Why Add White to a Website Color Scheme? | How to Use Whitespace for a Clearer Layout

Adding white to a website color scheme is not mainly about making white itself stand out. It is useful because a large white surface can give headings, body text, buttons, and other elements clearer visual roles. In this article, “whitespace” means empty space between elements; it does not require the background itself to be white. CSS can create that space with margin and padding. Using white ■#FFFFFF as the surrounding surface then makes it easier to separate areas where color is used from areas that are intentionally left quiet.

Use white as a major surface, not as “nothing”

Start with white ■#FFFFFF as the page background, charcoal ■#1F2937 for body text, and deep teal ■#0F766E as the brand color. Use a light gray ■#F3F4F6 only for supporting sections. This keeps white as the dominant surface while still giving the page a few clear structural changes.

Body text ■#1F2937 on white ■#FFFFFF has a contrast ratio, a numerical measure of the relative lightness difference between foreground and background, of about 14.68:1. Deep teal ■#0F766E used for headings or links has about 5.47:1 contrast against white ■#FFFFFF, exceeding the 4.5:1 minimum for normal-size text.

Create whitespace by designing spacing, not by adding more white-colored boxes

On a service page, add margin or padding above and below headings, between cards, and between body text and the CTA (Call to Action, the primary button that leads to an inquiry or sign-up). This increases the amount of visible white ■#FFFFFF background without introducing another color. Changing the distance between elements can create grouping and separation even when the background stays the same.

If a white card ■#FFFFFF sits on a light gray background ■#F3F4F6, the contrast ratio between those surfaces is only about 1.10:1. That can be acceptable as a decorative surface difference when spacing and headings already make the card structure clear, but do not rely on it when a boundary itself is necessary for identifying a UI component such as an input field. A gray border ■#6B7280 against white ■#FFFFFF provides about 4.83:1 contrast.

Check white text separately from white backgrounds

Once white is part of the palette, it is tempting to use white text on buttons, but lighter background colors may not provide enough contrast. White text ■#FFFFFF on deep teal ■#0F766E gives about 5.47:1, while white text ■#FFFFFF on bright teal ■#14B8A6 gives only about 2.49:1. The latter is below the 4.5:1 minimum for normal-size text.

If bright teal ■#14B8A6 is used as a button background, charcoal text ■#1F2937 provides about 5.90:1 contrast. Even when white is used widely for backgrounds and open space, text and button colors still need to be checked as their actual foreground-background pairs.

HueRoll can compare the selected color against white and black, which is useful when deciding between white or black text. It does not compare two arbitrary custom colors or automatically report WCAG AA or AAA conformance. After building a white-centered color scheme, check the actual adjacent colors used for body text, buttons, and boundaries separately.