In design, black is as confounding as it is beguiling. The way it’s applied can suggest wildly different things. In fashion, a black veil signifies mourning, while few things are as chic as a smartly tailored LBD. In decor, the effect is no less, well, black and white. It can, undeniably, make a space feel small and sombre. But in the right context, when applied properly in a home or to a piece of furniture, it epitomizes all that is modern, dramatic and sophisticated.
The bifurcated meaning might be why many prefer taking the exact opposite, more straightforwardly ethereal approach. White is the most popular colour for Canadian kitchen counters, cabinets and backsplashes, according to a 2016 survey done by home reno website Houzz. Canadian style bible House & Home put out a special issue this year called Decorating with White.
The popular resistance is understandable. One hallmark of the 1980s – that lost decade of aesthetic travesties – was black-and-white checkerboard floors that screamed as loudly as so many crimped bangs and shoulder pads. More recently, TLC’s popular, aughties reno show Trading Spaces scared people off in a different way. Designer, Hildi Santos-Tomas, used black to disastrous effect on several terrifying occasions. There was the time, for example, she painted an entire dining room, ceiling included, to look like a lacquered baby grand. She capped it all off with a bright yellow table and chairs that looked like the yolk of a possessed egg.
On the other hand, avant-garde contemporary designers have long known how to tap the potential. Architect Mies van der Rohe used black in his buildings so that the purity of the structures stood out. The late, great graphic designer Paul Rand, who created visual identities for IBM and Westinghouse, also utilized black for its punch. While he recognized the colour is often associated with death, he also understood its duality as something elegant and alluring, like “sexy black lingerie,” he wrote in a 1949 essay, Black in the Visual Arts.
These days, retailers such as high-end coat-maker Moncler are bringing back black with influential environments that play up the sophistication, rather than the shock value, of the colour. It’s having a trickle-down effect to our homes, in part because it proves to people how sumptuous a dark space can be.
Toronto-based interior designer Shirley Meisels, principal of MHouse Inc., uses black “all the time” in her residential work, and has been doing so for most of the last decade. While she notes that clients might resist at first, the conversations are getting easier as more people are seeing black in retail and hospitality spaces, and because improvements in visualization tools, such as high-quality renderings, help her show clearly what she wants to achieve.
Her own home is also proof positive. She’s used black as an as accent, including the front door and for mirror frames. It’s also the principal shade in her main entertaining areas. The dining room has a soft, flat black paint on the walls, a black chandelier and black dining-room tables. It’s all effortless and romantic in a strikingly contemporary way.
“It sounds counterintuitive,” she says, “but I find that it makes things brighter. If you place a cream-coloured sofa near a black wall, the sofa really sparkles.” Non-neutrals such as pastels also shine against black, but Meisels cautions that primary colours are generally bright enough on their own and don’t look great against black.
Dr. Sally Augustin, an environmental psychologist and principal of consultancy Design with Science, also notes that context is key. There are times when black makes a space awkward. “It makes walls and objects appear closer than they are,” she says, “so painting a room with comfortable dimensions black can make it seem, suddenly, uncomfortably small.” Likewise, black walls around bright windows can be hard on the eyes because of the jarring contrast. “The pupils don’t know whether to open or close, so people just look away,” she says.
According to Augustin, dark works best when it’s on the floor, with lighter colours on the walls and the ceiling. “As a species, because of gravity, we’ve evolved with the notion that the ground, which tends to be darker, except in exceptional circumstances, is underfoot.”
Black also works well for furniture. “In upholstery,” Augustin says, “it can make a homeowner more comfortable.” On a pragmatic level, it masks stains and dirt better than whites and beiges (“unless you have a white dog,” she says). Black upholstery, especially leather, also has associations with a certain chicness: cigar lounges or gentleman’s clubs, for example, which are trendy aesthetics these days.
The granular level of furniture might be where black works best. Toronto-based furniture designer and dealer Françoise Turner-Larcade “loves to incorporate some black objects or accents in my designs,” she says. “The black enhances the other objects, creates a balance and sometimes a dramatic effect.” She points to a piece such as the oxidized steel chair by Stephane Ducatteau. The colour helps define the sculptural shape, while the ergonomic shape is comfortable for everyday use.
For a furniture and product designer such as Jonathan Sabine, co-founder of Toronto’s MSDS Studio, using a neutral finish such as black allows the architecture of a piece to stand out. The elegant simplicity of his Assembly Ladder rack, which is manufactured by Winnipeg-based EQ3, would be lost if it were covered in colours. “Black is ideal for accentuating the linearity of the ladder rack and giving the spare form a bold silhouette,” Sabine explains.
As with pencil sketches or a classic suit, it’s the essential nature of the black lines that stands out the clearest, the crisp darkness that is the most potent.
Otto Cube Ottoman
The sleek, 1960s-inspired legs are the conservative counterpart to the Otto Cube Ottoman’s rollicking top, made from Tibetan lambs wool.
Otto Cube Ottoman. $1,366. Through elte.com.
Assembly Ladder
The black finish enhances the minimal lines of MSDS Studio’s Assembly Ladder.
Assembly Ladder. $120. Through EQ3.com.
Stephane Ducatteau Chair
The oxidized, black patina of the steel in Stephane Ducatteau’s handmade chair underscores the drama of the postindustrial sculpture.
Stephane Ducatteau Chair. Price upon request. Through francoisetldesign@gmail.com, or 416-428-6824.
Odin Chair
The Odin Chair, manufactured in New Zealand, echoes the clean-lined drama of Japanese architecture, with its gently curving ash seat and aluminum legs.
Odin Chair. $1,960.00. Through klausn.com.
Parison Light
The black top of the mouth-blown Parison Light elevates the illumination of the bulb with a romantic, if Gothic, glow.
Parison Light. $1,960.00 each. Through klausn.com.