Clever use of white space is vital to a good design. That being said, "white spaces" are not supposed to always be the color white. Interfaces are not supposed

Clever use of white space is vital to a good design. That being said, "white spaces" are not supposed to always be the color white. Interfaces are not supposed to always be a sea of nothingness either. That's simply bad minimalistic designs you are describing. Even a skeuomorphic design filled with textures and gradients require good use of white space and a minimalist approach to be a proper UI. Function over form should remain true no matter the "skin" of your user interface.