Inspirational ideas
Decorating ideas & inspiration in black
Black is the surest statement there is: one door, one island, one staircase — and the whole room holds together. On a façade or indoors, it lends weight to everything it touches.
Our black schemes handle it in measured touches or full, confident planes, always softened with the right whites and warm materials.
“One stroke of black, and every other colour finds itself.”
Painting in black: our blacks and near-blacks
A true absolute black is rare in decoration — and rarely desirable. What we call “black” in a house is almost always a loaded black: carrying green, blue or brown. That is what keeps it legible rather than turning it into a hole in the wall, and what lets it change through the day.
Blackout No.41 is our deepest black, superb on a door, a chimney piece or fine joinery. Downing Street No.10 is the classic London front-door black: slightly softened, it never hardens a façade. Pub BH.08 carries green and works equally on woodwork and shutters; Woodnight JB.12 and Cragside JB.10 lean towards the green-black and brown-black of gardens.
For a whole room in black — a library, a study, a small dining room — Sinner No.238 and Duke's House No.44 keep enough nuance for the mouldings to stay visible. Pair them with a Limestone No.55 or Sleet No.91 ceiling if you want to keep the height, or take the idea all the way and paint everything one shade.
An eggshell or gloss finish will make black read as a material rather than an absence. See also our grey paint ideas, green paint ideas and exterior paint ideas, or browse all our black paints.
Our schemes
15 schemes
