My bedroom is Valspar's Urban Pulse (a brownish charcoal with purplish undertones) and my drapes are bronzy colored. Looks pretty lived in - haven't made the bed at all this week and just took the coverlet off to change to a lighter summer one.

Decoenthusiaste - Love it! It looks like three completely different paint colors on my monitor. The first photo is the one that looks like what you described. Love that color. I painted a wall in my staircase a similar color - maybe a tad darker. That is the same color I am thinking of for my laundry/reading room (like yours but darker). I am thinking of doing that color with bright yellow chairs. Here is my mockup of what I have so far.

This is my before:

This is the mockup of my after:

palimpsest - I am not planning on selling anytime soon but my guess is that my house is not most peoples style and that's ok with me. I definitely don't have muted grey, pottery barn taste. But when the time does come around to sell, my guess is there will be someone out there who appreciates my taste in decor. You only need one buyer when that time rolls around!

I love your plan, I think go for it, you'll enjoy it if it's your thing, you'll enjoy it a lot

(and I love the rooms posted above)

that's my daughter's room..brownish purple

I'm not sure this photo captures the color correctly but I love it so much I used it in our master closet too-just for the sake of seeing it more

I also have a quite dark muted green powder room but it's too tiny to take a pic of it

aprilneverends - I recall seeing your room in another post. There is so much texture in your room. The bedspread, the tapestry. Love that tapestry. I am going to go for it. It seems I have a gazillion projects going right now but I think I might try and paint the laundry room tomorrow. We will see...

Mockup looks like fun! My paint does change color depending on lighting. Those were night pix with just a pair of lamps turned on. The beige shades on them have an influence too.

My bedroom. Hallway painted grey - bedroom charcoal. I love it!

retraite2012 -- fantastic color combo. It looks very elegant. It seems from the photo that your room gets a ton of light. Looks awesome.

Here is ours -- our living room -- painted in 1989. It's dark green and a Sherwin Williams Color -- I repainted it in 2000 and have only touched it up since. I had to chip off some paint for a color match so I don't know what color it is. I like it for it is definitely a cozy room.

Martha Scott - Very nice. I just read that your shade of green is the "it" color for 2018. Love the ceiling.

Yes, my first floor guest room. It's painted with Farrow & Ball's "Pelt". I love it!

Can't find a picture - if I do, I'll post it.

Homechef59 - I LOVE that color. Your room looks fantastic.

Sheeisback - I love it. It has surprised me how many people on houzz have this shade, or similar. I love when people decide to step out on a limb with their decor.

i'm getting ready to have my small office painted... its the smallest of the 5 bedrooms, just one window. im waffling between pacific rim and calypso blue... i think in the end i'll flip a coin.

i know they don't look 'dark enough' on a chip but an actual room always looks a shade darker when its painted, and i want color to be apparent and not read as black.

I wish I had some pictures for you. We did a really dark stormy ocean blue on top of white tall wainscotting I made. In my theater, I did dark red with black crown and trim. It was super dark but it was for movies. My dining room was lightened up by the wainscoting though. Here is a picture of the dining room with a red before I repainted it. The carpet is a dark grey indoor/outdoor carpet. We are pretty hard on the house and I figured it would be realistic to account for that rather than pretend a regular carpet would do. After I put it in my theater and had it for a year, I was super impressed with how durable and better it was than regular carpet. Not to mention it is super cheap and requires no pad. It made it much nicer feeling than tile and much easier IMO. This room has since been destroyed and is now part of a giant open kitchen though. The top was a dark blue when I redid it. It was a custom color that I mixed at work. The red was a standard dark red color but it looks lighter due to the natural lighting, strong LED bulbs in the fixture, and a lot of white. I put a black pub table in the room under the light.

The theater was a long time ago and I wasn't so great about taking pictures. Here is one with the walls mostly painted. I painted the ceiling dark red too, put black crown molding, black indoor/outdoor carpet, moving posters, and black curtains. It would be entirely stifling as a normal room. After I got rid of the theater, I redid this into the master bedroom and it is all white. White on white on white with tan carpet.

I can't imagine using a dark color as anything other than an accent or with a large amount of white trim. Then again, I have a tiny little house.

ilikefriday -- what old is new again?

I went with chocolate, dark red, dark blue, copper, and wood floors when I bought the house but I liked the clean look of white and greys, so we repainted the whole house. My bathroom is dusty miller, that is the darkest color in my house at the moment. Though I do have an entire kitchen of dark wood cabinets.

Our bedroom is still very much a work in progress- needs new trim, new bedframe, coffee tables, etc. But it is BM Stormy Monday and we love it. Looks a little purple and much lighter in daylight, but becomes a dark cave at night. We were inspired by this Ikea display.

Yes I did my whole apartment in Black, white and Gold, you have to pick strategic places to use the black and gold so it is not too dark and overwhelming and accents to make the contrast stand out

My den is Ralph Lauren scholar green.

I didn't read all the comments but I do want to just say thanks to everyone for posting the pictures of their beautiful homes.

ilikefriday you'll pull off a black room! I can't wait to see the After :)

1/2 black in a 4x5 powder room.

Anglophilia - I hope you come across that photo. I would love to see it!

ninigret - A few days ago someone posted a powder room that had a ton of molding. I think the walls and the ceiling were both done in a similar color. It looked amazing.

David Roberson - I have a tiny house too. I like lots of drama in my decor. I think an entire room painted a dark color offers that. But, I can appreciate an accent wall too. That's what I did with my staircase. I crave color. I want it all around me. Bright, vibrant colors. Light, pale rooms with muted decor drain the life out of me.

ElleN - My monitor does not show purple at all. It shows all grey. Most greys I could never live with but this one I could. Your room is very nicely done.

roarah - That blue is gorgeous. I love that color. I want to copy you. I have got to get rid of all these white walls... They make me feel like I am living in a mental hospital!

David Roberson - You made me chuckle. An entire kitchen of dark wood cabinets. You would detest my house.

Anthony Perez - You have posted the kind of photos that make me crave more. From what I can see your house looks amazing. What I am really interested in is that first photo. It appears to be a black wall but there are hinges on both sides, or at least that's what it looks like to me. VERY interesting.

Richard Dollard - Beautiful room. My guess is you are the kind of man who has a house full of very interesting and unique pieces.

lindsey - I sure am going to try and pull it off. If it turns out to be a flop I will just paint over it. I can't wait to get started. My goal is to get the walls done by this evening. Problem is that I haven't even stepped a foot into that room today and already the time is approaching noon. No worries. Paint dries fast!

janetmm59 - What if I cant hold it? LOL. Very cool color. Also a very cool vanity. A sewing machine? One of the things I love to do most in life is to repurpose items that I no longer need.

ilikefriday Thanks, it is actually an apartment, the wall you mention is in the foyer right across from the elevator as you enter the apartment, it is the very first thing that you see, and I did leave the door and door frames white, and it works for me, as with any color scheme, if you only have one color, it tends to disappear

This picture (of someone else's room) shows the purple a bit more. But it is definitely a gray. PS it's called storm, I always confuse it with our guest room color which is called Stormy Monday.

I say go for it. If you dont like it repaint it. My family and friends had a fit, when I said, I was painting all the white woodwork in this house semi gloss black. White woodwork is good for those that like it, but, I absolutely cannot live with it, so black it became little by little. I have been happy with it since the day I did it, a few years ago now. As for wall color, I dont think black would be for me, but, if its for you, go for it. I am the queen of turquoise for my walls, and have shades of it, in most of my rooms. No beige in this house ever. Turquoise and bright colorful stuff makes me happy, and at my age, happy is important. :-)

I have 3 rooms in the house painted "almost black". My purple bedroom, a blue dining room and a green bathroom. When I give the rooms "colors" it is being really generous; they are all shades of black, tinted in those colors.

We were surprised at how much we liked these dark colors, but the rooms were rather large for their purpose with lots of natural and artificial light, and we felt it gave them extra drama...the rest of the house is mostly light taupes and sagey greens.

Here is our bedroom (its not done, ignore the curtains!), I'll need to see if I can dig up the other two rooms. These pictures make it look more blue than purple, likely was the lighting/camera playing tricks.

Dining room (sorry, crummy shot, will find better and post later)

Master bath (needs new finishes, but the paint bought us a few years!)

Cheers,

Andy

ElleN - Now I can see the purple in the last photo you posted. Its a very nice color. I think it would look great in a bathroom.

cat_ky - I am drawn to black, glossy molding, black trim around windows, and black interior doors. When deciding what to do with my laundry room, I also had another direction I was thinking of that included thick, black, glossy molding. I love the molding in this photo but the problem with this room is that it is still void of color. And I agree, happy is indeed important. I would love to see photos of your black woodwork.

Andyman - I love that, shades of black tinted in different colors. Please share photos of your blue dining room and green bathroom. Your bedroom is very nicely done.

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I started my painting project today. My goal was to be finished by this evening but life got in the way. Tomorrow...

Great thread! I love dark and moody rooms. My bedroom is newburg green. It's only 11x11 with big windows and plenty of furniture so not much blank wall space. I like the cozy feel and contrast with my wood furniture. Here's a not great photo, hard to get a good pic with the light:

We painted our brick fireplace wall black. More than a few people thought we were crazy when we told them what we were going to do, but they all liked how it looked when it was done. We were (and still are) very happy with the way it turned out.

I really like how that black masonry fireplace wall turned out. It looks really sharp.

caligirl5 - I swear that room looks blue on my monitor. Not a hint of green. None the less it looks totally awesome!

cat_mom - I think this might be one the best painted brick fireplaces I have seen. I think it looks hot!

Thanks homechef59 and ilikefriday! You might appreciate it even more when you see how it looked before:

I think there's a time and a place for dark colored walls. I think it lends itself to spaces that call for dark moody sophistication. So places like dining rooms, master bedrooms, a lounge, a library, a study, even an office or an entry way. I would not do dark colors in spaces that should look "clean" like kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms. And wherever there are dark colors, there needs to be plenty of contrast or it's just going to look too dark. And by contrast I don't mean just a light color, but in anything that will jump off of that dark color.

I have a black guest bedroom with white furniture and its beautiful.

cat_mom - Wow. What a spectacular transformation! I really love your after.

MS Colours - my jaw has dropped. Love it. Is it lacquer? I'm not sure. LOVE IT!

Cpaul1- Dang. I don't think I have ever given that much thought to my decorating but you are probably right. I have NEVER thought of moody sophistication until you just mentioned it. I'm more of a just moody kind of gal.... Lol! I probably should pause and think about that other part I guess. Seriously I should. No black in bathrooms? I have failed... But, but, but... I love it so much.

On the other hand, maybe my staircase is ok. Because its the entryway to both my upstairs and downstairs??? Just depends on which direction you're coming or going. Maybe???????

Claire Pope- I adore beautiful black and white bedrooms. I would love to see a photo of yours!

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I love all these rooms and comments. I never expected to see so many. Please keep them coming!

After thinking about it for half a second, from this point forward I'm changing my screen name. While Friday is my favorite day of the week, I am now going to be Moody Rule Breaker. That's who I am, really down to my core. Good or disastrous that's just me when it comes to decor. Often times it leans more towards disastrous. Mr. Friday (oops, I guess he gets a name change too... ) Mr. Rule Breaker would definitely agree ... Cpaul1- you just made me realize that. Thanks! ;-)

Check out our glacé project. All work is completed with Fine Paints of Europe brilliant

I just stumbled across a display at our local ACE for "Benjamin Moore Century" and all the colors are so rich and bold and beautiful. Has anyone used these colors before?

Century is the line to compete with Farrow & Ball. I have only seen one colour on a wall in person,it was great. Rich like a fabric and very deep. I think it is full spectrum? I know it is $$$$$$. Colour fanatics can also buy Donald Kaufmann's pigments and then have them mixed at BM in the correct base. Rather too many option$$$$$$.

They had a sample board and it felt soft like velvet. They only had the tiniest pots on display and I'm sure they were lots of money. Maybe one day I can justify it for a piece of furniture?

I likefriday, here are a couple of pictures of the black trim. Both these rooms have aqua walls, but for some reason today, they are coming out tan looking.

This is our entryway, painted in a velvety dark blue

IF one wall is mostly windows and/or patio doors, it will work well; otherwise, perhaps not so much. Consider a dark cobalt blue instead of black.

Let us know how it turns out.

Everything in my house is being redone but I loved my kitchen and dining room. I'm going a different direction after about 10 years of these bold colors. It's only paint and it can really set the mood. Old pics

This Japanese screen belonged to my grandmother and is coming to live with me. I'm thinking of painting my dining room that cool greenish blue. Not dark but certainly not neutral :D

cat_ky - Those black doors are really hot. - That might be my next project for upstairs.

Marta - Love the contrast of the navy with the white. Also love that light fixture. Are those shades of red I see in your rug or is that hot pink?

suezbell - The color that I selected is not completely black but it does look black at certain times of the day. Its the same color as is on the staircase walls above. I am pretty much done with painting the walls. I have two sets of bifold doors in the room and I need to paint those. I am going to paint those in a light bluish green color and add molding to them. I ordered curtains that are supposed to be delivered on Thursday and after I get the doors painted and the curtains up I plan on posting my after photo. My biggest concern is the closet door color. I'm not certain how that is going to look as there won't be much of that color anywhere else in the room and I already have quite a few different colors going on. We will see...

alex9179 - I love bold colors. My home is filled with bold colors. I really like the yellow door with the dark walls. I have bright yellow in my plan. Beautiful dog and the photo with the little boy playing with the dog is adorable.

Congratulations for stepping over to the dark side! LOL

My advice is to use it sparingly but purposefully. I love using it paired with lots of white or light colors then adding pops of color for interest and creating depth. Have fun with it and happy decorating!

Congratulations for stepping over to the dark side! LOL

My advice is to use it sparingly but purposefully. I love using it paired with lots of white or light colors then adding pops of color for interest and creating depth. Have fun with it and happy decorating!

TreborFael - Yes I have stepped over to the dark side! My problem is with that one word. ----Sparingly---- Uggggg. I don't do that well..... I will have to learn. Maybe ;-)

Here is my stab at stepping into the dark side with wall paint. It's not completely done but these photos will give you a pretty good idea.

Before:

After:

There are still some things that need to be done including lots of paint touchups Also in that middle photo the art is just my placeholder. I think I am going to use those same frames but replace what is in them with black and white drawings. I am also going to get rid of that vase and replace it with a potted plant. I still have curtain panels to hang but I can't find the rest of my little doodads that are needed to attach them to the rings. Anyway, they are too long and need to be hemmed. Also, they are a bit wrinkled but I'm not so worried about that. They will eventually fall out.

In the last photo with the bifold doors, I added those rings that you put on the ceiling to decorate around chandeliers and then added fake knobs in the middle. Something I had been wanting to try that I saw on Pinterest. I think I want the round thing to be bigger so I will add to it to sort of beef it up. Didn't realize until I added them that those two sets of doors are different sizes...

There is no yellow in the room other than the chairs. Not sure how I feel about that. Those chairs started their life as green but I painted them. So if I decide to go with a different color they are easy enough to change. Not quite finished with touchups on them either so don't look too close.

I think my after gives me lots more color and a ton more drama. It will make for a more interesting space to be in while I read a book or sit down at my extra long table and fold laundry ( washer, dryer, and linen closet are behind the bifold doors). But why am I kidding myself? Really I just shove the laundry in the closet and pretend that it's folded then with all the time I save I sit back in my yellow chairs and leisurely sip a cup of coffee while reading a good book... or I spend the time thinking of more crazy things to do to my house ;-)