All Blue Everything

                                                                   Source: Elle Décor

 The idea of painting with a dark color is daunting all by itself, let alone deciding to paint every surface in the room that dark color is just scary! We all see the magazine pictures and think "No way is that real life!" But you would be surprised how many designer homes have one room that is painted a dark moody color from top to bottom. Whether it's an office, library or maybe a powder room, using a dark color is risky. But you have to remember it's just paint that can easily be changed. Three things to consider are the amount of light in the room, the sheen of the paint, and the millwork of the room. If your room has a lot of natural light or is a smaller space with layers of lighting like an overhead fixture with wall sconces, then you are safe to paint with whatever dark color you like. The amount of light in the room will help offset that moody feeling when you may not necessarily want it. The sheen of the paint plays a big part in how the light is reflected off the paint color. Like in the inspiration photo above, you will notice a high gloss was chosen to reflect the light beautifully. The number of wall details you have will also affect the color of the room since all the moldings cast shadows and change color depending on where you look. For example in the above photo, you will see inside the bookcase looks almost black in comparison to the cabinet doors below which look very blue. 
Painting an entire room a bold color is a risk but in the end, you will end up with a room that appears large and stately, like a warm hug you want to sit in!

2/28/2023