Over To The Dark Side Part 2
I’ve been really excited to share this next instalment in my Dark Decor blog series, since it’s paying homage to a key element that’s my absolute failsafe for creating a balanced dark interior. Whenever I’m designing a dark room, there’s one natural material that I always incorporate somewhere, and that’s wood. The more characterful, the better. Wood instantly adds warmth and texture, simply-put, it grounds a dark colour-scheme - and here’s how you can use wooden touches to elevate your home…
Natural Beauty
I intentionally choose a pale herringbone oak solid wooden parquet floor to contrast with slightly darker, beautifully grained oak kitchen cabinetry and darker grey cupboards and wraparound concrete island. We were drawn to the characterful, unique and knotted finish in each individual block that was used to create this floor and the traditional methods of craftsmanship that were employed to lay it and sand it to perfection. The whole process took a while but the end result was totally worth it for the warmth and character it brought to this space.
Yet I truly believe a statement wooden table is one of the simplest and most practical ways to ground a kitchen or dining space. In my previous kitchen, I intentionally chose a contrasting paler finish for the solid oak breakfast bar and dining table in the adjoining dining space. Both were finished using a specialist Danish woodcare product called Woca.
A pale oak table draws the eye and contrasts with the dark wooden joists of the orangery.
Adding a statement piece of whitewashed or bleached wooden furniture, like this antique French bleached oak dresser that is currently stocked at Sandrock House, has a similar impact too.
A 19th Century French dresser crafted from bleached oak, a subtle hue. delicate carvings on the cupboard doors, as well as its original glass and its key/lock system
Keep it simple
Incorporating wood into a scheme doesn’t need to mean extensive renovations - simply adding a few wooden touches or key pieces of vintage or antique wooden furniture instantly contrasts against darker walls.
INDUSTRIAL METAL DESK WITH A SOLID OAK TOP
Industrial and seriously cool, this pedestal metal desk features a solid oak top, two large cupboards, each with an internal wooden shelf and a central pull-out drawer..
Create an impressive focal point and allow the light to bounce around a room to give a heightened sense of light and space with this feature convex wooden mirror.
A top tip to lift a dark bathroom is to use an antique marble top commode as a basin vanity or even a simple, wooden milking stool as a towel rest. In bedrooms, and living spaces, an antique wooden French commode can create this effect.
In the master bedroom at Sandrock House, I stripped and sanded the original Victorian floorboards before sealing them with a pale whitewash-effect to get a softly distressed, weathered finish. I used Bona Craft Oil 2k in Sand, a gentle off-white, that brought warmth and light to the room and really popped against the blue-black Farrow & Ball Railings walls.
Using darker tones of wood to create a dark interior in the adjoining walk in dressing room is another method I’ve used to create a dramatic look. Here, I aspired for the room to emulate a classic gentleman’s club or a haberdashery, with sleek, dark glass-fronted wardrobes that contrasted beautifully with the pale wood flooring. The cabinetry was finished in Bona Craft 2k Oil in Dark Brown.
Oak cabinetry finished in Bona 2k Oil in dark oak
For more interior inspiration and to discover the timeless elegance of wooden furniture and homewares at Sandrock House, visit us at in store or browse our online collection. Here's some of our current favourites.
1. Large wooden industrial pigeon holes 2. Industrial metal desk with a solid wooden top 3. Antique console / occasional table 4. Solid Oak Prison serving boards 5.The Bali large statement wooden convex mirror 6. Antique wooden acorn string treen 7. Vintage pine storage trunk 8. Indian glazed display cabinet 9. The Bali large wooden convex mirror
Next up in the final part of this blog series, I'll delve into an exciting element used in dark interiors to achieve the Sandrock House aesthetic. And please do sign up to our 'Sandrock House Insights' newsletter here to be the first to hear about our next blog post, latest news, special offers and to receive a 10% discount off your first order online at Sandrock House.
