How to use dark paint colors in any room

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of VELUX Skylights. All opinions are 100% mine.

Examples of how to use dark paint colors in any room, and what other elements you’ll need to make a dark color work in ANY space!

Moody, dark paint colors and trending in a BIG way.  While some are embracing it, some people are also a little on the fence.  I’m hearing a lot of questions like: Will it make my room feel smaller?  Won’t it look depressing?  Won’t that only work in a big space? I’m answering all of your questions about using dark paint colors today!  I’m obsessed and I think you might get there too… 

 

Using dark paint colors on the wall:

I love my neutral wall colors, but I love them balanced with deep and dark wall colors too.  I personally love to have a balance of rooms with dark colors.  For example, if you walk from the front of my first floor to the back, the rooms go in this order: office, family room, kitchen, half bathroom.  We have a neutral light gray on our office walls, a deep dark gray in the family room, and then a light greige in the kitchen, but then I use a very dark navy in the bathroom.  It gives our eyes a little rest, as well as some visual interest as we flow through the rooms. The other thing to consider when you put dark paint on the walls is your use of CONTRAST.  This will look different in every home, but here are some of my favorite examples of high contrast with dark walls:

• Use board & batten (or another wall treatment – beadboard, shiplap, etc.) on the top or bottom portion of the wall.  
  • By using a wall treatment like this, you’re adding architectural interest, but also really high contrast.  This helps to break up a large dark wall and provides a nice balance in the room.
  • I have used white on the bottom of a wall and a deep dark color on the top, but I’ve seen it done beautifully when it’s revered and white is on the wall up top!
• Do one dark statement wall
  • If you’re not ready to commit to a whole dark room, consider picking one statement wall.  Some of my favorite examples of this are:
    • The wall behind a bed
    • The wall with a TV
    • The wall with the sink/mirror in the bathroom.

We used this dark moody green in the top half of our bathroom, and white shiplap on the bottom:

 

The importance of natural light

Many people shy away from dark paint colors because they worry it will make their room feel smaller.  I can tell you that it can actually do the opposite! 

When you paint a wall dark, it give the illusion that the wall goes farther than it really does, and it can create kind of an optical illusion effect. 

One of the things that really helps with this effect is the presence of natural light in your room.  If the room doesn’t get natural light, then a dark paint color might not be something you’d implement in your home.  

The really nice thing about this problem is that it is something you could potentially change about your room! If the room doesn’t get much natural light or even if it has windows, but the natural light doesn’t get very far into the interior of the room, consider adding skylights. Even if it’s an interior room without windows, a skylight could be the perfect solution!

We’re currently working on our family room makeover, and if it didn’t have enough natural light in it, I would absolutely be researching how we could add skylights to our space. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but the technology behind VELUX skylights is crazy advanced!  They even have sensors now that close the skylight if it rains. You really have to read all about their solar powered skylights and the technology behind them – I’m 100% impressed (read about it here: VELUX No Leak Solar Powered Fresh Air Skylights)

Here’s our design plan/mood board for our family room – as you can see, we’re totally embracing the dark moody colors!  I can’t WAIT to share more!  Make sure you’re following along on Instagram to see all of our progress along the way!

 

Warm it up:

Some people worry that using a dark color in your room might make that space feel cold or depressing.  I think it can actually do quite the opposite!  But you’ll need to intentionally warm it up.  Adding warmth to your dark paint color will help to give it a cozier feeling.  Here are some of my favorite ideas:

• Incorporate warm wood tones
  • This is my favorite combination – dark rich colors + contrasting white + warm wood tones
  • Add wood tones through furniture, reclaimed wood elements, or even decor accents like picture frames or mirrors.
• Warm metallics
  • If you’d like to add some metallic touches to your room, consider some warmer ones like aged brass or brushed gold.
  • I personally love matte metals or ones that have less sheen, so it helps to add to the coziness factor.
• Blinds
  • If you decided to add skylights, check out the blinds options!  In the kitchen below, they matched the blinds with the hardware to balance the dark colors used on the cabinet and backsplash.
• Don’t forget the greenery!
  • Finishing off the space with a pop of greenery can really help to add a little bit or life to any space, and looks so beautiful with the dark paint color.

 

Half subway tiles, warm gold toned mirror, and greenery in a woven basket…all the elements balance each other in our small bathroom!

 

Start small:

If you’re STILL intimidated by using dark paint in your home, start small!  Consider painting a piece of furniture, a small nook, or a door in a dark color.  Don’t worry – dark paint will always look streaky when you have just one coat on!  The true magic happens with the second coat.  I bet that once you add that dark contrast in small doses, you may just want to add some to your walls as well.

We love our dark painted door in our kitchen – it added the perfect amount of contrast in this space!

 

I hope that gave you some more confidence to consider adding a dark paint color in your home!  When you’re planning your next room makeover, don’t forget the above tips, especially the one about adding skylights for abundant natural light.  It’s just a huge impact on any space, whether you use dark paint colors or not!  You can click here to Find a skylight installer in your area and see if it would work in your space.

You can also enter to win the giveaway for 2 skylights and installation from VELUX in YOUR home!  Only 2 days left to enter! How amazing would that be?  Check out the giveaway here and enter to win!