Yay! The black wall in the bedroom is finally finished. I’m so glad I went ahead and painted the moldings black.
The doorway on the left leads into a small fourth bedroom that we use as our dressing room. The door that’s supposed to go there is missing, but I actually like that it’s open all the time.
We have the door that’s supposed to go in this frame, but I have no idea when it’ll actually be hung. We need to replace all of the hardware on the door (it was knobless and hanging upside-down from two little hinges when we bought the house), and that’s still pretty low on the project priority list. I did paint the inside of it black today, though, so it’s ready to go!
Look! No more weird little strip of black!
If you’d like to see a badly-assembled panoramic view of the whole wall, you can click the above photo for an enlargement.
The shelf could not have been easier to hang. It’s literally just a $20 plank of white pine that I sanded smooth. I may put a coat of matte polyurethane on it at some point, but I really like the look of it bare. It’s mounted on the wall with four steel angle brackets. Maybe it’s not the most elegant solution, but I painted the lower half of the brackets with the wall color, and they recede completely.
Now I can’t wait to paint that radiator! If it’s warm enough next weekend that we can leave the heat off, I’ll try to do it then.
p.s. Because I know someone will ask… Yes, the rug is real. I’ve had it for several years. No, I’m not planning to get rid of it. It doesn’t bother me any more than a leather sofa would.
144 Comments
Yes! I have followed this wall thing and I really like the way it turns out. Great with the trims painted too. Well done! And happy week 🙂
Love the black walls and trim! Makes sense to do it in such a bright room. Will the heater bother whoever sleeps on that side of the bed? Will it get too hot over there?
We never leave the heat on at night, so it’s not a problem.
Love the sleek look. Also really like your headboard.
Really dramatic! I love it!
bravo!
beautiful. also you are like the fastest, most efficient diy-er ever!
ps- love this:
“If you wouldn’t say it to someone’s face, don’t say it here.” well said.
But…it took me two years of planning, four months of procrastinating, and five days of execution to paint a single wall!
everybody needs prep time 😉
Planning…thinking…procrastinating…more procrastinating…feeling guilty about procrastinating…action. That’s exactly how I operate, too. I love your black wall. It’s calm and peaceful.
Anna, the black wall looks great! I’ve always painted walls, ceilings and mouldings with the same colour in my home. Makes decisions so much easier.
Looks super fly! I like the simple pine shelf– how deep is it?
Okay. I’ve been looking at it… and looking at it… right side of the third picture down: is that a strip of black painted trim I’m seeing? Is somebody gearing up to paint the rest of the room black?!?!
The shelf is about 6″ deep.
And no, that’s just the aforementioned un-hung door that I was painting. Don’t get crazy. 😉
I can’t help it.
It does look much better – seamless and chic. I really like it. x
I love it! It looks awesome!!!
great call on painting the trim black! and bonus that it distracts the eye from the different doorway and window heights- something that might drive a modernist a little mad 😉
Thank you for noticing the varying heights, Maja! That’s definitely one of the things that drives me mad, for sure. 😉
this looks AMAZING! i love the black wall AND the shelf. great job!
Love it!!!
I love it. Good choice on painting the molding, it really looks seamless. The shelf is perfect!
Love, love love the black wall and moulding. So hot!
so lovely – I was skeptical the other day when I read you were going to pain the trim – but it was such a good choice!
Your wall is a work of art. You took the time to think of it and it shows, like in the details about the different door heights that you hide. In fact, all of your projects all well thought and it is a quality that you have.
And PLEASE Dear, dear Anna, don’t find excuses when someone pays you a compliment (especially when you deserve it) just say “thank you” and accept it. You deserve all the prays you get from your readers. And I would say it to your face 🙂
Thank you 🙂
Great choice painting the trim black too! The shelf looks great, but doesn’t it get in the way of sitting up in bed and leaning on the wall behind you? Maybe not everyone does that…just curious! 🙂
Neither of us ever really sit up/lean back in bed (that’s why we didn’t bother getting a bed with headboard for the apartment), but even if we did, I think the shelf is high enough that it wouldn’t interfere.
What kind of bed is that? I like the sleek look. My wife and dig your blog.
Matt, it’s the Ånes bed from IKEA. It’s very Alvar Aalto-esque, and beautifully made. Unfortunately, it’s been discontinued (we bought it several years ago)—they do still have several items from the line in their inventory, though.
Looks fantastic! Painting the trim black was definitely the way to go.
LOVE it!! I would have never thought of painting the trim the same color as the wall. Looks great. Do you think that look works for all wall colors or just looks especially grand in black? I am really digging the shelf too…
Well, it looks good with white, too! 😉
I think it’s best to do this with very strong colors. I once saw an apartment (maybe in Budget Living?) completely painted out in bright pink—everything: the walls, the trim, the pipes, the electric wires, the windows…and it looked great.
Wow, I love the stark white alcove & the all black wall contrast. We have yet to figure out what to do to our bedroom
I love the look of the bare pine. It’s very minimal and sets a nice warm contrast against the dark wall.
Oh Anna, it’s gorgeous! Amazing how black can look so warm and cozy instead of cool and detached.
It’s post like this that kill me as a renter. I’m all for a little un-authorised DIY a la Manhattan Nest but I think painting my bedroom black might be pushing it.
~Alana
Hey…I painted a wall, a ceiling, and a closet in my rental apartment black! I’ll paint it back to white when I move.
Beautiful! I love how it looks with the trim painted black, it really pulls it all together how you wanted! It really does make an excellent statement. How many coats did it take?
Two coats! The coverage with the Aura paint is really good.
looks great! i have been meaning to compliment you on the website. i love it 🙂
the black trim looks great as well.
greetings from australia
Yes, yes, yes and yes to it all.
Ok. That was CLEARLY* the right choice. It looks great!
*And by clearly I mean now that it’s done it’s obvious.
So smart, and charming…the matte black.
And, leave that little shelf along.
Live with it raw.
Cheers!
looks sooo good!
and I love the shelf and how you will be able to stage different objects on it + change it up from time to time…
Love the black trim! It looks good as white, too but the black looks much better!
I don’t really dig the shelf (color), though! Sorry! If it was me it would be stained very very dark brown or painted black.
Something to mimic the radiator on the right side would be great! Good opportunity for a night table?
I’ll be painting the radiator black eventually, so it will recede more.
In the mean time, you can see that I already did put something on the opposite side. 🙂 No need for a bedside table (I’m not really a fan of them anyway; I have problems with insomnia, and I don’t like to be able to see a clock during the night) now that the shelf is up.
Wow! That looks fantastic!
Very nice! I’m lying here looking around my room in shame! haha!
It looks awesome Anna! I love that you always trust your gut. (And I was one of the “heart white molding” so much comments. 🙂
yay!! it looks fantastic! i love it all, and love the splashes of yellow and sharon montrose prints. so cozy!
It was your fabulous dining room that pushed me over the edge! I fully embrace the dark side. 🙂
This looks great. I think painting the door frames was a really good idea.
At the beginning of the year I painted our bedroom ‘indian ink’. It’s a very light filled room so it works quite well though I do think in hindsight I would have been better to do what you have done and paint just one wall. Currently my door frames and skirtings are white, but seeing this I think I’ll go over them in the dark colour! 🙂
evie x
Looks really nice, great decision to be bold!
Ok…I admit I was wrong!! I didn’t think I was going to like it, but I really do!!
I have to ask about the radiator being so close to the bed…doesn’t that get a little hot??
Being in Florida, radiators are something we don’t have to deal with often…ok, never!! 😉
We don’t keep the heat on at night. That’s what dogs are for! 🙂
There are several furry and VERY cuddly little beasts that allow us to share their house with them…so I completely understand the lack of need for the heat at night!! lol
PERFECT! love it – soo much better!
Trés chic!
Double Yay! I keep on repeating myself in the comments here but…. Love!
Nice, nice. Looks great!
black is so definitely back.
Wow – it works so well I’m off to buy paint…
Now the trim is dark too the start of the window wall makes sense. And I wouldn’t have thought of a shelf helping link the chair(s) and bed frame, while not making things matchy matchy. (Although I realise the latter might just be my own preoccupation.)
On painting the radiator are you sure about next weekend? I get the sense of urgency but it is so bitterly cold here (London) that I’d be worried about how cold the four of you would get over there. (But if you do paint, I can’t wait to see the results!)
Temperatures are weird in the Northeastern US this time of year—we’ll have a day of frost and cold following by warmth and sunshine. It usually doesn’t get ridiculously frigid until the end of November, and then there’s no turning back!
I painted all the walls in my bedroom an almost black colour but kept the ceiling, door and skirting an off white – the room is so dark it needed the contrast! I think painting the trim the same colour as the wall has worked really well in this room. I’m loving your old radiators too!
So amazing, what a beautiful colour
Wow! Wowwowow! I love black in a bedroom and this looks really great. I saw your previous post with the white trim and as much as I loved the trim, it looks so much better in black.
Great job!
Libertine (long time lurker, first time poster)
love it! I love the way you “styled” the shelf. Mine would inevitably be filled with clutter (oh wait, it is!)
We really don’t read in bed at all, so there isn’t much clutter to accumulate. I try to keep the bedroom as spare as possible!
Love it. Never thought that painting the mouldings black as well would have such impact, but it really does.
anna, a few things. happy belated birthday. 35 looks very good on you! you are like me in my family….so much younger than my siblings. and, i too, called my parents mommy and daddy, until their last days!
second, the black wall looks great.it changed the look of the room completely. and really glad that you painted the moldings. how do you find all of the interior photos you find? do you scan them from magazines?
enjoy the new look.
All of my siblings call my mother “Mommy”, too. That’s her name, after all. 🙂
Most of the interiors photos I post are internet-sourced. I always put a link under the photo so you can identify the source.
FANTASTIQUE !!! Well worth all the procrastination 😉
Do I spy some equally awesome Sharon Montrose animal prints ?
Yes, you do! Evan bought them for me several birthdays ago, but I’ve only now found the right place for them. 🙂
That is gorgeous. I have to say, I actually kind of like the radiator as is. And the shelf is fantastic. I did something similar in an old apartment and left it unfinished and never had a problem with it getting dirty or anything.
The radiator looks better in photos than in person! In reality, the silver paint is very crumbly (well past the point of peeling—it’s really a health hazard) and there is exposed rust all over it. It really does need to be wire-brushed, sanded, and treated with a rust-proofing primer.
Please do a how-to when you get that done, I’m in the EXACT same situation with my nasty radiators (which also spit and sputter and knock when they turn them on, which might mean they’re broken? I don’t know. I need a dog instead, clearly). Yes, probably a health hazard with all that chipping silver likely lead-laden paint!
love it! the black trim looks fantastic. what color are you planning on painting the radiator?
BM Soot (matte), the same color as the wall.
Really loving how it turned out … you have done such a great job I recently painted my bathroom black and I adore it, think I may have to copy you and move on to the bedroom next !!!
Oh geesh – I feel a new project coming on! This room is absolute perfecton. LOVE.
That looks gorgeous, lady!! Glad you painted the mouldings black on that wall – looks tremendous! Yay for you!!
Looks great. I kinda like the way the radiator pops from the wall, but on your other post there was a black radiator against the black wall, and that looked interesting too. It’s not so prominent. I’m sure it feels good to scratch some of this off your list.
I’ll definitely be painting the radiator! I just need a weekend when the heat doesn’t need to be on.
It looks fantastic! I never would have thought to paint the moldings black but it looks great. And the rug is awesome too (coming from a judgement-free vegetarian, haha). Very classy.
i’m excited to see your sharon montrose prints! i have one and i hadn’t yet decided if it was, you know, cool, but clearly it is if you have some!
Hahah!! Sharon’s prints are gorgeous—very cool! 😀
Love. Painting the trim out was definitely the right decision! The ‘weird black strip’ goes right away. and I may steal your wonderfully simple shelf idea! would be much better than bedside tables…
It looks great! I know in the previous post you mentioned that now you wanted a new bed. But, I think the addition of the bare wood shelf helps tie in the bed frame nicely. Hat tip to you!
I love the bed, but I sometimes think it has too large of a footprint because the headboard has quite a deep slant. The room is very narrow. It feels much better now with the dark wall, though, as it’s given the room much more depth!
I. Want. This. Bedroom.
its gorgeous Anna, I love every bit of it, you are amazing!
Have you thought about bringing the black trim through the rest of the room?
Not unless I decide to paint the entire room black, no. My reasoning for not wanting the high contrast between the trim and the wall applies regardless of the configuration!
I understand why you hesitated to paint the trim, but now that you have, it makes all the difference!
Beautiful job, well done! I love the look of painting the trim and wall the same color. I also really like the shelf. I might do the same.
It looks so good! Is it just me or can you really appreciate the beauty of the trim now that it doesn’t just register as white-next-to-black?
The room looks amazing Anna! What frames did you use for Sharon Montrose’s prints?
If it’s in my house and it’s in a (modern) frame, it’s probably a Ribba from IKEA! 😉
We’ve left off the door between our bedroom and the adjoining room (our office) off too. I like the flow it gives the two rooms.
This looks so good! Especially with the dark moldings. I like the shelf in its natural state because it matches the other furniture in the room and the frames. Nice choices. 🙂
it looks fabulous!! great job!
love it with the black trim as well…the room looks great. I’m definitely jealous
Do you have steam heat? Usually you can turn off a radiator with steam. You’re probably not likely to have too many weekends where you can go without heat up there, that might let you get it done before spring.
Yes, we have steam heat, but turning the knobs doesn’t make any difference! (I’ve never had working steam knobs anywhere I’ve lived!)
it looks fabulous!
I am in LOVE. It is a challenge to use such a dark color, but still make it seem so bright. Lovely job. Where did you find those gorgeous yellow pillow cases?? xoxo
Thank you! The pillow cases came from Dwell.
I’m in love.
wow. love the shelf!! looks amazing with the black wall. nice job.
It looks wonderful! And I think the bed looks even better now against the black wall.
Looks great! I really like the black trim.
don’t paint the radiator, dear door sixteen!!!
it looks great against the black, like a luminous industrial artifact.
if the radiator were black, i would just think, hmm, somebody painted a lot of stuff black.
but right now, there’s something about the graphic composition of as-is radiator, plain wood shelf, occasional picture, that is awesome somehow…
anyhow, that’s my two cents. thanks for sharing, great writing and pics!
As I said in another comment:
“The radiator looks better in photos than in person! In reality, the silver paint is very crumbly (well past the point of peeling—it’s really a health hazard) and there is exposed rust all over it. It really does need to be wire-brushed, sanded, and treated with a rust-proofing primer.”
Good choice on painting the trim black too. It was definitely the right decision. I have to admit that I had my doubts. Love your blog!
Just…gorgeous! YOU have inspired me.
Nice work on the molding. Love the simplicity of the room.
Maybe paint the radiator . . . silver?
I really am not a fan of silver radiators. I’ll be painting it flat black, the same color as the wall.
Yes!
Gorgeous. Stunning. So jealous of all the fabulous architectural details. The black molding is super sophisticated, too.
Flat black radiator- YES! I’m a bit late commenting, but this looks insanely great (as usual). Painting the molding was genius.
Wow! That looks fantastic and the shelf is sharp!
As far as the cowhide rug goes, more people should know that you can get them on the cheap at any Tandy Leather store, through their catalog or website. They are the EXACT ones you’d get from any of the high end shops (*cough*DWR*cough) at a fraction of the price. I got the largest size you can get (a “60” if you need a reference) at the Tandy a block away from my apartment and it’s amazing. I am already scheming for my next one — blonde!
Better still, if you REALLY want a cowhide rug (or any product made from a dead animal), buy VINTAGE.
There is no reason to continue the slaughter of animals for the sake of a meal or a rug. Financially, ecologically, and ethically-speaking, using what already exists is the best option (short of not having a dead animal rug at all, of course).
A black wall has never looked better. Well done Anna.
Holy cow, I gasped when I saw this–GOOD JOB, it looks so awesome!
I just recently found your blog and am so glad I did! We are house hunting and I need all the fixer-upper support I can get. THANKS!
That’s an awesome bedroom! So simple and cozy. I love the bare wood shelf, and I actually think it would be a shame to paint that radiator.
Please see my previous comments about the radiator—it really is a health hazard. The photos are deceiving.
I LOVE it. Well done! What colour are you going to paint the radiator – please say mustard!
Flat black, same as the wall.
I love the wall-long shelf! I just took a trip over to Ikea to get a white picture rail, but they were out and I also realized it was only about 45″ long, and I need much longer, and I was agonizing about how to create this shelf I want above my sofa, and this is the perfect idea, and so cheap, too. I might even paint the entire shelf the color of the wall. I assume I can get the brackets at Home Depot?
Yep! Or any hardware store. They’re just standard angle brackets.
Beautiful! You mentioned that you got the pillowcases at Dwell. Do you know the names of them? I did a little searching and couldn’t find them. We are re-doing our bedroom and I would love that exact set.
I don’t remember the name, sorry, but I’ve had them for several years now. I don’t think they’ve been a part of the collection for quite some time.
I just found the name in thid old post—the style was called “Silhouette”.
Thank you!
It looks REALLY great! I was wondering if you had finished painting since last time I checked! It totally grounds the room and makes the blue and yellow pop! You’re making me want some black walls in our house now, haha!
I love the dressing room too!
We have the exact same trim all over out house – it is huge and I dream about removing it because it is so distracting. But now that I see how it looks painted the wall colour I have a plan!
Simply stunning !
Black moulding! It’s so much better painted. Very nice.
Hello, The room looks absolutely beautiful. I’ve not scrolled through all of the comments, so perhaps someone else has asked this: Where did you get your bed frame? Thank you.
IKEA! There’s more specific info in a few other comments. 🙂
You are wonderfully patient! 🙂
Also, the bedroom looks great.
Wow. Stunning.
Hi Anna – do you mind sharing what finish you painted the trims black with please – is it a full gloss? Has a nice contract against the wall.
I’m just about to go with painting all the woodwork in my bedroom the same Farrow & Ball Elephants Breath as the walls, white just isn’t working for me anymore….
J
It’s a satin finish, James! All of my walls are fully matte, and the trim is satin throughout the house.