I love black interior doors. The vast majority of interior doors are either stained wood (which is nice) or white (which is fine), but both are very…expected. Either way, we usually don’t even notice the doors when we look at a room.
A funny thing happens when doors are painted black, though. The doors themselves still basically go unnoticed, but we definitely notice the different mood of the room. They add a lot of sophistication. It’s been called a trend lately, but it’s actually been done for ages.
So, yes, I’m talking about doors and then showing you a picture of a window. Sorry. But it does have the exact same effect. (I didn’t get a “before” picture of my door.) See how the white has a very sweet, feminine look? Especially when it’s paired with a soft color.
(Oh! Off topic, but this is the perfect illustration of natural light vs. overhead light that I told you about–I forgot to turn off the overhead light. See how the right side of the trim looks yellowish and the blue wall looks muddy? The left side is a more accurate representation because the ceiling was blocking the overhead light. Also, harsh shadows. And a step stool. Back to the subject…)
The window and the door aren’t painted a true black. It’s the very, very dark purple I’ve used throughout the house. Which, while the difference would be subtle when comparing the two colors side-by-side, they would show very differently in the finished product. If it isn’t carefully planned, a true black could look harsh very easily.
You can see a few things we have done in the corners of the photos and a few things we haven’t done yet. Next week, I’ll show you the whole room.
Oh looking good! Your doors and windows look particularly good in black (or dark purple) because there is some texture in them, I mean those are not just flat. I have not seen many simple flat doors painted in dark colours. Or have I just not noticed?
Looking forward to the grand tour.
That’s a good point, having a paneled door (in real wood) does make a big difference. A flat door might just look like a black hole if it were painted dark without the moulding to reflect light.
It looks very chic. I think your idea not to use a true black is brilliant!
Thank you, Magali!
So smart to use a softer black. I love, love, love the inner windows black with the outer trim white–so New York mid-Manhatten old apartment chic. Love the white doorknobs and black strike plates, too. Looking forward to seeing more. Alana in Canada
Love that it made you think of the old NY apartments, that’s one of my favorite looks. 🙂
The doors, knobs and windows are almost all that’s left of our house’s original architecture, so they are my favorite details of the house.
I kept having to scroll back and forth to the windows- it’s subtle but so nicely done. I like that you kept the frames on both white AND the use of a deep purple vs. black.
Thanks Santa!
I love it! I’ve been debating painting my kitchen door black myself
Love it! One of my favs you have done 🙂 I am a fan of the “black and white” chic look.