Would You Ever Paint a Bedroom (or other room) Black?

When my eldest daughter heads off to college, it is a good opportunity to update her room with a more sophisticated look.  It is painted a pretty green and has all the makings of a young teenage girl’s room. As I consider different paint colors, would you ever paint a bedroom black?

The Before

Why Black?

In addition to green, her favorite color is black.  Hmmm. I do need to think this through. Painting her room black is a bold move.  But we have light floors (Canadian beechwood) and lots of white trim (baseboards, windows, doors, crown molding)…..to help break up any large expanse of black. So I take the leap!

When you first walk in, there are two arched windows overlooking the front yard. Without altering the window shape, new replacement windows from Marvin are added during the original restoration. They open in two ways~by swinging wide open or tipping into the room for top only ventilation.

These windows face east and get the beautiful morning light with an expansive outdoor view. Unfortunately I did not take pictures of the painting process, but here you can see the results.

Making Green and White work

I want to keep her green desk chair and furniture but finding fabric that combined THIS green, black and white is a bit of a challenge.

We’ve never had curtains on these windows. It took some time to figure out how to add curtains without hiding the beautiful window design.

After much pondering, I finally decide to do one big curtain panel. The large drapery pulls across both windows and tucks to one side when not in use. It has a black-out liner so my daughter is finally able to sleep in a fully dark room.

This panel is made by Smith & Noble, using their designer fabric line, Madcap Cottage.  I recommend getting a fabric sample and fortunately, this sample did match the black and green perfectly. The pattern is a bit of unconventional but playful and their turnaround time for delivery is less than 2 weeks!

The best location for her bed is in the alcove that has a port hole window.  The headboard and wall lamp are from Joss & Main; the duvet cover from West Elm.  I made the bed skirt with leftover Waverly fabric I found in the basement. The matching decorative pillow with Madcap Cottage fabric is also made by Smith and Noble.

En Suite Bathroom

Her bathroom needs a facelift too.  The original restoration is from 2001 and therefore it’s time for an update. We replace the tile countertop with a Carrera marble slab and repaint the base cabinet semi-gloss black.  The wall paint changes from green to a crisp white.

Since posting this we experience a major plumbing leak and use this opportunity to re-tire her bathroom floor with Carrera marble tiles.

Now the ensuite bathroom’s decor flows nicely with the bedroom.

Other Black Room Ideas

The Spruce has a great article about Beautiful Black Room ideas and you can find it here.

Now when my daughter comes home to visit, she enjoys an updated, more sophisticated room.  Though it was a big leap of faith to paint this room black, the overall feel is quiet elegance and chic. I am very happy with the results and glad we took the leap.

Desk and chair: Ikea

Door, window, trim color:  Van de Cane DEW354 (a Dunn-Edwards paint but created by Sherwin-Williams)

Wall Color:  Sherwin-Williams Caviar 6990

Drapery Rod and C-hooks: Smith & Noble

Fabric: Hello Hidcote/Nightfall (17910) by Madcap Cottage

Artwork: Original drawings by my daughter