Another Decorating "Rule" to Discard (Black in Every Room - Not Always)
They are from Anthropologie, HERE.
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So, I started a new Pinterest board (HERE) mainly for people who email me questions and don't know a lot about decorating, but want to learn. It is called "TRICKS OF THE (DECORATING) TRADE." I run across decorating tips and tricks and ideas all the time on Pinterest and in magazine. Most often, I disagree with them. But on this board are the ones I tend to agree with (but don't always follow - there are always exceptions). Rules like "hang your curtains wide and high," or "for rugs, the bigger the better," and "group like objects together." It also has ideas on things like how to conceal your pet's dishes, how to make your trim look bigger etc.
One of the first pins I added was THIS one:
And I actually changed this pin caption to read:
"Love Jan Showers, but I disagree that "every" rooms needs black. You probably wouldn't put black in a pink nursery, for example. But I love it in the vast majority of rooms and treat black like the neutral that it is."
Not real controversial. Or so I thought. It turned into a pretty nasty comment session between a few people, and I had to delete most of the comments, although a few of the less offensive ones remain. And for once I wasn't involved in any of the drama (it didn't make me angry like it does when people comment that I shouldn't pin x, y, or z....) and I was not involved in the aggression. Phew.
But it got me thinking. What kind of rooms would I NOT put black in? (Not that it couldn't work in some of these rooms - just that it wouldn't be my choice, as it wasn't these designers' choice). (Oh, and I don't agree with the statement about antiques either, but that's for another day :)
At the risk of causing drama with those who don't agree, here they are:
^^^ This one obviously would look great with some black, but it looks great like it is, too - that's why I don't agree that "every" room "needs" some black. The same with these - black would look good in most of them, but I also think they are perfect as they are:
Images
Please don't in any way take this as a criticism of Jan Showers, whose work I adore. She is one of the best designers in the world and I love every thing she does. I just didn't happen to agree with this one comment, but of course not every one is ever going to agree on everything.
At the end of the day, there are no rules. Do what you like! And if you don't know what you like or don't know how to achieve it, ask a friend or decorator. And be nice. Those are my only rules :)
What do you guys think - do you have any rooms without black?
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