White Sofa Living Room Ideas [11 Color Schemes Explored]

A white sofa is a mature and modern choice for a living room. White furniture in general is usually sleek and offers a contemporary look for your space. When the rest of the living room is decorated correctly, a white sofa can serve as an elegant furniture piece that is not overly complicated. However, there are certainly pros and cons to having a white sofa.

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Having A White Sofa

The main con of having a white sofa is somewhat obvious. White furniture is just begging to be spilled on and dirtied. Dealing with having to keep a white sofa white is a fairly large con. Another con is that many people think that a white sofa is basic enough that they can add statement pieces to decorate, which is fine until there are too many pieces all begging for attention. Using the white sofa as your statement piece is always an option.

The pros to owning a white sofa make the cons seem less daunting. The pros include the fact that a white sofa gives you more freedom for a color scheme than say, a brown sofa. You can choose more freely between shades and you don’t have to stick to earthy tones or a set color scheme.

That being said, you have to choose one color scheme to stick with, mixing and matching can cause your living room to be oversaturated and you would lose the maturity of the white couch. So, without further ado, let's delve into 11 fantastic color schemes working with a white sofa that you can incorporate into your living room.

White Sofa Color Schemes for Your Living Room

1. Beige Offsets

This picture shows a simple living room, it whispers modern and leaves room for interpretation. Using a light brown or beige color scheme allows for the use of earthy and natural tones without oversaturating your living room and still giving it that mature look. A

dd a few throw pillows with slightly different shades and patterns, just make sure the patterns match and don’t mix strangely. Beige is also great to use because you can use light-colored woods for your other furniture like it is showing in the picture.  

Although they are not beige, adding throw pillow covers like these burlap ones is a great way to add these offsets in your living room. Click here to see these on Amazon.

2. Monochromatic With Natural Light

This picture shows a great example of a simple monochromatic living room. The grey plaster wall as the backdrop for the white sofa brings more simplicity to the room. The light wood addition to the wall allows for a touch of an earthy tone with the white and grey, warming up the room. There is a lot of natural light from the wall of windows that makes the room look more open.

3. Exposed Brick Is Always In Style

This photo may look similar to the previous picture, but the main difference is the exposed brick in this picture. Exposed brick is a great backdrop for a white sofa as it allows for an aesthetic and rustic look to your modern living room. Also, notice the throw pillows adding another dimension to the color scheme.

4. Geometric Wallpaper

Another popular option to make a white sofa fit in your living room is adding an accent wall that the sofa will sit up against. It is common to either use wallpaper or to paint a geometric mural as your accent wall. This option allows your sofa to stick out but not be obnoxious. Aim to use colors that will not be too overbearing like natural hues or blue hues.

5. White With Black Contrast

In this living room, you can see that the main color is white like the sofa is. They did not aim to have the couch be the main piece in this room. The small black pieces, whether furniture, or decorations, or textiles, allow for contrast while keeping the sleek, mature look and brings some drama to the room. The added white furniture also adds to that modern appeal.

6. Black With White Contrast

The main color in this living room is the black wall behind the sofa. This is for sure a way to make the sofa pop even more. Also, a white sofa can bring a dark room away from any gloominess it may bring about. This living room definitely has a clean look, very sleek and evolved. There is also the white planter that brings another pop of white away from the black wall.

7. Modern Shapes And Colors

This modern living room has dark shades over the large windows that allow for the contrast of the monotone colors, but it also has pops of red in the uniquely shaped chairs and the throw pillows. Also, notice that the sofa is also uniquely shaped, its curves bring a whole new design aspect to this living room.

8. Red, Red, Red

Although the living room in this image is not decorated, it is a good example of how a red accent wall can look with a white sofa in front of it. It is a great contrast and it allows the room to be bright. With primary colors such as bright red, blue, or yellow, it can sometimes look too bright, adding a touch of grey can dim it down a bit.

9. Just Beachy

This living room looks so much like the beach, it is not decorated like the beach but this is an example of how your color scheme is more than just choosing a color. The light wood is a reminder of the sand, much like how the blue wall color is like the ocean. This brings a natural look to the less natural white of the sofa. With the wood paneling, gold is a good color to spruce it up a tad.

10. A Splash Of Yellow

This picture may be decorated for the holidays, but it is a good example of what yellow can do in a white-based living room. Accents of yellow bring brightness and a change from the white while still giving a shining finish to your living room.

These yellow throw pillow covers are a perfect splash of yellow as was just talked about and even add some texture. Click here to see these on Amazon.

11. The Sky's The Limit

This room is so calming, decorated with baby blues and light wood finishes. The other furniture, aside from the couch, give the room a contemporary but soft look to this living room. Blue hues are perfect for a living room as shown in this picture.

This navy throw blanket could be the perfect finishing touch that a light blue living room needs, toss it over the back of the white couch and it will tie your room together. Click here to see it on Amazon.

To Conclude

Choosing to put a white couch in your living room is a fantastic design choice. It can truly sway from modern to playful and from sleek to soft. As long as you create the look you want around the white couch, it will add the pop you need while also seemingly blending in. If your couch is a different color, we've got your back. 

Check out these ideas for a cream couch. 

Or these ideas for different couch colors!