin of paint with that on the label – ‘Whipped Cream’, now that could be my foray into a paint collaboration, followed closely by a 'Glossy Dirty Pink'.
Hugs,
Iain & Co.
Set beneath the Hochkönig peaks, stieg’nhaus is Austria’s newest design hideaway. A modern Alpine retreat of soft luxury, sculptural calm and quiet hospitality shaped by light, craft and stillness.
Test before you commit? Gathering our hotels brings endless design foreplay – marble flirting with timber, stone tracing linen with quiet confidence. Like an Austrian Melange, warm and never overstated, here are our whiteish counterparts to slip into bed with Blanc.
Just inland from the Algarve’s salt flats, Hospedaria reimagines a 1917 tavern as a five-room design retreat. Whitewashed walls, bamboo ceilings and rattan textures balance rustic ease with curatorial precision, creating a minimalist ode to Portugal’s rural soul.
Perched on an Umbrian hilltop, Calitardo looks across olive groves and green valleys to the Apennines. This reimagined stone casa balances agriturismo and design, its quiet allure shaped by crafted suites, olive trees and a sleek pool.
In Baden-Württemberg’s Geisingen, 1280 Krone reawakens as a design hotel within one of Germany’s oldest inns. Four restored houses merge raw architecture, timber and stone into a tactile harmony of heritage, modern comfort and quietly radical restoration.
Mezi Lukami is a private-hire house with two spacious double bedrooms, defined by exposed log beams and restored character. Big beds, small windows and views of meadows, forests and hills invite stillness, while attic cabins offer quiet corners for dreaming.
A creative rethink of luxury by the former Golden Goose founders, Venice Venice Hotel sits on the Grand Canal in the 13th-century Ca’ da Mosto palace, its Venetian-Byzantine bones laid bare in a bold celebration of time, texture and design.
In Lana, Schwarzschmied’s bold yet grounded architecture mirrors the surrounding vines. Designed with larch, marble and glass, it balances rhythm and calm. Art by Hannes Egger and resident creators weaves local craft, landscape and culture into quiet contemporary harmony.
Set above Osip, the Michelin-starred field-to-fork restaurant by Merlin Labron Johnson in Somerset, this 17th-century coaching inn offers four rooms of crafted simplicity, with oak floors, exposed beams, live-edge headboards and handwoven jute rugs.
Once home to milking parlours, olive presses and stables, Susafa has been gently recalibrated into a layered story of Sicilian life. Timeworn stone, milk-white plaster and handcrafted furnishings create a tactile harmony between working heritage and quiet, rural elegance.
Some places don’t shout; they wait. Vocabolo Moscatelli, a 12th-century Umbrian monastery reclaimed by vines and forest, was one. Long abandoned and dissolving into the landscape, it stirred to life when Catharina and Frederik arrived.
In Antwerp’s Green District, Hotel August by Vincent Van Duysen transforms a former Augustinian convent into a serene study of design, cloaked in parchment whites, soft greys and oak, balancing heritage, craftsmanship and the quiet poetics of modern restraint.
Framed by Trentino’s peaks and Lake Garda’s calm, Monastero Arx Vivendi transforms a 17th-century convent into a design-led sanctuary of stillness, where sacred stone meets modern restraint under the precise, poetic direction of NOA* studio.
AHÃMA fuses Turkish culture, Mediterranean ease and Japanese wabi-sabi in a design crafted by global visionaries. Artisans shaped its cabanas, beach club, signature restaurant and Glass House into a singular architectural dialogue.
At Das Wanda, twelve suites and six studios blend oak, clay and light into calm spatial harmony. Bathtubs overlook vineyards, balconies face the Dolomites, and each space balances craft, stillness and the quiet rhythm of South Tyrolean landscape.
My Greek Island Home by Claire Lloyd is always out of the bookcase, an ever-present friend that tells the tale of falling in love with a Greek island and finding that a simpler life is not so bad after all.
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Anchored to specific genres of hotel design, The Aficionados print editions: Farmhouse Fabulous, Casa Gorgeous, Blueprint Beauts, Neu Heritage, Eclectic Rebels, Design Natives and Alchemists of Italy take the reader through the creation narratives. A sourcebook for hoteliers, travellers, style aficionados and those who appreciate design.
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Gothenburg's pitstop for a mix of youthful design alongside the established patrons, Artilleriet fuses across the spectrum from furnishings, handwoven rugs to the best in ceramics.
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Whilst most people wisely steer clear of a crumbling abandoned building, others, thankfully, are drawn to them like a bee to nectar and instantly fall in love - for they can see a future and a purpose.
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Design rebels, hospitality mavericks, and fearless creators—Rebel Femmes is a roll call of women shaping travel, style, and architecture with attitude. Iconic hotels, bold visions, and cultural game-changers.
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Crushed pomegranates, juicy reds, minimalist noir and Gaudí-fuelled fever dreams — colour gets loud in this travel edit of radical design, retro cool and artistic hideouts.
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From Christina Aguilera’s ex-producer in Tuscany to Land Rover lovers in the Alps and eco farmers in Sicily, discover 12 hotels crafted by men where design, culture and hospitality collide.
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Pantone's Mocha Mousse leads the colour charge, guiding us from St Anton to Venice and the Beskydy hills, where hotels, designers and makers shape chocolate-toned interiors with warmth, craft and seduction.
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Four cute bastions of style and snuggle up in the duvet sentiments for winter, none of which are in France.
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Sisters of spaghetti, sibling architects, ethical knits, dad+son chefs at a place with no menu, to the hotels created by the minimalist aesthets – the Schgagulers, the curators – the Wiesenthals, and the glampot nostalgists – the Dissertoris, and we hop over to Syros where sisters Jasmine and Oana are rewriting island style.
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A city of effortless cool & pioneering Scandi design Copenhagen has long been at the heart of the world’s ceramics stage, from practical to the performative.
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Lisbon, Portugal's legendary capital simply bursts with heritage, azulejo tiles, Pastéis de Nata & art - this is a design guide you can shop, see & drink.
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Get the insider news and lowdown on what we've been up to, where we've been, and who we've met along the way. Be the first to discover new places and get the scoop on our favourites.