Good artificial lighting for night time.
Contrast in art and furniture unless you are going for something somber. This could be white or other saturated colors.

The room does not have to have good natural light. Actually my hallway was almost black and had almost no natural light at all.

An adventurous decorator! I love dark rooms and navy is so lovely with white trim! I have a navy den and a navy nursery. I have white trim but dark mahogany doors and furniture in them and I love the feel even in the summer. I do have white sofas in the den. Good luck and congrats! From what you have shown here the new digs are beautiful!

I agree, lots of edison's light and white or light trim for contrast.

[Eclectic Dining Room[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic-dining-room-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_722~s_2104) by Sacramento Interior Designers & Decorators Kerrie L. Kelly

[Contemporary Bedroom[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/contemporary-bedroom-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_715~s_2103) by Pompton Plains Interior Designers & Decorators Kenneth/Davis, Inc.

Have you chosen your particular paint color? What style/color are your furnishings?

Patricia I am leaning towards SW Naval. My couch is a vintage MCM gold velvet sectional that was my grandmother's. The drapes are a sheer with a gold print. Coffee table is glass with gold trim.

Light oak hardwood floors with this rug.

Paint color

This is the current living room. (Pic from listing. Not my stuff! :) )

PS I want to say thank you for indulging my many posts. I can be obsessive sometimes and DH is sick of hearing about all of this. :)

Oh love the gold velvet! Here is a link to a navy room with a gold velvet chesterfield sofa .

Here is a link that might be useful: gold and navy lr

I love every one of those dark blue rooms!

It needs a lot of natural light during the day, and plenty of artificial light at night.

My rule of thumb, re: dark, saturated colors, is they don't work well on large wall areas. However, if you have limited wall area, i.e.: narrow wall area around windows, artwork, etc., they work fantastically. Dark colors, to me, are either spectacular or horrible, and nothing in between. Depends entirely on the light and the amount of wall area to be painted.

There's going to be a LOT of navy in that room. I would seriously consider adding molding so you can break it up some. Is there any crown molding in the room? (I can't tell from the pic) If not, add some. If there is, add more. Consider putting in a chair rail and painting navy above and a light color below. Or consider painting the navy as an accent wall or 2. Hard to tell from the pic but it looks like the room is long and narrow. If so, painting the end walls navy will help bring them in and make the room feel more square.

I also don't see any pot lights or ceiling fixtures so you will need to bring in a lot of light to make the room work at night.

I have a living room with little natural light--- in a dark room, I think med. or dark work best, because there is no point in fighting it. (I use can lights as my pretend sunshine, though it's not the same.)

However, I actually do NOT use my can lighting (other than very dimmed) at night, because it looks its best when it looks moody . . .accent lighting is key, IMO. The can lighting looks too stark, though in my view, no room should ever be lit up fully at night unless necessary for a task that might require that, since it is unnatural. (Task lighting is better, I think.)

In the room you are showing (lovely!), I have to say I would probably go for no darker than a medium color. I actually like the current wall color a lot. Is there a small adjoining room (like a hallway or entrance) where you could use the navy? I agree with Tibb and Annie . . .if you notice, photos of rooms with dark colors on the walls are either very small and/or have limited actual wall space showing, broken up with windows, paneling, tall/wide furniture, etc. How much wall is in your room?

I remember Pal (thanks, Pal!) saying that, traditionally, entrances were dark to show a contrast with the lighter rooms of the home. I like that idea, though it doesn't work so much in my own because the LR is dark.

Your room is going to be GORGEOUS.

I had a big room painted red. The ceilings have no crown molding. Ceilings were white, and all my trim molding was light (not bright white but mid range white-ivory). I loved the large expanse of red.

At the time I had a glass enclosed porch with a roof at the back of the room which kept me from getting a lot of light from the long bank of windows (about 15 feet). The front of the room was recessed from the roofline and therefore, darker than it might be with the windows across that side as well, but it had a very cozy feeling, and I got more compliments on that room than any I have ever had. I just tired of red and wanted to change. I still wish I had a red room but furniture colors and draperies have moved on for a more subdued color.

I did have pot lights and I had shutters which were light in color and the fireplace and surround light in color, so that might have helped. Otherwise, I have seen dark rooms with white ceilings and white trim molding that were beautiful. I got the idea from a navy room where I attended a party (guest of friend whose friend was an interior decorator) and she had used taupe and shrimp colors in the navy room but your gold is going to be gawjus.

This post was edited by patricia43 on Mon, Jun 2, 14 at 8:14

Good questions - these are all things I need to be thinking about.

Moulding - it doesn't have it currently but I will be adding.

Windows - There are 4 windows in the room. Two on the front (east) wall and two flanking the fireplace wall (south).

Wall space - This is the one I'm a little worried about. The fireplace/south wall and front/east wall both have two windows so I think Those walls will be fine. However the walls to the north and west are interior walls with no windows but they both have doorways. The wall to the north is the long wall and it has a larger entryway on each end so the run of wall is probably 6'. The south wall has a doorway to the den with an actual door and a run of wall also about 6'.

I have a large piece of artwork (4' x 4') that is over my current fireplace. Maybe I could put that on the one wall to break it up. But then I have to figure out the other long wall. I also have a large mirror to put over the fireplace.

This is JMHO. Unless the room is square, I would not add a chair rail molding based on (your humble commenter doing this to a friend's house with low ceilings who wanted a wine colored room), because it tends to make it look too linear, like a striped room. We did it in my DIL's front room when she lived in a condo and it looked great but the room was more square, 16 x 15. I think I would think about the look it will give you and I would opt for the crown in this case since you do not have the canned ceiling lights. You are making the floors light with the rug. The windows will be light and airy and you have the light and airy cocktail table, so those are all great. Square art work that size, if it is light in color, will add a "window" sotaspeak. Floor lamps or uplighting. Those little canned lights could be strategically placed about to add uplighting. Are they electrically safe with the new US government requirements? I don't know. I am always politically incorrect because I don't have time to keep up. I let someone else tell me when I am in violation of a Christmas tree or light law.

If your'e going to go with a dark paint, it will really be enhanced by narrowing the amount of wall area (as noted in my post above).

there are a lot of ways to do this, i.e.: artwork/photographs/mirrors. Great that you are adding crown moulding. IMO, no room is complete w/o it and it makes a HUGE difference in the look and feel of a room.

So, why not enhance the moulding around the windows so they are substantial? That will really help a navy blue look gorgeous.

Also, consider building up above the FP mantel with more moulding and a flat, white wood center on which to hang a painting or mirror.

It looks like it's a pretty large room with some good daylight. I think it would look very nice in navy.

Yay for navy!!! I love when other posters go bold. It is going to be absolutely gorgeous. The furnishings you have chosen thus far will look great, IMO. Architecturally, I would add the molding, as you said you are doing already. SW Naval is a beautiful color. I would do the molding white and then, as you and others have stated, use artwork/mirrors to break up the walls.

Love your new home! Can't wait to see more.

I say go for it!! Everybody needs a nice dose of dark color in their lives. :)

Then again, I did just paint our 'new' house an almost-black grey and a hunter green in two bedrooms, a turquoise in the entry way, and a mid tone grey in the living room...

But especially if you will be adding crown at some point, I really think that will finish the room with a darker color. However, I do not agree that you need to break up with dark colors with lights, whites or creams. If you want to go bold, go bold!

You may want to look at designers like Miles Redd on google or pinterest to see some real color inspiration. I particularly like his way of layering colors to bring depth to a room. Sort of opposite of the 'pops of color' decorating style.

Can't wait to see pictures!!

Oh! And some designer once said that there is no point trying to make a dark room bright.

When I got my second apartment I painted my small bedroom "Park Bench Green" (dark green) because I don't like rules either but it looked like crap. And the only natural light it got was from the alley and a sky light that was covered in leaves. To make matters worse, I spilled the paint and made a mark on the carpet.

I painted it all green though. It might have looked sharp if I did the paint the trim white.

One thing I did learn is that if you live in an old building and the walls have a lot of, shall we say character marks, your best bet is high gloss white.

Another thing: Never use flat paint. It looks nice when it just finished but it doesn't last. You only use flat paint for rooms that no one is allowed to go into and everything is covered in plastic.

A lot of natural light? Ceiling lighting, including recessed lighting? Lamps in all the corners? Light color flooring? I give. ;)

Windows - There are 4 windows in the room. Two on the front (east) wall and two flanking the fireplace wall (south).

You can do whatever you want with wall color. Agree it's going to be stunning.

It's funny because opposite from other comments, I usually only recommend dark colors in rooms where there's plenty of room for it to spread out. Otherwise it creates waves of choppiness around the room and multiple bursts of contrast that I find unsettling. Tiny slice of color, then a window, tiny slice of color, then the door, tiny slice of color then cabinets, etc. IMHO, why bother going to the work of painting a dark color - and it is more work - for bits and pieces of wall space.

Secondly, matte is about as much sheen as I'd ever go for a dark color. Reason is equal part aesthetics and technical.

Aesthetically shiny dark color can look like you were going for a lacquered wall and either couldn't afford the real thing or tried and missed. Additionally, prep has to be flawless. Nothing shows wall imperfections like a dark shiny color.

Technically, high ratios of colorant to base increases the sheen of the final finish. So, even if you chose a matte finish for a navy blue, it's very likely going to be significantly shinier than the same grade/base/sheen in a lighter color.

A name brand, top tier grade in flat or matte will wear just fine.

Whoever does the painting will have to prep really well. And for Naval I would prime with gray first. Even with that, 3 coats might be needed depending on the person painting. Be sure to ask the paint store staff about needing a primer. Sherwin Williams does this thing called Color Prime System that's all about what color primer to use with what color.

Here is a link that might be useful: About Color Prime

Great advice on the priming. I hadn't considered that at all.

I totally agree with funcolors on the use of color in the room. My trim was not optic white but a toned down ivory/beigish (a white that often looked taupe but sometimes khaki). I had brown leather tuxedo sofa, two taupe club chairs, two wing chairs uupholstered in a red on khaki toile. No white furniture in that room. All my furniture cherry and mahogany. Optic white can make the contrast too stark. I just don't like the look.

Also agree with everything funcolors said. Don't add chair railing, it will only chop up the space. I like to use the darkest color blue you are comfortable with so it's not so in your face blue. The color you picked looks good on my monitor but it's hard to tell just how dark it is. I wouldn't go any lighter. I think it will be really pretty!!!

Thanks everyone! We are painting tomorrow. I did some test spots today and it is dark but it looked really good. Also I lied and there are only 3 windows in the room not four.

I'm so excited to see!! Good luck!

I think it will be wonderful.

I painted my dining room a deep, dark blue and I like it. Most people comment in a "I can't believe you did this" way until they dine in there. THEN, they love the atmosphere it creates.

Sometimes the room is suited, sometimes the room's purpose is suited.
I can't wait to see the after photos!

It's going to look great. I miss seeing darker colors on walls.

Please post when you're finished!

This morning I was having second thoughts. DH hated the test samples. BUT we have one coat of primer on that is tinted to the Naval and it is looking amazing!! Thanks for the encouragement. I'll be sure to post pics.

Remember on the other thread what I said about my husband ranting and my painter telling me it looked like a circus. Then after having finished it, my husband bragged to all his friends and the painter wanted to show it to prospective customers. Hang in there, Baby. It's going to be beautiful.

Can not wait to see it!

Recently I spent the night with a friend and her guest bedroom was done in navy. Beautiful!!

What stood out to me the most was the sheen of the paint. It looked like satin. I don't know what brand it was, but the paint job was flawless.

The room had one double window, white moulding and trim, dark furniture, good nighttime lighting, and luxurious off white carpet. It's an upstair room so it was perfect.

There was also a french toilet in the bathroom. I could have stayed there forever! :)

I hope you go for it and agree with everything fun colors said. However, you might want to take my stamp of approval with a grain of salt as it's coming from someone who just recently painted their MBR Farrow and Ball's Black Blue (not only the walls but the ceiling too!) and her DS1's room Farrow and Ball's Railings. So I guess I have a thing for dark rooms. Note: the FandB colors were color matched by Sherwin Williams.

I also think your gold accents will be great. That was my original direction in the MBR, but as I couldn't find or afford what I could find my original concept has changed. Good luck and keep us posted!

Here is what we did in our Living Room:
I've made a few minor changes since this was taken. Put a different table between the two chairs, still in the hunt for a large, round ottoman to tuck under the piano. Also need a pair of lumbar pillows for the two chairs. But at least it gives you an idea of the gold and blue combo.

Janice - Thank you! My curtains are almost identical to yours. They look beautiful in your room. You have to tell me about that light fixture. It is to die for!

I've already made my pro-dark message on this thread...

But I'm loving the members pictures of their dark rooms!! Keep them coming!!

Thanks!

I have actually considered going a shade darker. The color is "Summer Nights" by BM.

The light is from Horchow. I've never purchased a light fixture w/o seeing it in person. Thankfully, we are so happy with it. Really makes the room and looks fabulous at night.

Here is the black hallway in my old house: it got almost no natural light at all and painted white, as it had been, it just looked dreary:

As funcolors said, it needs to "spread out". I converted the linen closet to a jib door and painted it the wall color and finish rather than have another white door so close to the bathroom door:

The staircase had been added previously, but we modified the enclosure around it and sheathed it in wood to separate it from the historic part of the architecture it was cut through. I didn't want the handrails to be obvious, so they were black, too.

The artwork and dark, steep stairs (nothing could be done with the stairs anyway) were potentially a bit unnerving, but few people ever went up to the bedrooms, and when it was for sale we asked every realtor that showed it if they would take down the artwork and paint over the black and only one said yes. The buyer kept it black and hung his own art.

That is a stunnah!

I agree with fun colours and palimpsest. Dark trim works with dark colours. We have dark wood trim and I used to try to paint the walls a light colour, but it always looked choppy. When I finally took the plunge to a dark colour it created a wonderful flow.

We don't get much natural light and our old house has no where to put lighting except one chandelier at a far end. But still it works. We did do lighter furnishings, but one of my favourite blue rooms was the cover of House Beautiful and, if I recall correctly, it was dark blue everywhere - walls and furnishings. I also remember being struck by a gorgeous blue room in a the French movie, "la lectrice" where the bed, window covering, floor and walls were all blue with a hint of gold (altho I may be mis remembering since it has been years since I've seen this fhis film - and quite frankly with my memory, it could have been another film altogether :)

Here is a link that might be useful: blue room house beautiful

My cobalt kitchen ... love color! My family room is teal, bathroom is turquoise and just painted my bedroom a lighter turquoise.