Dark, deep-coloured furniture has been adorning interiors decorated in many design styles for years. It introduces a breath of elegance and good taste, making them unique and timeless. Contrary to appearances, dark furniture is also suitable for small living rooms, which can be brightened up with a few clever tricks, giving them a subtle character and freshness.
If you are looking for inspiration that tastefully combines dark elements with light ones, creating a delightful contrast, then our article is for you!
Contents:
- How to brighten up a living room with dark furniture? Go for a contrasting arrangement base
- What colours will work well in a living room with dark furniture?
- Proven ways to create a stunning living room in dark tones
- Designs with dark furniture playing the main part
How to brighten up a living room with dark furniture? Go for a contrasting arrangement base
Dark-coloured furniture has its own unique and irresistible charm, so it is worth introducing it into your interior and creating a contrast for it in the form of a light arrangement base. Choosing the doors and floors in the right colour turns out to be crucial.
To begin with, let’s ask ourselves what style we want to decorate our living room in. Dark furniture matches not only modern designs, but also those with a retro, eclectic, vintage or even alpine chalet feel. Properly selected proportions between the colours will ensure that the interior does not appear overwhelmed, cramped and stuffy.
When it comes to doors, models in white, beige or even light grey will work perfectly. Those covered with a veneer that faithfully imitates wood will also be ideal. Here we can go for wood in light shades, such as Alder, Grey or Sonoma Oak, as well as Ash.
If there is little daylight entering the living room, we can choose door leaves with glazing, which will additionally let in the light from the neighbouring rooms. Even a milky-white or satin glass pane will give the arrangement an impression of lightness and spaciousness.
The same applies to the floor. Choose covering a tone lighter or darker in colour than the door. If we decide on white doors, we can go a little wild when it comes to the choice of floor and go for warm, deep, honey-coloured tones.
Properly selected arrangement base will make our dark furniture, whether it’s black, anthracite or in dark wood decors, look special against it.
What colours will work well in a living room with dark furniture?
Are you wondering what colour will be best for a living room with dark furniture? Walls in light, neutral colours will be the ideal solution, as it will not only brighten up the arrangement, but also become the perfect background for contrasting dark furniture. This will make it the focal point of the interior, visible right from the threshold.
In addition to white, cream and beige, let’s choose walls in light grey or pastel colors, such as powder pink, yellow or blue. We will bring a unique atmosphere to the interior by deciding on sage green or this season’s most fashionable colour, peach.
If we want to add a touch of extravagance to our living room by choosing dark furniture, we are not doomed to light, muted colours. In the case of a large and bright room, we can go for much darker tones, such as orange, maroon, ochre, navy blue, bottle green, and even black! Patterned wallpapers with an interesting print will also work well here.
If we prefer intermediate solutions, we can paint only one of the walls in a strong colour and install white ceiling mouldings, which will help to visually raise the living room. There are paints with microscopic particles already available on the market, which create a delicate film on the surface of the wall, beautifully reflecting the light coming into the interior. This will make even a dark wall look special.
Proven ways to create a stunning living room in dark tones
How to decorate a living room with dark furniture to emphasise its uniqueness? In addition to a well-chosen arrangement base in the form of doors and floor, as well as the colour of the walls, the choice of accessories and lighting seems crucial. In many cases, they are what gives the design its final, unique character. The accessories will also help us to transform the interior without having to change the floors, doors and wall colour. At a small cost, we can introduce dark furniture into the living room and conjure up a space with a completely different character in just a few moments.
Let’s start by choosing textiles. A light-coloured carpet, as well as curtains, bedspreads and cushions will further brighten up the space and make it extra cosy.
Paintings and posters on a wall painted in a darker shade will also be a good idea.
Any glass elements such as vases or decorative bowls, as well as mirrors in beautiful frames, will also be an ally in the fight for more light in the room.
The last important element is the right lighting. The main source of light is never enough, so let’s go for side, standing or table lamps. When lit depending on your needs, they create a unique atmosphere and additionally allow us to provide the right amount of light necessary for comfortable functioning right after dark.
If the design style we have chosen allows us to do so, we can use LED lighting placed in wall or floor mouldings. This solution guarantees a delightful atmosphere, which will emphasise the dark furniture in the living room.
Designs with dark furniture playing the main part
Dark-coloured furniture works well in a wide range of design styles. Dark furniture in the living room is not only a coffee table, a TV cabinet or a display cabinet. Dark colour also appears in the form of sofas and armchairs. What interiors to be inspired by when introducing deep-coloured finishing elements into the living room?
| Design style | Justification |
| Industrial | Dark furniture in a solid colour is an obvious choice for industrial arrangements. In large rooms, we may choose to have more than one element of this colour. Complemented with wooden or steel elements and accompanied by brick on the wall, they look unique. |
| Glamour | In this style, the furniture usually has a glossy finish, which perfectly reflects the light and creates eye-pleasing reflections in the living room. Here, dark furniture works best in the company of gold, silver, crystals, as well as accessories in powder pink, light grey or turquoise green. |
| English | Those who prefer a slightly more classic interiors may prefer the English style, with leather sofas playing the first fiddle, and compact furniture up to the ceiling. |
| Vintage | In the vintage style, dark furniture is usually made of wood with a deep, dark colour. Couches with dark upholstery and a honey-coloured, lighter frame are also common. |
| Retro | Retro arrangements just love furnishings in black, ebony and oak. We can freely go for display cabinets, dressers and coffee tables in these shades. Combined with wooden or wood-like flooring and white or cream-coloured walls, dark furniture creates an eye-pleasing contrast. |
| Chalet | The chalet style, inspired by Alpine shelters, is an extremely neat combination of wood, dark colours, furniture in subdued shades, as well as bricks and stone. The furniture is somewhat angular, massive and made of solid materials. |
Dark furniture in the living room can be an interesting and unique focal point of an arrangement, provided that we create a suitable, subdued background for it. The size of the furniture and its quantity is also important, as it may unnecessarily overwhelm even the most intricately designed arrangement. Let’s be guided by moderation, as well as the above tips, thanks to which we will create a unique, sublime place for relaxation.