If you keep an eye on home décor trends, particularly paint colours, you’ll have noticed a distinct shift recently to darker shades. Pinterest, which is more or less ground zero for online info on home décor trends, is full of images showing dark wall colours, especially blues and greys, in the kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, just about everywhere in the home.

Just the name of Benjamin Moore’s Colour of the Year, Shadow 2117-30, tells you to be ready for a darker shade.

Darker colours can create some dramatic effects. Benjamin Moore even says its colour of the year is ‘allusive and enigmatic – a master of ambiance’.

But if you’ve been steeped in the ‘lighter-colours-brighten-a-room-and-make-it look-bigger’ rule of decor, you might have a little trouble ‘indulging your mysterious side’, as Benjamin Moore urges you to do with ‘Shadow’.

Even beyond the ‘closer’ feeling they can create in a room, dark colors suffer a bit of a bad rep for revealing the slightest imperfection in the paint job and even the tiniest chip. It’s also tough to paint over with a lighter colour.

But you should never let a couple drawbacks stop you from trying something new. After all, the worst that can happen is that you’ll need to repaint if you can’t come to terms with the new colour. On the other hand, you might just fall in love with the dramatic new look you create.

Here are just a few ways to help you love the transition to darker shades in your home.

1. Don’t Get Hung Up on Room Size

Even if a darker room feels smaller, so what? You shouldn’t let that be the reason for not enjoying richer, bolder colours. And if you furnish the room with lighter pieces, they will give you the splash of brightness you’re looking for.

2. Brighter Accents Too

When you use brighter wall hangings, a throw pillow or a signature chair, they become the focus of the room, with the walls providing the dramatic back drop.

3. Use Different Shades

If you just can’t bring yourself to painting the whole room in a darker colour, break it up by having one wall in a different shade, or use wainscoting to add the lighter shade to the top or bottom of the wall.

Whether or not you chose to go with the darker paint colours in your home, you can always get helpful advice when you drop in or call us here at The Paint People.