THE LITTLE BLACK DRESS!

Black is a basic staple color for any fashion wardrobe. “The Diva” has an entire closet of black clothing and every girl has that “Little Black Dress”. Why? Because black is elegant, sensual, forgiving, and sophisticated.

Why limit that “Little Black Dress” to your clothing wardrobe? The concept of the “Little Black Dress” can be applied to home decorating as well as to your fashion wardrobe. A touch of black in your home decorating scheme will give your rooms a since of style and sophistication.

There are many ways to inject black into your home decorating. Black can be incorporated through furniture pieces, artwork, accessories, pillows, lighting or any other way that you can think of.

You may have a piece of furniture that you never really liked but, painted black, it will take on a different look and may very well become one of your favorite pieces.

Tip: When painting an old piece of furniture black there are several techniques that can be used:

SIMPLE BLACK: Remove any dust and dirt from the piece to be painted and then lightly sand it so the paint will adhere to the surface. I recommend painting your furniture piece with and eggshell or semi-gloss black finish because you do not want it to look too shiny. This technique gives a furniture piece a sleeker, modern look.

AGED BLACK: If you want a look that appears aged clean and sand the piece. Paint it black and then lightly sand the edges of the furniture piece that would naturally become worn over the years.

ANTIQUE BLACK: The antiqued look is achieved by sanding and painting your furniture piece and then using a dry brush technique to lightly brush on a contrasting color (usually a light tan) to achieve the antique effect.

Furniture stores offer a wide selection of new black furniture pieces. The selection is endless and a piece or two of black accent furniture in a room adds instant character and interest.

No room should be without its "Little Black Dress”.

The Diva

Decorating delimma submitted by Sister:

"I have a 45"dia table in a room 16'W x 24'L that I would like to give the little black dress treatment but I don't want it to look like yo mama's funeral attire. What do you think? Will it work? Great site."

I'm not sure if the room you are referring to is a dining room, living room, bedroom, etc. but whatever the room, you can certainly apply the little black dress theory. Like I said in my article a black accent or two in any room can make a big impact but you do need to use restraint. If you are thinking of painting the table and it happens to have some character in it's shape it would be awesome in black! Don't overdue, just add touches of black in other areas, to balance out the black furniture piece. For instance, simple black frames around artwork or maybe some black iron sconces for the wall or an interesting mirror that has an aged look to it. Another great and interesting way to incorporate black if it works with your style and windows is to install black shutters on each side of a window for a simple and unique twist.

A great source for black accent pieces is Ballard Designs.

Some extra inspiration just for Sister...

This is an example of using black shutters as an accent also notice that the table has been painted black.










Notice how the black frame artwork makes the wall pop. This would tie in nicely with your black furniture piece.