ColorTherapy: Black and White

Name: H03750
Brand: Fine Paints of Europe

You may be wondering where the color is in this photograph, as it looks like it’s almost completely black and white and this is a column about color. But it is my aim to leave no stone unturned as we explore the range of color its full spectrum.

First let’s think for a moment of all the wonderful things that exist in black and white: photographs by Avedon, wood-cut prints, Italian marble floors, houndstooth fabric, pen-and-ink drawings, furniture by Fornasetti. By removing or reducing the seductive element of color, we begin to focus on other things like composition and content.

Similarly, the décor of the loft containing this kitchen is black and white, but with the teensiest hints of color scattered throughout--a fishbowl here, a painting there; and the furnishings are all clean and contemporary. This wall runs off the kitchen and also frames the entry door, so it’s a good place for a little accent. The color is almost black, but with a suggestion of navy blue depending on the light, and the result is stark and handsome. I don’t think I’d call it a suburban look, but it’s one worth considering for those who like something dramatic.

- Mark Chamberlain, interior and decorative painter

Comments (19)

What's the paint color called? It looks blue on my monitor.

My monitor, too, turns the "suggestion of navy" into a shout of "Hello, sailor!"

Don't worry -- it's not.

I think the PC in those Mac commercials is sexy, too.

I have a mac, and my first thought was, "hmm, navy walls with a black and white kitchen."

I have a mac as well, and it looks really blue.

Some of us use more than Photoshop and iTunes on their computers.

" The color is almost black, but with a suggestion of navy blue depending on the light, and the result is stark and handsome."

to those using a mac who see this color as navy blue --
calibrate your monitors.

There ARE undertones of blue in that black, as campari *just* pointed out. It's not solely a monitor calibration issue.

Oops, as JamesM just pointed out. Sorry, JamesM.

For me it's a pretty rich navy - and my apple monitor is perfectly calibrated, as I use it for my daily design work. That said, I don't see what the fuss is all about! It's a lovely color.
Too bad the maker isn't on colorcharts.org :(

On my mac it reads as a sort of anthracite grey (had a sofa in this color)

On my mac, I see the wall colour as a sort of slate or Atlantic blue. I think I like it better with the black and white kitchen than the midnight blue/black it actually is.

On my color calibrated MacBook Pro, it looks like a deep slate grey with blue undertones. (Quite beautiful!) How we see color will always be subjective, and open to interpretation.

Some of my favorite rooms are those where the colors have been dialed way down. Its amazing how a "black wall" in any other context suddenly becomes a "blue wall" because there are no loud colors to distract from the subtleties. I find the effect rather hard to achieve because you have to be pretty rigid about every shade of color showing in the room. Paint, wood, textiles - all have to be systematically vetted - one off color and the whole thing just becomes a dull dark gray room. When well executed, it can have tremedous effect - and to my eye, way more power than the arrangement of brightly colored pillows punctuated by the orange accent wall.

I love the colours in this picture. But I think its the flowers that has provided the last factor that makes it " amazing". Is this colour scheme realistic for a kitchen? Probably not, you would have your tomatoes ( red), vegetables ( green) and various coloured items... frequently on the countertop.

Besides... a vase of flowers just beside the stove?.. hmm..

This is still a great photo though. and I like the subtleties...

Beautiful color - When you realize that even shadows have color and that the absence of light necessary for true black is nearly impossible to achieve it suddenly makes a whole new infinity of colors possible. Let's hear it for H03750 and the opportunities offered by reflected light !

Ah, the perils of the camera phone. In reality, the colour is a deep off-black, with a blue undertone -- and definitely not navy (!). It's actually a blackboard wall, and the paint is Chalkboard by Benjamin Moore. Missing from the photo are stainless steel appliances, Caesarstone countertops in Cinder, concrete floors and of course the scrawl that now graces said wall. How do I know? That's my newly renovated, days-of-manual-labor-of-love kitchen!

p.s. the flowers were placed in the photo for contrast by the photographer - I'm too much a free-form cook for that.