I feel like people hate on white in interior design too much. White, just like black, has its place in visual design. Light and dark hues are both necessary to create cohesive and delineated spaces, especially in small quarters
In this space, the white of the walls and the dark of the floor act as foils. The white is expansive, drawing the eye in the line of the window beams and to the walls.
The dark colors of the floor flow into the colors on the wall pictures, and create a similar eyeline. Both the white and the dark colors cradle the center focal point, and draw the viewer outside. If the walls were a different/darker color, the interior and outside scenery might clash or struggle for visual hierarchy
In this room, the walls are a busier pattern. Note the brightness/vividity of the two tones. They are different colors, but in grayscale would look very similar. They create a mush of tone, despite being different colors. If no other item in this picture had a difference in brightness, it would be difficult to discern what you're meant to be looking at.
In this way, the white of the desk helps separate the wall/working space. It breaks up the pattern and draws the eye across the sitting objects. If the desk was a similar color/brightness to the wall, it would be harder to focus on what is in the area
Consider the spider. Do you see him?
Just like visual static allows animals to camouflage themselves, similar color level/hue hides objects from the eye.
Let's look at a room with poor white/black delineation
There is a large difference in color and hue, but not in brightness levels. The lightest objects in the room are the lamp and painted baby. The darkest are the painting background and bed frame. Everything else is very similar in brightness level.
Do you notice the complexity of the pattern or does it overwhelm you? Does your eye travel to a special/interesting area or are you following the shadow where the wall meets the ceiling instead?
In this image, brightness hierarchy is not clear, so you miss so much of what makes this room special. There are gold accents and statuettes that are not seen due to the visual static. They are effectively camouflaged.
Overly white rooms similarly have this issue.
What am I looking at? What items in this room seem interesting? It may appear easy to delineate objects due to how uniform and bright everything is, but that's deceptive. The areas that stand out (the legs of the table, the underside of the couch, the fireplace) are not things the designer would have wanted to showcase. The designer failed to make visual hierarchy decisions and so had those decisions made for them. A good designer knows how to use just enough light and dark to create a mood in a space, and show exactly what they want to show. This room communicates nothing except a lack of decision or personality.
White has it's place in interior design, just like vivid colors and dark colors. It's used to draw attention to things you love best and want to show off. White walls/light colored rooms should not be treated like a bad design choice. They're simply waiting for you to add something to them.
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