Monday Color: Black

The only black in my house is the ink in my printer and Pilot Precise pens, and one, yes one, recently purchased 'little black dress'. I extracted the color from my wardrobe completely sometime late in my time as a Manhattanite, when I looked around one day and became aware of the sea of black I was commuting on the subway with, walking the sidewalks with and eating at the cafes with. Eschewing black was how I was going to be different.

And frankly, since my darker angst-ridden teen years came to an end (thank god!), black has just simply failed to express the cheery, resilient, nature-loving optimist inside of me. However, I've dabbled in black from time to time in my design career, and have started to lust after it a little more than usual recently. I thought this newly piqued interest in black at least deserved its own Monday Color post.....and maybe a hanger or two in my closet again someday.






















Images above:

1. Even though I used this nursery in an archived post about yellow, the impact clearly comes just as much from the black wall and black dresser as the cheerily striped ceiling.

2. Black takes on a fresh and modern personality when bright white furniture and accessories are contrasted against it, like in this little girls room.

3. As a pre-teen, I had a mostly black room. My parents let me select my furniture (black lacquer bedroom set) and color palette (gray, black and deep red!). Yes, it was the 80's but my parents should have really seen all this as a more of a sign. If I could go back now, with my design experience intact, and make myself a somber pre-teen hideout, this is the black room I would have created.

4. This guest room seems to have perfect ratios of black and cream, pattern and solid, intriguing art and languid softness.

5. and 6. Animal print, taxidermy, velvet and expanses of deep black seem like inseparable combinations in both of these inspiration rooms from www.hometrendesign.com

7. For a fashionable dose of black and texture in any room, this Gloss Black Faux Crocodile Folding Room Divider seems erroneously billed as a "high quality commercial business office partition" on Amazon.com.

8. A collection of flea market gold frames have never looked better (image from Apartment Therapy).

9. Black and white block printed textiles (like this comforter) feel equally old worldly and modern.

10. Black makes this basic side chair sexy (Bent Wood Chair in High Gloss, from Brocade Home).