Black Is The New Brown (and Chrome and White)

I’m surprised I’ve not covered this before now, as it’s one of the main themes of the house. In fact I toyed with The House in Black (or similar) as a name for the blog. But much as I love him I didn’t want to be mistaken for a Johnny Cash tribute site.

It was a bit to do with Pinterest , in part inspired by the glam anthracite grey exterior of a friend’s house,  and a lot to do with rejecting white plastic and chrome. But basically a really high proportion of the core fixtures and fittings are black.

For the floors, the driver was that we wanted boards rather than carpet, we wanted them to be affordable (so pine not hardwood) but we didn’t want that nasty orangey yellow tone that pine is prone to take. The options were a limewash (which felt impractically pale), paint or a black stain. I’d had black painted floors in my old flat so I knew they didn’t darken a space in the way you might expect. In fact they act a little like a mirror and also provide a very effective frame for a pale toned rug.

Continuing the framing theme, the windows are also black. Black windows are all over the interiors media right now: they’re meant to make more of a feature out of the views.

Once I’d started I couldn’t stop, and radiators, curtain rails, sockets and light switches all followed. Some things were easier to source than others – it’s very hard to find a non-antiqued black door handle, but a company called Atlantic make a decent range of modern designs.Curtain rails were another challenge. Too many had some bits in black but with brackets, or stops only available in white or metal. In the end I bought a Silent Gliss range from The Curtain Pole & Track Company who also custom cut and bent the tracks to measurements I supplied for the bays – all turned around within a week.

In the bathrooms shelves, soap dispensers, loo roll holders, brushes and bins all follow the theme.

I love it, and it feels absolutely right for the space. But, given it’s also “on trend”, I’d love to know now whether I’ll still be loving it in ten or twenty years time.