Scared of the dark? Don’t be. I’ve got your 4 reasons to not be right here:
Fear of the dark is a very real thing. No I’m not talking about nighttime and monsters under the bed: I’m speaking of painting your walls a dark colour. Even the thought of doing so conjures up irrational fears in others. Dark colors get a bad wrap in interior design but they don’t have to. We are going to dispel some myths about “the dark” and shed some light on why it can enhance your home’s interior.
You’ve probably already got a few concerns swirling around in your mind:
What if: ,..it encloses the room? ,.. feels too heavy? ,…soaks up all the light from windows?
I can dispel these myths and fears right now:
Myth Buster #1: Dark colours enclose a room:
Dark colours don’t always enclose a room. As a matter of fact, it may even expand a room by wiping out any borders we see such as where walls meet ceilings or floors. Dark room can give focus on things such as views from a window, acting as a virtual frame for the beauty that takes us beyond a room’s borders. The key to many a dark painted interior is Gloss paint, and that brings me to the next Myth:
Pro Tip: When painting a room in a dark tone, use a satin to semi gloss paint to help reflect the light back into the room – keeping a balance to the atmosphere even though a dark tone exists.
Myth Buster #2: Dark Colours are heavy:
If you use darker tones in your interior the correct way, they will never feel heavy as much as they will feel grounded. For some of us, it will even have a cocooning effect that can calm our senses and bring us back to center. The key to keeping a dark coloured interior from being heavy is to make it glossy. Use of a gloss paint will reflect light from any source and bounce it back into the room.
Myth #3: Dark Colours are drab:
Have you ever tried searching for that perfect little black dress but nothing was “black” enough? Or the richness of your favorite garments have started to fade with repeated washings? You’re not alone in being disappointed when there isn’t enough colour in the things we gravitate to in our wardrobes. When it comes to dark and dramatic tones, we actually do not crave the “darkness” of a colour, we crave the intensity of it. The saturation of it. There has been study after study in the fashion world that the saturation a deep navy has been found to be more desirable than a lighter, more washed out version.
Pro Tip #2: Intensity of hue can make any dark colour exciting.
Myth #4: Dark colours are depressing
Black, gray, navy and hunter green have all been given a bad wrap; yes, dark colors do represent depression in many ways, but it’s not the fault of the colour itself. Colour is colour; you either like a certain colour or you don’t. All white rooms have been shown to make people feel just as uncomfortable as all black rooms. So if that’s the case, why blame certain tones in the spectrum as depressing? The key to making sure that a dark room isn’t depressing is to create harmony in colour. What I mean by that is creating a colour story like the image above where hues of soft earthy paprikas and red ochres create a calm, not depressing, interior. This is an example of the cocooning effect displayed to perfection. But an opposite or complimentary colour from the walls can have a lively effect like the image below – making sure that there’s no room for solemness in this interior.
So the lesson here is: If you want to be afraid of the dark, remember, it’s only in your mind. Dark can be, and is, lovely in many an interior designed room.