Designer Black?

The color black is associated with mystery, sorrow, witchcraft,  death and  evil and is the symbol of grief.  Black also is prestigious, authoritative, powerful, formal and strong. Black often has a negative connotation (black death, black hole, blackball).  Those whose favorite color is black are said to be methodical, introverted, secretive  and self denying. So where do we use it in decorating our homes?

Let's begin with the bathroom.  Imagine waking up and entering a room with black walls and fixtures.  Black is associated with fear, darkness, mystery and death.  Why would I want an all black bathroom?  Let's paint the walls and cupboards white, install white fixtures and if you like black in your décor some black towels over the racks and a  black counter top would be an elegant touch.  Add a hanging green fern in the corner and voila!  

The kitchen is a special challenge as the cupboard colors are not easy to change.  This writer would start with all white cabinets,  black granite counter tops and maybe some black trim on the windows.  Add a few red small appliances to perk up the room.  Some calming and relaxing colors are lavender, pale gray, cool blue, grayish blue, aqua,  beige and pale pink.  Use any one of these as the main color in the living room with black accent pieces

A very small amount of black in the dining area with touches of red as an appetite enhancer.   Picture white walls,  white curtains,  red table and chairs.  Hang black picture frames and place a black center piece on the white table cloth.  Finish the scene with a red table setting.

The home office should  be decorated extremely lightly with black.  As one wouldn't wan a depressing atmosphere in the place of work.  It's hard to concentrate when one is depressed or feeling "closed in".

Because if its many negative connotations black should be used sparingly in a child's room and,  then, only if the room has a lot of natural light.  This writer does recall seeing a child's room that had one wall covered with a black chalk board that the kids could write on to their heart's  content.  This would be a great way for the kids to work off that wall scribbling stage many of them go through.  The rest of the room could be decorated in light cheerful colors such as yellow or light green.

The living room is where we want to relax after a busy day.  We certainly don 't want to feel depressed or mournful as in the case of too much black.  Some calming and relaxing colors are lavender, pale gray, cool blue, grayish blue, aqua,  beige and pale pink.  Use any one of these as the main color in the living room with black accent pieces such as pillows,  picture frames or an afghan for an air of elegance.

Black can be comforting if used in the bedroom.  It can be smothering if used too heavily in a small space.  And one must be careful as too much black is depressing and mood darkening,  even producing nightmares.   I've seen bedrooms with black ceilings and stars painted on the ceilings.  If you like black, one supposes,  that would be one way to create a feeling of going to bed in the great outdoors. 

So, it appears, black can be used in the décor of any room so long as it is used in small accent pieces or trim   Used in this way it can add elegance to any room.