Color Palettes

Cozy Living: Black Basement Ideas

The basement can be turned into a secluded and cozy place, and what better way to do this than to use a black color palette. Here is a list of black basement design ideas that will help transform your space.

The Walls

When you picture a black basement, there will be black painted walls. To break up all of this black or to add some design features, here are some design options to look at:

Wainscoting – this can either be painted over black to match the walls, or can be a dark shade of grey or another color
Crown Molding – again this can be painted black (just like in picture (1)), or can be white
Black Wallpaper – See if you can get one with a subtle texture or pattern
Gallery Wall – Hang up a gallery wall of framed pictures/paintings
Textured Paint – In my textured painting ideas post I go over different ways you can create designs and textures using paint. A sponge helps create a marble look, while a thick brush creates a linen effect. To do this with a black wall, go with a black paint base used with a dark grey paint on top
And a question you’ll need to ask yourself, is whether you’ll want a black basement ceiling

Add A Pop Of Color

The feature pieces in a basement can help add some pops of color to a basement. These feature pieces include:

An area rug
Cushion and pillowcases for the couch
Hang up a colorful art piece. Or hang up a black and white art piece in a colorful frame (like a gold or silver one).
If you have any cabinet or closet doors in your basement, these can be repainted (or painted black) – DIY Challenge: Give Your Closet Doors a Makeover.

Use these items to add some color to a basement (i.e. a dark blue area rug). Some good colors to infuse into a black basement include gold, silver, white, and grey. While dark shades of red and blue would look great too.

Color Guide: Grey Basement Ideas

Another way to add color to a black basement is to add in some natural materials. Like potted plants, or use some wooden features like a wooden coffee table tray, a wooden side table, or wooden cabinet doors.

Here are some more basement posts to get ideas from:

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April 18, 2016 in Basement, Color Palettes

Color Style: Black Living Room Ideas and Designs

The first question you need to ask yourself when designing a black living room is, how much black do you want?

How Much Black?

You could go with all black walls, and even a black ceiling. Or you could have a more toned down design by either using white wainscoting or paint all the walls white, but have one black wall.

Classic: Black and White Living Room Ideas and Designs

Living Room Design Elements

Here are a few ideas on what to include in your living room design:

Use wainscoting, but instead of having it white, paint it the same color (black) as the walls. This adds layers and some styling to the room
White crown molding is another idea, which will contrast well with the black walls
If you are planning on an entire living room remodel, then the flooring will need to fit the overall design style. For a black living room some design option include: dark hardwoods and tiles. Or if you wanted to brighten the space up a bit, then a grey floor or lighter wooden floors will work.
Hang up some artwork, either in white, gold, silver or black frames to spice up the black walls.

How to Add Some Texture

Try and infuse some subtle textures into your black living room furniture and design. This will help avoid creating flat dull spaces. Some ideas here include:

Using black wallpaper that has a subtle texture or pattern (A Fine Selection of Modern Wallpaper Designs)
You can even paint the walls and add texture. Using a brush you can create a linen effect. Or by using a sponge, with black paint and really dark grey paint you could create a marble texture. Have a look at my post here for more ideas: Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood To Linen Effects
The same can be said about area rugs, and pillow cases – look for fabric that has a subtle texture or pattern to it.

Have a look at these posts for more ideas:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6/7

April 18, 2016 in Color Palettes, Living Room

Color Style Guide: Red Kitchen Decor Ideas and Designs

The first question that you’ll want to ask yourself when creating a red kitchen design is “how much red?”. You can see in the mood board above that each kitchen has a different amount of red infused into the design. The red kitchen decor ideas in this post will help you transform your space.

How Much Red?

Just by having red cabinets you can create a red color palette for your kitchen. Have a look at the kitchen in picture (1). Everything else can be a different color (the countertop, the backsplash), and you’ll still have a red color scheme.

Or another option can be seen in picture (2) where just the backsplash is red, and everything else is a neutral color such as white.

Even just by having a completely neutral color palette for the whole kitchen (using either white, off white, or grey), you can have just one red piece in the room and you’ve styled the space red. This could be a red backsplash, or a red fridge (5). Your whole kitchen could be white, and then have a red kitchen door.

Red Kitchen Decor and Accent Pieces

Here are some ways to style a kitchen in red:

Give your cabinet doors a red make over (DIY Challenge: Give Your Closet Doors a Makeover)
Hang up some red curtains. Or if you have red walls, and want to break up all of that red then use another color, such as white or grey.
If you have a kitchen table in your space, this can be turned red. Either by painting it or by using a red tablecloth.
And you can always spice up your walls by adding some layers or textures to it. How about using wainscoting, this can be painted over red to match the walls (The Finishing Touch: Wainscoting Ideas and Designs). Or how about using a red wallpaper with a subtle pattern or design. Another option is to create an elegant design using paint – a brush can create a linen effect, while a sponge can create a marble look (Textured Painting Ideas). Then there is always the option of going with red tiles.

Here are some other kitchen posts for more ideas:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6

April 18, 2016 in Color Palettes, Kitchen

Color Style Guide: Black Home Office Ideas

Paint the walls all black. That is what a black home office is all about. If you’d rather go for a more black and white office design then check out my post here.

Now all of this black can be a bit overwhelming, so here are some ideas on how to add some color and how to break up all of that black.

Break Up Flat Black Walls

Here are some ways to add a design element to a flat black wall:

Fit some trim to the wall to create subtle shapes, just like the home offices in pictures (1) and (3).
Or how about fitting wainscoting to the bottom of the walls. Wainscoting is traditionally white, but you can paint it black to match the walls.
Add some texture to the walls by using wallpaper (4). Or you can use black and dark grey paint to create a linen or marble look (Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood To Linen Effects).
Another way to break up a flat black wall is to hang up a painting, or photograph – or create a gallery wall
The curtains is another way to add a different shade to the walls

Ways To Add Warmth and Color to a Black Home Office

Here are some ideas on how to add some colored pieces to a black home office:

An area rug is an easy way of adding a different color to the home office – just like the home office in picture (1).
A wooden desk adds warm brown tones into a black home office space (2)
Another way to add some warmth, and green tones, is to have some plotted plants
A colorful lamp will add a pop of color to the space
How about hanging up a colorful art piece – just like the red one hanging in the home office in picture (6). Or you could hang up a black and white art piece or photograph but use a large colorful frame for it.
Your closet doors could have a makeover, adding a pop of color to the room(or decorate them black) – DIY Challenge: Give Your Closet Doors a Makeover

Color Combinations

You’ll want to stick to a strict black color scheme for your home office. This will help you create a well designed space.

Stick to only adding 1-2 other colors into a black home office; otherwise you’ll start taking away from the overall color scheme. The good thing about a black base color, is that any colored pieces you add to the space will really stand out.

Some good color combinations include: black and gold or brass, black and red, and black and brown (infuse as much wooden features as possible – just like the home office in picture (3)).

Have a look at these posts for more home office ideas:

image credits 1/2/3/4/5/6