I realised something earlier this week while looking through this blog. Scrolling through the most recent images, I realised how much my palette has shifted into winter mode. The interiors are mostly monochrome – indeed, most of the images are, even if it’s a landscape or portrait. Perhaps that’s reflective of a Scottish winter. When you’re surrounded by a certain kind of palette and a certain light, you start to be drawn to that palette and light. Bright colours simply don’t feel right to me just now – although, to be honest, monochrome tones of grey is my default mode 365 days of the year.
Which brings me to this apartment in Kungsholmen in Stockholm, which has been styled by Fantastic Frank (the apartment, which was also marketed by Fantastic Frank, is now sold). Here, the walls in the main living space are almost black – think Farrow & Ball’s Off-Black. To me, this looks fantastic against the warmth of the herringbone parquet flooring, and the generous use of white, from the furniture and the fireplace to the lighting and the sleek kitchen, definitely offsets the depth of the wall colour.
I’ve been admiring this wall colour on blogs and Instagram and Pinterest for a while now, but could I do it? Could I paint my living room walls black (or almost black)? Could you? The answer to that would almost certainly depend on the orientation of the space, and the reality is that my north-east facing living room feels uplifting when you walk in there on a bright morning. Would I really want those walls to be the darkest of greys? On the flipside, it’s generally a night-time space, so why not make the room more moody?
For me, the jury remains out. Scotland is simply too gloomy in winter to opt for an all-dark palette, but – but – the same must be true of Stockholm, and this apartment, with its limited but dramatic use of darker tones, looks very appealing indeed. I guess it’s about balance, as this interior shows. Add a few bold or dark touches, but don’t overwhelm the space.
See more of this apartment on Fantastic Frank’s listing for the property.
