I just love the usage of dark colours in an interior.  Dark Charcoal, Blue as dark as midnight, even Black.   It is Dramatic.  Bold.  Sophisticated.  Chic.  And somewhat Glamorous. (There is reason a LBD is not white!)   And I love that it can work with anything from a more rustic aesthetic to contemporary and have the same striking affect.

Many people are intimidated, even fearful of using dark colours in their interior tho as the natural perception is that it will make a room  feel dark and gloomy, depressing even.  Dark colors get such a bad wrap in interior design but they don’t have to. I am going to dispel some myths about “the dark” and shed some light on why it can enhance an interior.

Myth no 1: Dark colours make a room appear smaller.

Dark colours don’t always enclose a room. Sure it may make a space feel more cozy, but if dark colours are used with the correct colours and materials, the look is so dramatic that no ‘space’ issues are even picked up.

A bathroom is traditionally a smaller room in a house…. take a look at the images below where dark colours have been used to full effect. The look is so bold and striking, and the feeling of ‘space’ not even a consideration.

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If you look at doing kitchen cabinets in a darker colour, again, whatever is paired with the colour will pop so much that the feeling of space is not compromised at all.

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Myth no 2: Dark colours make a room feel heavy

If you use darker tones in your interior the correct way, they will never feel heavy as much as they will feel grounded. The key to keeping a dark coloured interior from being heavy is the finishes or colours that it is paired with.

Dark colours are an excellent background color. A dark wall makes artwork pop and stand out, so break the monotony of the décor with some colourful accent details such as a colourful painting or coloured furniture which you place against a black wall.

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Myth no 3: Dark colours are depressing

Black, gray, navy and hunter green have all been given a bad wrap; yes, dark colors do represent depression in many ways, but it’s not the fault of the colour itself. Colour is colour; you either like a certain colour or you don’t. All white rooms have been shown to make people feel just as uncomfortable as all black rooms. So if that’s the case, why blame certain tones in the spectrum as depressing? The key to making sure that a dark room isn’t depressing is what you pair it with.  My personal fav would be metallics, specifically gold. There is something really glamorous about that combination that appeals to me.

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If you are keen on painting a wall or two dark after being inspired by all these gorgeous images , then I really do suggest my all time favourite dark charcoal shade by Plascon called Bovine (Code 47 on the swatch below) It is the perfect shade of dark grey and all other colours just pop off it and look amazing, promise!

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