Black and white debate

Posted on Thu, 31 Jul 2008 by KiM

Ashley of the blog Free Form emailed with a bedroom decor problem: “I am moving to a new apartment and thought I should really concentrate on decorating my bedroom. I kind of have my room in black and white right now but I didn’t do a great job if it. So I am wondering, do you think I should try and revamp the Black and White theme or scratch it for colours?” She posted on her blog some inspiration she found for black and white and also did one with colour. I say if you’ve got black and white going on and you like it (except the execution of it) then work with what you have. Since I don’t know what Ashley’s working with, I went through my photo stash and found photos of predominantly black and white bedrooms. I do like the idea of introducing a colour (pale pink, pale blue, acid yellow…), or even just some timber pieces added in to soften the look.

I think my favourite inspiration would have to be Erin of Design for Mankind‘s bedroom below. The wall colour tones down the harshness of the black and white and is perfect for a bedroom.

Apartment Therapy Fox Nahem Design
House and Home Living Etc.
BoConcept House Beautiful
Denby Dowling Tommaso Ziffer
Western Interiors Boris Breuer
Charles Allem Design28
Jay Jeffers Jen Fong
Omniarte Remi Tessier
Omniarte Sköna hem

Poppy says:

Although all the pics are beautiful, I just don’t get a feeling of ” I want to lie down and relax/sleep” in any of these rooms. Black and White always seems so edgy…and hard.. not for a bedroom in my opinion… scratch it for soothing neutrals on the walls..if you have black furniture, a soothing neutral on the walls or very pale blue would be nice…

Martine says:

I just restyled my bedroom and decided to go for a black wallpaper behind my bed. I love it! To me it feels like sleeping in a luxureus hotelroom. At first I was afraid it might be too dark, since it’s only a small room, but it’s still very bright and spacious, because I mixed it with whites and taupe. If you like, you can look at some pictures here: http://flickr.com/photos/27928557@N07/2720452758/in/set-72157606473092039/

I have b&w in my bedroom and had teamed it with red and taupe/tan but now I've just bought some vintage Vera curtains and they're in various greens. That's why I like b&w on a budget. You can change out your room with just a few accent colour changes. Time to start repainting some furniture.

Martine BEAUTIFUL room!!!!

kim. says:

Jo – you bought those crazy eBay curtains?? LOL! And Martine – I LOVE your bedroom!!!

KIM— You are such a dear. This is a great post, and I’m glad my bedroom could be put to use! 🙂

And Poppy— I totally understand your thoughts. I was against black/white, but didn’t have the budget to do anything else, and I’m super cozy in the room. You’d be surprised! 🙂

Poppy says:

Hope you did not think i was being too negative… I personally have a very stressful job, my bedroom is my place to go and pass out! I am sure you will do a great job!!!

Martine says:

Jo and Kim, thank you so much for your compliments. I am new at putting my photo’s on the web, so it’s great to get such a positive response right away. You put a big smile on my face :))!

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