To Noir Or Not To Noir

I’ve been obsessed with the idea of painting the walls of my bathroom black after seeing this first photo in Lonny Magazine earlier this year. Since then, I’ve been riding the I-NEED-a-black-room-now roller coaster. I could just play it safe by accenting a room with black. Decisions, decisions . . . it’s just paint, right? Would you do it?

(images via Lonny Magazine)

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43 Comments

  1. Vivian wrote:

    I’m in love with these pictures! Though I think black painting for a room’s walls could be a bit too much… especially for the bathroom, doesn’t it give you a sense of dirt? I mean, black is a colour you never perceive if it’s dirty or not, so eew I would not paint my bathroom black, though it’s awesome!
    Bedroom… no, too stressing, and the kitchen is lovely wth colours like red or warm yellow! Maybe the living room could be a nice compromise! I don’t like black walls but I definitely love black furniture, like the walk in closet of the last picture! Amazing!

    12.15.10
    Reply
  2. Jessica wrote:

    These pictures are so nice and classy looking. I think I’d paint the walls of a room black but, only if It has nice lighting in the room. If the room was dark already with black walls it would look like a cave!

    12.15.10
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  3. Nike wrote:

    oh, i’m deeply in love with black rooms now. do it!

    12.15.10
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  4. Tanya wrote:

    Wow-striking rooms! I went the opposite and painted EVERYTHING a bright white to make my wee little house look bigger. I think my house is naturally way too dark and tiny to try this out. But if your place is bathed in light, go for it. It seems to look cheerier with light floors. If you change your mind, all you need is a good quality primer! If you’re hesitant, try it out on a smaller space like a half bath or even laundry room or closet. Or maybe even just an accent wall. Then you can have a “taste” of it and see if you like black walls in real life.

    12.15.10
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  5. Theresa wrote:

    I have been on a black and white kick! I love black walls! If you are too scared to do all in black, just do a statement wall instead!

    12.15.10
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  6. amalie wrote:

    wow, i want my place to look like this! such great inspo 🙂

    12.15.10
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  7. andrea wrote:

    yes!!! i would totally do it! i’ve already decided that when i have my own place someday the first thing i’m doing is painting one room black 🙂

    12.15.10
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  8. STEFANIE wrote:

    YES! I think black rooms can be quite elegant, if I had a house of my own I’d paint a room black in a heartbeat! : )

    12.15.10
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  9. Cn wrote:

    I actually just painted one large wall in my apartment black. Looks amazing. It makes the space look really structured and less feminine (which helps offset my white furniture.) An unexpected bonus was that my artwork looks stunning against the black. Go for it!

    12.15.10
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  10. miss crowland wrote:

    I love the black bathroom. It’s a good room for that colour, because you’re not spending long periods of time in there, and it almost creates the feeling of a backstage dressing room.

    12.15.10
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  11. geri wrote:

    do ittttt!

    12.15.10
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  12. chelsea wrote:

    DO IT!! And document please. Check out Door 16 – she painted her bedroom black and it looks freakin awesome.

    I hear ya on the decision-making. We’ve spent at least a month trying to decide whether to paint a dresser black, white or grey. Geez!!!!!!!!!!!1

    12.15.10
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  13. bigdadddy wrote:

    One of my girlfriends painted her bedroom black, i thought it would be bad, but it turned out beautiful! Its really cozy and sleek, you just have to be careful with dark pieces in the room it can take a bad twist-but a bathroom would be easy to stay away from this. Good luck!

    12.15.10
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  14. Kim wrote:

    Do it and take pictures! I would if my husband would let me.

    12.15.10
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  15. erica wrote:

    thanks for the encouragement!! i think i’m going to muster up the guts to do this. but like Kim, only if my husband agrees. 😉 i’ll definitely document it if i do!! i think the black would need to be shiny enough so it doesn’t look so flat and heavy . . . we’ll see!

    12.15.10
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  16. Jessie wrote:

    Hell yeah, do it!

    12.15.10
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  17. poppy wrote:

    do it! paint is cheap, if its horrible you can just repaint, I think shiny paint will reflect light lovely

    12.15.10
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  18. Nancy wrote:

    Anna from Door Sixteen is all about black walls! Check her out: http://doorsixteen.com

    12.16.10
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  19. sRa wrote:

    yup i been on that rollarcoaster too and that same picture made me crazy for it again months ago…i haven’t done it cuz im’ lazy but i WOULD in a hot second if i had any motivation whatsoever right now.

    DO IT.

    12.16.10
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  20. Rose wrote:

    I would have assumed that black, or any dark color, would be really depressing and too much of a dramatic effect on the room. But these looks look fantastic! They look warm and clean, very accessible. One day I might actually want to do this, I never really thought about black walls to be honest. Awesome spotlighting!!
    xoxo, Rose

    12.16.10
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  21. michelle wrote:

    Love the black, wish I could do that in my house!
    Enjoying your blog 🙂

    12.16.10
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  22. lyrebirdgully wrote:

    20 years ago my then partner suggested we paint our loungeroom black – and I have never regretted letting him talk me into it. The colour scheme has drawn loads of compliments too. Here’s what we did:
    >the room is small and oldfashioned with a high ceiling and little natural light. To avoid making it even darker and also top heavy , we put in a brown timber dado rail all around the room. Below the rail we painted the wall black, above the rail we painted the wall a very washed out misty sky blue ( it was meant to be pale grey, but we were novices at paintmixing: we didn’t mind the result though).
    > the purpose of the dado rail is to create a “horizon”.This horizontal
    break.in.the.visual.field.makes.the.room.look.wider.and.brings.the.ceiling.down.The.
    feeling.in.the.room.was.much.improved.(sorry.about.the.dots,my.space.bar.has.stopped.working!).
    > the floor is light brown timber and we have blonde timber furniture and a mustard yellow lounge. You will find that nearly every colour goes with black, choosing colours.to.match is so easy!
    The black walls provide a strong contrast which brightens the natural timber colours and makes them stand out more- an effect i like. If you think of a painting mounted on a black mount, well that is the “standout” effect that the black background will have on everything in the room.
    > you should keep black furniture and fittings in the room to a minimum, they will just disappear visually altogether.
    have.fun.with.your.black!

    12.18.10
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  23. http://www.doorsixteen.com/category/my-house/

    and the paints Anna used:

    Toucan Black (satin): black doors and stair treads and Olympic Knight’s Armor (eggshell): black ceiling in downstairs bathroom

    12.19.10
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  24. My bedroom has charcoal walls and I will NEVER paint it another color (well, at least not for a very long time).

    12.20.10
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  25. I would and I have! Painted my home office chalkboard black. But I have to say, a black boudoir takes the cake…that is gorgeous.

    12.20.10
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  26. LG wrote:

    Do it! But make sure to balance it out with large off-white or bright surfaces. Touches of strong colours like pink or yellow are nice to have too.
    My tiny hallway has black wall and looks gorgeous. But once I did the mistake of painting one of the white doors black, thinking it would nicely melt in with the rest. Epic fail. The hallway suddenly turned into a cave and it was a bitch to paint back that door white, believe me. I honestly don’t know how many layers of primer I had to use to cover the black. So make sure you know exactly how much black you can take and start progressively.
    Good luck!

    12.20.10
    Reply
  27. ginamarr wrote:

    I say do it … if you own the place. I painted my bedroom black at a rental I had 2 years ago and I looooved it but when I moved out it took me and my boyfriend 4 days to paint over just that one room. Was not fun!

    12.21.10
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  28. Miss ED wrote:

    I say definitely do the black! I wish I had daylight in my bathroom, but I don’t, so someone should have a black bathroom that I can live vicariously through 😀

    12.26.10
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  29. marina wrote:

    I painted my bathroom a dark, almost black, navy color. I love it. I kept trim white to give it a nice preppy feel. I think black is great, esp with vintage bottles and clean lucite trays for organizing. good luck!

    12.30.10
    Reply
  30. amanda wrote:

    I have so many tear sheets of black bathrooms and have the paint ready to go! I is such a commitment and with a rental in NYC I’m worried about the walls showing every mistake! Will send a pic if I take the ‘jump’! Great shots.

    1.20.11
    Reply
  31. Haylie wrote:

    These pictures are great! I am usually drawn to all white and gold rooms, but something about the black is really pretty. I love the closet especially. The glass in the doors and the mirror add a nice touch!

    http://thedailytiara.com

    4.12.11
    Reply
  32. Saccharine wrote:

    I’m currently opening a clothing store and have been trying to find ways to keep costs down with the fit-out and still be really funky and edgy. I saw this and bam! Problem solved. Black walls it is.
    Thank you so much for this idea! I’d be happy to send pictures when it’s done if you like ^____^

    9.9.11
    Reply
  33. LissetteO wrote:

    You know what they say: Once you go black, you never go back. I did it and loved loved loved it. Just had to paint over it with boring beige as I’m getting the house ready to sell. Regret it already. It was fabulous and I think the furniture stood out more against the black than it does against the beige walls. It was also surprisingly nuetral. It is just paint and if you don’t like it you can always paint over it. First thing I have planned for the new house is painting the bedroom black.

    10.12.11
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  34. Vaughn wrote:

    COOL! Manly touch.

    1.6.12
    Reply
  35. Rachel wrote:

    When I was a teenager my bedroom wall including the alcove with the entry door, was painted black. The rest of the room was white. It gave the illusion of an elongated room bigger than it actually was. I loved it. The funny part? My grandparents owned the house before us and they are the ones that painted it that way! 😉 They had a living room painted that way as well with a big red velvet couch against the black wall, very striking and mod back in the 50’s.

    Though in the last rental I had, I had painted the bathroom a deep dark blue with white trim and white tile. Even though it was dark it made the room pop and I miss that so much in my current place. I never thought about doing it black, but having seen the pic here, I’d totally do that.

    1.9.12
    Reply
  36. BerBer wrote:

    I say go for the black room. I think that they add a bit of sexy, fire to anyone’s decor. I think black rooms are ellegant, rich, and full of life. I love to decorate and when I was about 12 years old, I thought about decorating a room with black walls but was quicky misunderstood by my family. Of course I didnt know how to articulate what it meant to me at that time but now, nothing will hold me back.
    I want to decorate a room with all black walls, a massive bright white rug, with hot pink suade and leather pillows everywhere.
    BerBer

    1.11.12
    Reply
  37. Jack wrote:

    Awesome… nice image collections

    9.6.13
    Reply
  38. Wow it looks great!

    4.12.19
    Reply