How to pull off a black bathroom
Go over to the dark side with a room that’s glamorous, not goth
A black bathroom delivers loads of drama and sophistication, but it’s got to be done right so it doesn’t feel like you’re showering in a dungeon.
We put together some tips that’ll make your bathroom the most stylish room in the house. Mix and match dark and light colours
If you’re considering making black the main colour in a bathroom, balance is key. That means being strategic and not choosing black for every wall and washcloth.
“Combine black with lighter colours,” says interior designer Katia Bates, owner and creative director of Innovative Creations, in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
“For example, if the walls are black, you could do the shower and floor in a light marble with grey veining.”
Add pops of other hues and textures like a brushed nickel towel bar and fluffy white towels.
Pick the right shade of paint
If you’re painting the walls, To use black most effectively, find ways to bring in light, whether natural or reflected. you can’t just go into a store and ask for a couple of cans of black paint. (Benjamin Moore, for example, offers more than 50 different shades, from Gravel Gray to Deep Caviar.)
Some black paints have chocolate undertones, which create a sense of warmth; others have grey undertones, which exude a cool ambience.
Avoid jet black, which will look heavy and dull. When buying paint, get a glossy finish rather than matte — it’s another way to help light bounce around the room, says Bates.
When painting walls, make sure they’re perfectly smooth because any bump or paint drip will be more pronounced when reflected light hits it.
Consider tile or wallpaper
Besides paint and marble, other textiles work well in a black bathroom. Tile, the classic bathroom material, and wallpaper, which is a very hot these days, each guarantees the walls won’t look flat and dull. You can tile or wallpaper every wall or do a combination of wallpaper and tile, or paint and wallpaper, or tile and paint.
Brighten things up
To use black most effectively, find ways to bring in light, whether natural or reflected. If the bathroom has a window, sunlight will do a good job of brightening up the space.
For fixtures like faucets and vanity handles, pick a highly reflective metal that will bounce off the dark colour and provide additional light.
“Any metal will work very well,” says Bates, “except wrought iron, which is too dark. You could do one metal like brass, which warms up the room, or do a combination such as brass and polished brass, or go with polished nickel or stainless steel.”
Put on a light show
Replace a dated light fixture with something more modern, such as a clear crystal chandelier with bright bulbs. Or install sconces, which Bates likes for the way they enhance the beauty of a room in subtle way.