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Colour guides · Black
There isn't one black but several — each a colour pushed all the way to night. A blue black, a brown black, a violet black don't make the same door, the same wall or the same kitchen.
Here are our seven blacks, compared on their undertone, the light they keep and the use where each is most right.
Updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team
The short answer
The most versatile black in the range is Downing Street No.10, a soft, faintly warm black — that of London's most famous door. For a cooler, more graphic black, Sinner No.238 or Blackout No.41; for a warm, almost brown black, Pub BH.08 or Cragside JB.10; for a violet black, Duke's House No.44.
At a glance
| Colour | Family | Tone | Light | LRV ≈ | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downing Street™ No.10 | Black | Dark tone | North | 5 % | Front doors, kitchen cabinets, staircases |
| Sinner™ No.238 | Black | Dark tone | North | 5 % | Joinery, black-and-white kitchens, contemporary interiors |
| Blackout™ No.41 | Black | Dark tone | North | 7 % | Four walls of a study or dining room, colour drenching |
| Woodnight JB.12 | Black | Dark tone | North | 5 % | Gates, fences, garden furniture, conservatories |
| Duke’s House™ No.44 | Black | Dark tone | North | 5 % | Dining rooms, bedrooms, a headboard wall |
| Pub BH.08 | Black | Dark tone | West | 7 % | Woodwork, staircases, doors, bars and bookcases |
| Cragside JB.10 | Black | Dark tone | North | 7 % | Exteriors, barn doors, shutters, country houses |
LRV: light reflectance estimated from the on-screen shade, from 0 (absolute black) to 100 (absolute white). Light: the orientation in which the shade looks its best.
7 colours
The reference black
The black of 10 Downing Street: deep, soft, faintly warm, with no undertone to tilt it. It is the black that goes everywhere — front door, kitchen cabinets, staircase, library wall — and never looks hard, because it isn't quite black: it keeps 5% of the light, just enough to read the mouldings.
Our tip — Front doors, kitchen cabinets, staircases
The cool black
A deep black with a barely perceptible blue undertone, crisper and cooler than Downing Street. It is the graphic black — that of contemporary interiors, steel window frames, black-and-white kitchens. It makes pure white stand out like no other, and it keeps a room cool.
Our tip — Joinery, black-and-white kitchens, contemporary interiors
The grey-black
The least black of the seven: a very deep charcoal grey with a blue-violet undertone, the colour of a blackout curtain. It keeps a little more light than the others, which makes it possible on four walls — a study, an evening dining room — where a true black would crush. Superb with brass and velvet.
Our tip — Four walls of a study or dining room, colour drenching
The forest black
Designed by Jinny Blom after a wood at night: a black with a blue-grey undertone, deeper than Blackout, softer than Sinner. It is a landscape black — it makes most sense outdoors, on a gate, a fence, a bench, or in a room opening onto a garden, where it brings out the green.
Our tip — Gates, fences, garden furniture, conservatories
The violet black
The most singular of the seven: a black with a violet-plum undertone, the colour of an aubergine in shade. Under warm light the violet appears and the black turns sumptuous — a dining-room black, an evening bedroom black, a wall behind a bed. With powder pinks and brass it is magnificent.
Our tip — Dining rooms, bedrooms, a headboard wall
The warm black
The black of London pubs, according to Beata Heuman who designed it: a brown, warm, patinated black that seems to have a century of varnish and tobacco on it. It is the most welcoming black on the list — on woodwork, a bar, a staircase or a door, it makes an interior that has lived. It likes reds, ochres and leather.
Our tip — Woodwork, staircases, doors, bars and bookcases
The rock black
Named by Jinny Blom after a Northumberland estate built on rock: a warm brown-grey black, the colour of wet stone in rain. Greyer than Pub, warmer than Woodnight, it is the black of country houses and exteriors — a gate, a barn door, shutters against pale stone.
Our tip — Exteriors, barn doors, shutters, country houses
No black is truly black: each returns between 4 and 7% of the light, and it is in those few per cent that the undertone hides. Set two samples side by side in sunlight and it shows at once — blue for Sinner No.238 and Woodnight JB.12, violet for Duke's House No.44 and Blackout No.41, brown for Pub BH.08 and Cragside JB.10, almost nothing for Downing Street No.10, the most neutral of the seven.
A front door: Downing Street No.10, in gloss, without hesitation. Kitchen cabinets: Downing Street or Sinner No.238, in eggshell, with very light walls. Four walls: Blackout No.41, the only one that keeps enough light, or Duke's House No.44 for an evening room. Old woodwork: Pub BH.08, whose warmth suits timber. Outdoors: Cragside JB.10 or Woodnight JB.12, which get on with stone and garden.
Black likes pure white (Pure White No.1) for contrast, cream (Cavendish Cream No.120) for softness, ochre (Golden Square No.131) for warmth, and a deep colour — Huguenot No.49, Observatory No.34 — for depth without contrast. Apply all our blacks over our dark grey primer & undercoat: two coats are then enough. See also our front-door colours, our black schemes and all our blacks.
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