The 1940s bedroom offerred plenty of room for ruffles and frills.
Using black and white as a bedroom color scheme is both daring and practical. It's daring in the sense that it creates huge contrast with two very bold colors, but it's practical in that it will accept any color accessories if you decide to redecorate. The most important factor is to consider your goals for the room. Decide whether you want to create balance between the two colors or if one will be dominant. Take practical considerations into account. A white rug won't be white for long if you have pets, and overusing black can make a small room feel depressing. Planning is the most important part of the process here -- the actual doing is only as complicated as you make it.
Instructions
1. Consider the size of the room and its natural light. Larger rooms can handle more black, while smaller rooms are better off emphasizing white. Lots of black can make a darker room seem cozy, but more white can make it feel lighter. Matte surfaces absorb light, while glossy surfaces reflect light to make the room feel brighter and larger.
2. Decide just how vintage you want to get. Decor from the 1960s and '70s uses plenty of gloss and shine, while '30s and '40s decor uses more muted finishes. Art Deco looks from the '20s play glossy lacquer furniture off subdued matte or eggshell walls.
3. Paint the walls first. Only very large rooms can handle four black walls, so decide carefully. If all-white walls feels too plain, consider painting one wall black or painting black below a chair rail. White trim in a slightly glossier finish is more subtle, but black adds emphasis to interesting trim and creates a visual line around the room. If the only trim is basic woodwork around windows and doors, white is usually best. Decor from the '30s did a lot with stripes on the walls, but don't attempt this unless you are very patient and have plenty of painter's tape. Consider the wallpaper option as well -- there is wallpaper available from every era, so explore online and in stores to find your perfect look, including black-and-white stripes.
4. Consider bringing a high ceiling further into the room by painting it black -- tray ceilings look especially "mod" when the raised center contrasts the lower soffits and walls. For a less dramatic effect, use a high-gloss white to reflect light off the ceiling without visually lowering it. If you're doing a '30s look, consider lining your ceiling with thermoplastic reproductions of sculpted tin panels available at hardware stores. Low ceilings should be a matte white to allow them to visually recede.
5. Place your furniture. The contrast of black furniture against white walls is what makes the black-and-white color scheme look so dramatic. Use gloss for a "mod" look or a subdued stain for a look from an earlier era. Thrift shops have plenty of black or white lacquer furniture from the '80s that works well with an Art Deco look. Looks from the '30s and '40s should be a more subtle matte stain.
6. Add linens. If your furniture is all black, your bedding should be snow white for contrast. Decor from the '60s and '70s emphasized low beds with clean lines and minimal decor, while beds from the '30s and '40s had plenty of ruffles and pillows. Choose curtains to contrast with the walls they hang near. If the room still looks a bit plain at this point, consider a print fabric for the windows; otherwise use solids.
7. Pick out your hardware. Chrome lamps, switch plates, hinges and drawer pulls are perfect for a '60s or '70s feel, but looks from earlier eras can also pull off antiqued silver or gold. Bronze and copper are generally too warm to mesh with a black-and-white room. Whatever metal you choose, make sure every bit in the room is the same color and finish for cohesiveness.
8. Add accessories as needed and fine-tune the room. Play around with the balance between black and white and be careful not to make the room too busy. The rule of thumb is to pare it down to the most basic look then remove one more thing. Otherwise, the contrast between the black and white combined with clutter makes for a visual mess. Be sure to keep belongings stored out of sight and allow the colorplay to be the room's focal point.
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