We start this week musing on the beauty of a black painted floor. At a meeting with a client this week for an office refurbishment I suggested this in place of the requested white floors and also in case the floorboards turn out to be not quite all that when the carpet tiles are lifted. On that point we shall see. I have never yet lifted a carpet/lino/laminate to find a room full of uninterrupted boards. There’s always some chipboard or concrete or something to ruin the line and that makes a simple sand and varnish tricky because you can never match the boards. If you cover it all in black dye then you can get away with a couple of modern boards.
So what you do you think of a black floor? I showed it to a rather traditional friend of mine who now wants to paint hers. I must say I would be very tempted if I didn’t already have so many dark walls. Next time round perhaps… Note how all the scheme really benefit from some natural wood to warm it up. Without that it would be no less stunning but would be a very sleek contemporary look which is a different thing altogether.
It looks particularly good when the windows are also painted to match as they really frame the view both inside and out. Sadly I don’t think this office budget will stretch to black windows in the first instance but it’s one to think about later.
I included this shot of the same room but from further back to show you the benefits of adding pattern. This is very geometric and stark but the effect is to soften the black gloss floor in the far room. You can also see how easy it is to mix your floors up between rooms. Clients often ask me about changing from a painted floor to a sanded one and then to tiles and as long as you paint straight and your colours all tone then there’s no issue with it at all.
Returning to the vintage wood theme, both these rooms have relied on that to soften the architectural feel of black and white. The image below, which I posted last week but has been nagging me ever since has formed the basis of our soon-to-be redecorated bathroom.
image by kristofer Johnsson
We won’t be able to have cupboards as lovely as these but the plan is to buy some more old lab top (which we used for hte desk in the loft) and create a sort of long table for the basins to sit on. That will provide a foil for all the white lines and hard surfaces that the average bathroom has to put up with.
The walls will be going grey because look below. Why wouldn’t you? And look above. Our floor is white but that is pretty much the same bath as we have and an old wooden counter would work well in there don’t you think?
However, as that is the en suite bathroom, we will need to decorate the bedroom. Himself is mooting a pale grey. Now I have nothing against that in principle other than having researched this quite extensively (as one or two of you may be aware) for the book, grey isn’t supposed to be great in bedrooms. Mind you this is a very beautiful shade of grey below and is both warm and restful. I reckon there’s a hint of green in there too which Down Pipe also has so this might all work out well.
Finally, this dining room. Because I’d love some panelling. I just haven’t got a room to put it in.
I hope you like this week’s selection. Ten of my favourite things: black and white warmed up with lashings of natural wood and leather. Heavenly. And, or course, you can layer in any other colours you like to this basic scheme so it’s classic but easy to refresh.
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