Best of Utah and Arizona National Parks  What: This seven-day Classic trip starts and…

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Decorating with black in any room is not for the faint-hearted. But with the right guidance shades of darkness can be chic for all spaces, especially black living room ideas to create a space that intrigues and cocoons.

‘Black can be an incredibly glamorous and sophisticated choice for a living room’ says Patrick O’Donnell, Farrow & Ball Brand Ambassador. ‘Something as dark as this can create a cosy and intimate space – ideal if your room is starved of natural light as it will lend itself to the disadvantages of aspect.’

Black living room ideas

‘Rules in decorating are there to be broken or at least manipulated’ says Patrick. ‘It’s all about experimentation- how will you ever know if something works or not unless you try?’.

‘Don’t be limited to the traditional four walls- the ceiling, your fifth wall is often overlooked in decorating and taking the colour over can add sublime drama’ he advises.

1. Fashion a divide with black and white

Image credit: Future PLC/ Darren Chung

Create a room divide with a creative living room paint idea, with black dominating the bottom half of the wall with a neutral shade above. This monochromatic scheme helps to fake the impression of a traditional dado rail, where architrave divides the room in two to invite artistic expression with the decor.

You don’t have to have a period property to get this look, in fact all you need is masking tape! Simply tape a straight line and paint the two sections of wall in contrasting colours, with black on the bottom half to anchor the wider design element within the room.

2. Welcome warm undertones to soften black

Image credit: Farrow & Ball; Paean Black on walls

Black paint has many hidden depths, it doesn’t have to mean true black – if you’re seeking warmth from your walls. ‘While the thought of painting a room in black or more nuanced versions of ‘black’ sounds terrifying, it can act as a superb colour choice’ Patrick explains.

‘Think nuanced blacks rather than pure, pitch-black as they appear slightly softer – from the blue-based Railings and Black Blue to the smokier charcoal Off Black and warmer tones of Paean Black.’

Rich Paean Black offers underlying purple tones, to create a cosy and undeniably chic aesthetic. Consider this depth of black to update purple living room ideas.

3. Anchor the bold colour to one wall

Image credit: Future PLC/ David Giles

If you’re not quite brave enough to take on Patrick’s suggestion of all walls and ceilings, we suggest dedicating just one wall to this daring shade. One wall will still offer a superbly dominant splash of colour to make a statement. Even better if you have a cast iron fire surround that will seamlessly blend into the black backdrop. Alternatively you could paint the fire surround to incorporate it into the black wall.

We’d go one step further than this homeowner and pain the skirting boards in black too, to take the colour entirely from floor to ceiling.

4. Cocoon a snug in all-black

Image credit: Future PLC/ Veronica Rodriguez

In a room with a good source of natural light for day times you can afford to go all in with an entirely black room – leaving just the ceiling in contrasting white. Painting all walls in a deep saturated colour, such as black, creates an all immersive experience – a cocooning atmosphere.

‘Be brave and use the colour on all four walls and even include the skirting’ suggests Patrick. ‘Including the woodwork will elongate your wall height and draw less attention to a sharp contrast of the traditional white trim.’

This ambience is ideal for an entertainment snug, where you are looking to escape into a world of boxsets and movies.

5. Add thoughtful lighting

Image credit: Farrow & Ball; Black Blue

To prevent this strikingly bold shade from feeling flat look to add living room lightning ideas aplenty, to ensure it’s well highlighted and ambient.

‘Think about the time of day you will be using the room – black absorbs light, so can create a truly, cosseting environment’ explains Patrick. ‘You will most probably be dependent on artificial lighting if it is a room used during the day, especially if the room is starved of natural light.’

6. Pick out design details in black

Image credit: Future PLC/ Simon Whitmore

Use Black as a bold accent colour to pick out architectural detail, such as cornicing; fire surrounds and bespoke display and storage alcove ideas. This dramatic hue will add drama to your living room scheme, celebrating the finer details in all their glory.

Any neutral living room idea will benefit from this dark colour pairing, especially muted grey living rooms where the black tones are already present.

7. Paint the woodwork in black to frame the room

Image credit: Sweetpea & Willow

‘If black walls feel overwhelming, consider another decorative motif such as painting all your woodwork in black or off black with lighter walls’ advises Patrick. ‘This can feel effortlessly sophisticated.’

As this fine example of a sitting rooms shows, with its grey textured wallpapered walls and black woodwork accents. The furniture echoes the powerful tones of black to create a cohesively stylish colour scheme throughout. Grey carpet helps to keep the floor light and offsets the darker tones within the scheme.

8. Zone with a bold feature wall

Image credit: Future PLC/ Rachael Smith

Give a dividing wall a powerful prominence with a strong shade, such as this black feature wall. The colour helps to cleverly zone the area, making the wall present and purposeful to divide the two living areas within an open-plan space.

The strong shade is echoed through the doors frames that connect to the outside, helping to create a flow throughout the space.

9. Make a style statement with true black

Image credit: Dulux

A true black is as bold as it gets. This colour is devoid of other pigments, making it a flat true colour that works well in small doses – if you’re not feeling brave enough for painting entire walls. A true black feature wall is just the thing to enhance a white living room idea, such as this fine example.

Add wooden tones through flooring and furniture to naturally add a warming quality to this bold colour.

10.  Go for on-trend blue black

Image credit: Farrow & Ball

Try something slightly gentler, which feels more shaded and charcoal-like but strong than an existing blue living room idea. ‘Our perennially popular Railings ticks many boxes with its subtle underlying blue note’ suggests Patrick.  ‘Or for something that packs bluer (we all love dark blues right now) is our stunning archive colour Black Blue.’

11. Enhance bold botanical prints

Image credit: Sofa.com

Darker toned paint colours are ideal for highlighting the bold tones of floral and fauna. Whether natural house plants or painterly florals on wallpaper and wall murals, welcome black as the perfect backdrop to make the bold accent colours really pop!

Bright jewel toned furniture in rich velvets are beautifully offset by bold black walls, as this fine example shows.

12. Add interest with a striped wallpaper

Image credit: Future PLC/ Amanda Turner

Soften the impact of black, without taking away its style credentials by welcoming a wallpaper design that features black – but is not overpowered by the shade. This sophisticated stripe design features black strips softened by accents of silver. Metallic touches within the design will help to reflect light and give the wallpaper more depth.

When using a statement wallpaper design it’s best to create a living room feature wall. Choose a wall that anchors the room, so a dominant wall – whether that’s the wall with the sofa or a wall with a chimney breast and fireplace. This will depend on your living room layout and how you choose to arrange your furniture.

Is black a good colour for living rooms?

Black is a good colour for living rooms to create a glamorous and sophisticated colour scheme, that feels very on-trend. A colour as dark as black on the walls welcomes a cosy, ambient and intimate space ideal for livings rooms – where the space is dedicated to feeling comfort.

Black is especially good if you have a small living room idea, one that is starved of natural light as it lends itself to the disadvantages of aspect. Making the small space feel intentional, cocooning rather than limiting.

How can I use black in my living room?

You can welcome black paint to your living room scheme for dramatic impact. ‘If painting your walls feels a step too far, consider painting all your woodwork, including doors, architraves, and windows in Black instead’ suggest Farrow & Ball’s Patrick. ‘Dark woodwork will frame walls beautifully and is a sophisticated compromise.’

You can paint all four walls for a dramatic impact, or choose to create a feature with one dominant black wall.

What colour goes with black in a living room?

Colours that go with black in a living room are very much determined by the look you wish to create and where you want to use colour. On walls white, off-white and neutral tones are best to create a monochromatic contrast against black. Light grey also helps to offset the darkness of black.

Colours that go with black in terms of furniture are best in brighter accents of jewel tones of emerald green, burnt orange and sapphire blue. For a monochrome scheme choose to add warmth with leather furniture or further the contrast with grey or taupe upholstered sofas and armchairs.

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Aldi has launched a brand new online home store, giving fans a whole new place to shop. If you eagerly await Aldi’s Specialbuys homeware drop, well the new store means you can snap up the bargain pieces all year round.

The existing Specialbuys page has built up many loyal fans who know how to snap up a bargain – from the best pizza oven to dog sofas. Anyone decorating on a budget should hotfoot over to the new Aldi Home Store now to check out the full range of products.

Image credit: Aldi

The Aldi Home Store

As of early October, the Aldi Home Store is a permanent part of Aldi’s online offering – and is separate to Specialbuys. It offers everything from top-quality Aldi bedding for getting cosy, to lovely tableware and kitchen essentials.

The SpecialBuys favourites will continue to launch online and in-store on Thursdays and Sundays – so there’s no need for Specialbuys lovers to panic. Many shoppers have faced long online queues for highly coveted Aldi homeware – most notably for the famous egg chair.

But this new online store gives us another place to go for updating our homes without splashing the cash. There are four main categories on the Aldi Home Store – home furnishings, bedding, kitchen and home fragrances.

Image credit: Aldi

We’re pleased to see that Aldi’s candles in scents like lime, basil and mandarin are now available to shop online on the Aldi Home Store every day. There are also loads of stylish storage options and rugs. This emerald velvet stool, £39.99 (above) has handy hidden storage.

We’re loving the Kirkton House Black Grid Mirror, £49.99. Perfect for anyone who saw Stacey Solomon’s IKEA mirror hack but wasn’t ready to commit to an afternoon of DIY. It would work well as a hallway idea along with a long floor runner.

Image credit: Aldi

Alternatively, there’s a 55cm circular mirror for just £19.99 – a total steal!

Thinking ahead to Christmas, there are some brilliant seasonal home fragrances like this cute festive fir candle in a bubble glass container. For the kids, there’s Harry Potter bedding, Minion-themed decor and Avengers accessories.

We’ve also spied some Halloween decorating ideas on the website, from spooky witches to inflatable scarecrows. We’ll certainly be checking the site regularly for some Christmas decor to plan a wintry home update.

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From soft blush pastels to upbeat corals and richer tones of raspberry, fuchsia and cerise, there’s a versatile pink shade to suit all tastes. The right pink living room ideas in the most suitable shade will make any room look fresh, modern and effortlessly styled.

Pink living room ideas

Sometimes less is more when it comes to pink living room ideas, think petal pinks as an accent and use no more than three tonal shades in your palette. Use white as the base. It’s the colour that sets off any pink to its best advantage and other colours are hard to mix with petal tones without looking garish.

At the opposite end of the scale there are hot pinks that make a style statement with unapologetic colour. From deep magenta to hot pink these saturated shades of pink can look fabulous when paired with contrasting accents of slate grey and black

Whichever pink suits your tastes the most important aspect when designing your living room is to have fun with your selection. Make it reflect your own personal style.

Here are our pick of the best pink living room ideas to inspire your decorating journey…

1. Pair pink with one dominant accent colour

Image credit: Future PLC/ Georgia Burns

Create a stylishly cohesive decorating scheme but working with a coordinated palette; pairing pink with one other dominant accent colour. This pink living room chooses to celebrate blue, to add a pop of colour against the serene dusky pink background. The pale millennial pink on the walls helps to set the tone as the lead colour, while the blue takes centre stage on the sofa, furniture and artwork.

The wallpapered feature wall is a blend of the two colours to ensure the colour scheme works in perfect harmony. Soft golden sand-coloured textiles add another layer of colour, without distracting from the pink and blue living room idea.

2. Paint the ceiling pink

Image credit: Future PLC/ Veronica Rodriguez

Engulf the entire living room in a comforting blanket of buff pink by painting the ceiling, in addition to all four walls. Painting ceilings is fast becoming a go-to trend for the modern living room – incorporating all five walls makes the colour scheme feel more immersive and atmospheric.

Take the colour palette completely from floor to ceiling, including skirting boards, doors and even floating shelves to create a seamless finish to unify all wall surfaces.

3. Make it fashion with hot pink

Image credit: Lick

For fans of pink, PINK pink, consider using unapologetic shades of pink to really celebrate this wonderful shade. From a bubblegum pink on the walls to set the tone, to a paler pink on painted floorboards to add a softer edge a colour palette of all pink everywhere is a bold way to show off a penchant for the shade in all its glory.

This vibrant shade from Lick paint is Pink 06 described as a ‘perfectly youthful hot pink’. This unapologetic, pure and undiluted pink is sure to welcome warmth to any living room. The pairing of Pink 03 ‘muted bubblegum pink’ works a treat to balance the warm tones.

4. Contrast with shades of grey

Image credit: Future PLC/ Benedicte Drummond

Pink and grey living room ideas are a match made in heaven. Both shades offer a full spectrum of tone and depth, with like shades of each colour pairing beautifully. Pale pinks work with stronger shades of charcoal grey and black to create a striking construct of tone, with the lighter colour softening the hardness of the darker shades.

In this pink living room idea the homeowners has used a mid-grey on the ceiling to offset the lighter, pale pink walls – while embracing dark charcoal grey, almost black, furniture pieces to add a punch of clashing impact.

5. Coordinate the window treatments

Image caption: Future PLC/Dominic Blackmore

Whether your window treatment is a living room curtain idea or on-trend shutters, incorporating the windows into your colour palette goes a long way to balance the room.

This is especially effective in smaller living room ideas because the less you distraction from the walls the more generous the space will feel. Matching the wall colours, in this case pink, will ensure the scheme feels cohesive and less imposing on the space.

6. Balance a purple and pink colour palette

Image credit: Future PLC/ Max Attenborough

In this pale pink living room the colour is enhanced further by layers of plum and purple overtones. Follow suit and let dusky pink play the focal point of your cosy living room scheme. Snuggle up with sumptuous shades of dusky pink and fig. Off-set muted pink walls with darker tones on velvet furniture pieces and chunky knits to create a welcoming fireside snug.

7. Mix pink with metallics for a sophisticated look

Image credit: Future PLC/ Tim Young

To avoid your pink living room decor looking too sickly sweet, opt for a throughly dusky shade of pink. Take it as dark as you can without losing the lightness of the pink tones, which will be more present in direct daylight.

To help add a further touch of sophistication pair with chic taupe upholstery and a plethora of muted metallic accents – from elegant furniture pieces and lamps to fun lettered wall art.

8. Choose soft shades for a serene approach to pink

Image credit: Future PLC/ Dominic Blackmore

Balance powder pink walls with an equal amount of soft white and touches of warm neutrals – sand, stone, caramel. Powder pink is a cool colour, so natural wood warms it up.

We suggest including plenty of texture with linens, woven accessories and ceramics for a contemporary feel that won’t date.

9. Welcome darker shades for furniture

Image credit: Future PLC/ Dominic Blackmore

Don’t be afraid to keep/buy bolder furniture pieces in fear that they won’t suit the pink living room idea. A complete contrast in sofa or armchair choice can actually be very grounding, giving definition to the pieces and add depth to the overall scheme.

Sofas in dark grey, navy blue or tan leather can help to inject a bold accent colour to work into the wider decorating scheme.

10. Pick shades of plastered pink

Image credit: Future PLC/ Polly Eltes

As the trend for plastered pink paint shades goes from strength to strength, how how about embracing actual plastered walls? Not to every ones taste of course, but as demonstrated above it can look effortlessly stylish.

Even when used as a feature for a chimney breast, with a matching tonal pink shade of paint for the adjacent walls.

11. Add warming peach undertones

Image credit: Dominic Blackmore

Peachy pinks are a very choice for adding warmth to a living room, perhaps a north-facing room that is starved of natural light – leaving it feeling dingy and flat. Look to inject a coral/peachy toned pink to lift the spirits and take a soft approach to using pink paint.

Soft peach pinks pair beautifully with pale greys to create a dreamily serene, almost nostalgic colour scheme that feels effortlessly calming.

12. Team pink with wood grain

Image credit: Future PLC/ Tim Young

Give your feature wall a lick of rose pink paint. Team this feminine shade with white-washed wood panelling to add further definition. Then add furniture, flooring and soft furnishings in a mix of natural, earthy tones to compliment the look.

13. Enhance a chimney breast with splash of pink

Image credit: Future PLC/ Nick Keane

Not keen on painting all four walls in pink? Or even a whole wall even? Why not try picking out an interesting key feature with a splash of your chosen pink colour – here it’s the chimney breast. The backdrop is just enough to enhance the architectural feature of interest.

The strong shade of pink is beautifully complimented by natural wood and pale grey tones.

14. Layer pink and delicate silk for laid-back luxury

Image credit: Future PLC/ Dan Duchars

To create a comforting laid-back living room with a touch of decadence try combining petal-soft pinks, tea rose and peach tones with delicate Japanese-inspired patterns. Dress a daybed or sofa with luxurious silks and linens, adorned in soft oriental patterns to add a decorative element to your pink colour scheme.

Take a trick from our stylists and cover a panel in a beautiful wallpaper for an instant feature wall that switches up the scene for the season.

15. Make pink a focal point

Image credit: Future PLC/ Simon Whitmore

Create a sophisticated scheme with an elegant colour combination of tea rose and soft putty. Set a romantic mood by painting walls in a warm shade of mushroom grey, a neutral living room idea, then team smart upholstery in tea-rose pink with sisal flooring to build a classic look.

Cheat period character by fixing ornate corbels to a basic floating shelf and add a hint of old fashioned glamour with a chest of drawers in shimmering mother-of-pearl. Contemporary side tables, copper accessories and a statement mirror will give the scheme a modern edge.

16. Feel at home with blossom pink

Image credit: Future PLC/ Jon Day

The modern country way to work this trend is to mix blossom pink with taupe, giving it a grown-up edge. Avoid high-impact pink florals and go for gauzy designs, soft graphic leaf shapes or gentle rustic block prints on curtains and wallpapers.

Add character to the living room with a statement sofa that bravely mixes the colour palette. Complement with curvaceous wooden furniture styles in pastel-painted or -washed finishes and soft furnishings with classic shapes.

17. Add vibrance with hot pink

Image credit: Future PLC/ Mel Yates

Subtle white-grey walls and hits of wood and metal are fitting foils for vivid and blush pink accents. A wall of storage with cubbyhole-style shelving creates an interesting focal point in this symmetrical scheme. Pick a dark raspberry, a mid-toned bubblegum pink and a light blossom tone and use them behind alcove shelves.

Leave a big gap between each shelf so you can display large frames and pretty trinkets. Finish off the look by choosing one thing that will tie everything together. In this space, the paints and accessories have been matched to the sofa.

18. Mix vibrant pink with deep orange

Image credit: Future PLC/ Dominic Blackmore

If you don’t want to go pink-all-over, why not trying spicing up your living room by teaming hot pink with a vibrant orange hue? Turn up the heat with this fearless duo of dazzling brights. Balance large areas of intense hot pink with accents of zesty orange, then add furniture and accessories in pure white to bring a wash of calm to a bold scheme.

Layer cushions two or three deep to re-create the smart-casual feel of Miami boutique hotels, and mix in graphic prints for added impact.

20. Keep pink tones subdued

Image credit: Future PLC/ Robert Sanderson

If a hot pink is too punchy for you, why not try a powder pink? Don’t think of it as pink, it’s really a neutral – a barely-there flush that gives a room a layer of colour and blends in rather than contrasts. Use it to add quiet sophistication and a fresh hint of prettiness that’ll upgrade any look, from simple country to upscale glamour.

21. Use pink as a backdrop to natural wood

Image credit: Future PLC/ David Brittain

For a light and spacious feel, pale neutrals are your best friend. Try soft pink on the walls with touches of taupe and cream. For a streamlined scheme, build a network of storage combining shelves, drawers and cubbies. Paint sections different colours to break up the expanse of wood.

Is pink a good colour for living rooms?

Pink is a good colour for living rooms, it’s a great colour for any room in fact, simply because it’s so versatile. There are so many varying shades of pink that the look can be entirely different from one living room to another. Pale pinks are ideal for those looking to inject warm to a colour scheme without feeling overwhelmed by the use of ‘colour’. Very pale pinks can work as a warm neutral.

For those who love colour there’s a whole spectrum of deeply saturated pink shades to add vibrancy to living spaces.

Does grey go with blush pink?

All shades of grey go with blush pink, meaning thee’s a colour combination for all settings. Stronger, more dominant shade of grey from charcoal to slate grey take on blush pink as a soft accent shade, best used for accessories throughout teh living room to break up the strong colour scheme. While gentle, paler greys work in perfect harmony for blush pink – creating a balance blanket fo muted colour.

How can I add pink to my living room?

Youcan add pink to a living room at many different levels. Firstly for a more impactful approach to colour you can paint the walls. Whether opting for a bold cerise pink or a sophisticated dusky pink tone painting walls is the best way to really embrace pink in a living space. Adding hints of pink via furniture choices, in an otherwise neutral scheme, helps to add bursts of colour rather than saturate the space.

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