Trends - Dark Paint for Walls

I was saying to a friend the other day that trends will naturally start to move to darker colours after so many years of everything being clean and white. People need to see something different.  I have always loved dark rich red - as I've mentioned several times (here and here), red is one of my go-to colours.  Apparently everyone is talking about the trends toward darker colours for walls, even here in Scandinavia.  What's my take on this Scandinavian move to such unfamiliar territory?  I don't see it lasting very long.  The winters are simply too long and too dark for Scandinavians to be able to live surrounded by dark walls without going crazy.  No one, however, can argue with the dynamic look that can be achieved with a deep rich colour in the walls.  So let's take a look at some great dark coloured spaces.

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This kitchen has dark floors, cabinets and ceiling yet because of the heavy lacquer, it reflects light beautifully.

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The white furniture and accents in this space help offset the darker colours on the wall.

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The Asian influences here are many and I absolutely love this space.  Everything works seamlessly together, from the grid accents of the wall panel to the curved legs of the table

 and the playful plants.

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The blue walls here work very nicely with the natural wood elements and the brown chair. 

 

 

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Now let's look at dark bathrooms.  Even in the smallest bathroom, with or without windows, dark walls seem to work.  Here are a few of my favorites.

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If you are going to go with purple, go all the way!



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Simple.  Although I think I would have gone with a white toilet seat.  I generally don't like decorating with words or sayings but the quality and size of these letters save it from looking cheesy.

 

 

 

 

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The best for last!  The walls are rich, with art from floor to ceiling.  A nice quality rug over deep wood floors (not enough people realize that wood floors in a bathroom is often better than tile, especially if you live in a cold climate - like Sweden.  But that's a blog for another day.)  This look is super easy, relatively inexpensive and anyone can do it.