Everything You Need to Know About Black Walls – One Room Challenge Week 2

Welcome to week 2 of the One Room Challenge! This week I’m diving into the dark and beautiful world of black walls. If you’re new here, I’m working on transforming our current office (really it’s a storage room) into a moody home office / guest room. If you missed it, you can check out my Week 1 Blog for some awful before photos and our plans for this room. Make sure to also follow along on Instagram for more behind the scenes and to help me make important design decisions! Now, about those black walls…

The Power of Paint

For those who know me, you know that paint is my #1 DIY tool. It is truly amazing what a difference a fresh coat of paint can make, and for such a small cost!

I’ve recently developed an obsession with painting walls black.

After painting a black feature wall in our bedroom, I discovered a newfound love. There’s something about that dark and moody vibe that gets me. Of course, I never thought I’d paint an entire room black! Once we finished painting the office, it immediately became my favorite room in our home. I LOVE the contrast of the velvety, dark walls with the crisp white trim.

Part of the reason we chose to paint the walls black in the office is to help my husband’s racing simulator blend in. Let me tell ya, this idea worked better than expected! After we finished painting, we moved his racing sim into the corner and it nearly disappeared into the walls. That not only makes the room feel HUGE compared to before, but it now feels like an intentional part of the room.

I received tons of questions after painting the feature wall in our bedroom. So, I figured I’d share some tips I’ve learned about painting walls black.

Everything You Need to Know About Black Walls

There are Many Shades of Black Paint

Maybe you think black is simply black. But that’s not the case! Just like there are a million shades of white, there are also quite a few blacks to choose from. The samples in the photo above are all blacks, and if you were to pick one up in the store, you wouldn’t know the difference. But they look quite different against my black wall. The thing is, you can only tell so much by a little sample swatch. When picking a paint color for a room, I always recommend painting a test swatch on multiple walls within the room you’re painting. That will give you an idea of how the color will look with the lighting and other features within the room. When choosing the color for our bedroom, we opted for a softer black with a slightly warm/green undertone. I actually didn’t paint a swatch and just went with my gut on the color, but that’s always risky!

Paint a Room One Color to Make it Cohesive

This is more of a general painting tip, but relevant at the same time. I’m all for feature walls, but they don’t make sense in every room. We originally considered color blocking for the office. However, since we’re already trying to make it function as three different rooms (sim room, home office, and guest room), we decided to paint this room one solid color to help it feel more cohesive. We painted all four walls in Sherwin Williams Black Magic and painted the trim white to match the rest of the house. I lucked out and had juuuusst enough leftover paint from our bedroom to paint this room black (WIN!).

Black Walls Can Make a Room Feel Larger!

There’s something incredibly cozy about a dark space. I thought painting all four the walls black might make our 14’x14′ room feel a bit cave-like. Surprisingly, the black walls actually made the room feel larger. I know, I know, it goes against everything you’ve ever been told, but I promise it’s true! Dark colors, while absorbing light, actually add depth to the room. It’s almost like instead of seeing a wall, you feel like the room continues beyond what you can see. It’s hard to explain, but trust me on this. That combined with the white ceiling and light accents makes the room feel anything but small! In my experience, black (or probably any dark color) makes a room feel open and cozy at the same time, and that’s why I love it!

Every Smudge Will Show on Black Walls

Black paint is just like a black car: every smudge will show up. And I do mean Every. Single. Smudge. So, if you do decide to paint a wall, furniture, cabinets, or anything else black, be prepared to wipe it up daily. This is precisely why I was sold on Sherwin Williams WASHABLE flat paint (magical stuff, I tell ya!). I hated flat paint prior to finding this and certainly had my doubts, but I’m so blown away by this stuff! It wipes right up with nothing but a wet towel–it’s truly amazing. And that leads me to the next point…

Use a Flat Sheen to Disguise Imperfections

Black absorbs light. This means that the wall looks bright where the light hits it and highlights any imperfections in the wall or paint. Shiny paint amplifies the imperfections even more, whereas flat paint helps mask them. Since this becomes more important with dark paint colors, we opted for a flat sheen. However, if you’re painting any high traffic areas (such as cabinetry or doors), I’d recommend a glossier finish to help it hold up to wear and tear.

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Home Office / Guest Room Budget Update

I’m planning to give updates each week on how well we’re staying on budget throughout this process. This week, a few great finds helped give me some extra room in the budget. I’m also selling a few things that we’ll no longer use in that room and adding the profit from those back into the budget.

Budget Update:

Starting Budget: $1,000

Expenses:

• Lamp: $45
• Curtains: $30
• 5 x 8 Rug: $30
• Rug Pad: $35
• Leftover Paint: $0
• Curtain Rod (already had): $0

Income:

• Small black bookcase: $15
• Floating Shelves: $25
• Curtains: $10

Remaining Budget: $910

Next week, I’ll be sharing our DIY daybed, so stay tuned!

Be sure to check out the other amazing room transformations on the One Room Challenge blog as well.