If you’re like many people, you grew up hearing that dark colors are bad interior design. Since the turn of the century, homes have just gotten whiter and beiger with time. Contemporary home design of 2023 has hardly any color left in it – at least if you do it like popular media and celebrities think you should. But, there are ways to use dark colors to achieve a luxurious interior that time simply cannot overpower. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Dark Wood and Light Wood
One of the most timeless ways to achieve a luxurious interior that incorporates darkness is by using dark and light wood. 70’s particle-board wood paneling has given wood interiors a bad name. You might not think you like a lot of wood in your interior, but you may be wrong. Getting it to look amazing requires some color balance.
In order to make your interior look timeless and attractive with a lot of wood, use a very dark, desaturated wood, with a very light, desaturated wood. Woods with more color to them can become overwhelming in large amounts. Whether that tint is red or yellow is irrelevant. Desaturated wood, on the other hand, is perfect in large quantities.
Whether you use light or dark wood as the accent is up to preference. One wood should be used for exposed, wooden ceilings – crossbeams included – and flooring. The other should be used for accents, such as furniture.
Picture dark wood, nearly black, above and below you. Then, in the middle of it all, a light wood table and chairs with a black runner on it. The visual is stunning!
Black and Gold
If you intend to incorporate a lot of black into your home, the most important way to prevent that darkness from swallowing the house is by counteracting it with rich colors or stark white. While nearly and rich color can be paired with black, one of the most classic and timeless colors is gold. A black table with a saturated, gold table runner is a great example. Another is a black-painted wall with golden or brass sconces decorating it. Perhaps, between the sconces, is a painting with a gold or brass frame. This turns the black into a backdrop for contrast instead of a void.
Lighting Is Key
The biggest difference between a somewhat depressing cave of a home and a really classy, elegant home – both full of black – is lighting. If you fill your home with black, or extremely dark colors like blue or red, you need good lighting. A room that’s 90% black or black-adjacent with one little desk lamp is going to feel like a hole in the ground.
Counteract this with:
- Huge windows, ideally facing north or south to get light the entire day
- Lots of light fixtures, especially where window light doesn’t reach
- Additional lights where needed
Build a Luxury Home
If you’re looking to build a luxury home with a lot of dark colors, the experts on the matter are found at Heidan Construction. Let us know you’re not looking for a sterile, white home and we can certainly be of service.
