Creating a dark and moody guest bedroom
While scrolling through Pinterest for ideas on what direction to go with for the guest bedroom, I found myself drawn to the warmth and cosiness of a dark theme.
There was something very intriguing about it; it felt unusual but chic, almost boutique hotel vibes. The earthiness of natural tones, the depth of the browns, the soft, ambient lighting gave whispers of grandeur, statement and tranquillity. So I leaned in and before I knew it, my guestroom mood board was screaming at me to make it a reality!
Pinterest mood board for planning the guestroom.
The main character here is the wall colour, so it was important to get it right. After doing some testing, I opted for Cherry Truffle from the Dulux Heritage collection.
It’s a gorgeously rich red-brown colour which has different tints depending on the lighting. Sometimes it evokes a deep red wine colour, similar to a wonderfully aged Cabernet Sauvignon, and other lighting reflects an essence of 70% dark chocolate.
In general, I think there’s a natural aversion towards dark rooms, demonstrated by some of the feedback I got from friends and family when explaining the project. Thoughts around a dark colour making the room look small, feel oppressive, the opposite of being ‘light and airy’, and the classic ‘if you don’t like it’ll take ages to paint over again’ or ‘gosh, you’re brave’.
Admittedly, I did let the doubts creep in, but a friend gave me some great advice:
Trust the process.
So I did, and I’m very glad I did.
A lot of the concerns above could ring very true in a different room, and that’s an important point: the room has to lend itself to a dark theme.
The guestroom in our house is the largest bedroom with a beautiful bay window, which lets in a lot of light throughout most of the day. There’s a picture rail running along the top third of the walls, above which I left unpainted so that the white ceiling extends into the walls, making the room feel bigger and balancing well with the darker paint. The carpets are an inoffensive grey beige, and the shutters white.
I therefore felt there were enough neutral highlights in the room, so that the dark paint would be complimenting rather than dominating.
This also made enough space, creatively speaking, to add dark furnishings to double down on the moody styling. I upcycled an IKEA chest of drawers, added dark brown tables with black touch lamps and painted the bed black (with the addition of new panelling on the headboard).
The flashes of gold in the soft furnishings really bring the room together, creating a space that’s moody yet cosy. It’s now my favourite room in the house!
