Painting a Bedroom Black

When my eldest daughter went off to college, it was a good opportunity to update her room with a more sophisticated look.  It was painted a pretty green and had all the makings of a young teenage girl’s room.

Here are a few Before pictures:

In addition to green, her favorite color is black.  Painting her room black was a bold move.  But we have light floors (Canadian beechwood) and lots of white trim (baseboards, windows, doors, crown molding)…..to help break up any large expanse of black.

When you first walk in, there are two arched windows overlooking the front yard.

These windows face east and get the beautiful morning light.

I still wanted to keep her green desk chair and furniture but finding fabric that combined THIS green, black and white was a bit of a challenge.

We’ve never had curtains on these windows. I couldn’t figure out how to add curtains without covering up their architectural beauty.

After much pondering, I finally decided to do one big panel. The large drapery pulls across both windows and tucks to one side when not in use. It has a black-out liner so my daughter is finally able to sleep in a dark room.

This panel was made by Smith & Noble, using their designer fabric line, Madcap Cottage.  The fabric sample they sent matched the green and black perfectly~~the pattern was a bit of unconventional and playful. Plus their turnaround time was less than 2 weeks.

Her bed is tucked into an alcove that has a port hole window.  The headboard and wall lamp are from Joss & Main; the duvet cover from West Elm.  I made the bed skirt with leftover Waverly fabric I found in the basement. The matching decorative pillow was also made by Smith and Noble.

Her bathroom needed a facelift too.  We replaced the tile countertop with Carrera marble and repainted the base cabinet semi-gloss black.  The walls went from green to white.

Now when my daughter comes home from college, she has an updated room to use.  Though it was a big leap of faith to paint this room black, I am very happy with the crisp results.

Desk and chair: Ikea

Door, window, trim color:  Van de Cane DEW354 (a Dunn-Edwards paint but created by Sherwin-Williams)

Wall Color:  Sherwin-Williams Caviar 6990

Drapery Rod and C-hooks: Smith & Noble

Fabric: Hello Hidcote/Nightfall (17910) by Madcap Cottage

Artwork: Original drawings by my daughter