Black & White

Black and white – an ever smart and visually strong decorating choice. More than any other combination of colours this union has the ability to offer a variety of specific moods which can be easily managed by the use of textures, accents and intensity of colour use. This scheme's other great strength is in its appeal to both males and females; a wonderful benefit and surprisingly difficult effect to achieve in a decorating scheme.

Your initial approach needs simply to be that you focus on one colour, and use the other to add accents. Your choice of the initial focal point colour will depend on the mood you wish to create. White as the base colour will ensure an interior environment feels light and airy. This can be further manipulated by being made to feel feminine with the use of floaty fabrics and light textures, picking up on white rather than black accents.

By the same token if you wish to create a heavier, more masculine feel, this can be done by using heavier more textured fabrics (for example introducing velvet curtains and heavily textured rugs and throws) and focussing on black as your base colour adding white as an accent. As a rule increasing the amount of black used in conjunction with white will generally tip the balance towards a more masculine feel.

Introducing a completely separate colour, such as turquoise or pink, by using accessories such as crockery, throws or ornamental ceramics is an easy and deceptively simple way to play on your black and white theme. Don't be afraid to manipulate the mood and look of your scheme; for example try tailoring your changes to the seasons with coloured accessories eg, to create a summery mood use accessories in citrus colours or alternatively to evoke the feeling of long, languorous winters try accenting with ruby reds and midnight blues.