Hailey Bieber’s Kitchen Proves That Dark Paint Can Still Be Homey

The days of shying away from dark paint colors are over. Just look at Vanessa Hudgens’ sleek black bathroom or the fact that HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams just picked a black shade with violet undertones (“Darkroom”) as its 2023 Color of the Year.

After all, adding deeper hues to your home doesn’t have to be intimidating. Case in point: Hailey Bieber’s kitchen, which she showed off in her new YouTube cooking series, “WHAT’S IN MY KITCHEN?”

In the first installment (titled “making breakfast two ways”), Bieber promises: “Yes, we actually are in my real kitchen in my real house. This is not a set.”

The media personality and Rhode Skin founder’s space features inky kitchen cabinets, whose more dramatic color is balanced by more traditionally neutral accents, like a brass sink, swirly white and gray marble countertops, and wood kitchenware. The result is a classy kitchen that incorporates the classiness of black cabinets while adding just enough classic airiness to make it feel totally natural.

As I mentioned earlier, Bieber isn’t alone in embracing more dramatic dark paint. As Apartment Therapy reported in the summer of 2021, the terms “decor dark paint” and “dark wooden paneling” have become trending kitchen colors on TikTok.

But before you take the plunge into darker shades, make sure to follow tried-and-true expert tips to keep your space inviting and functional. As Caroline Grant and Dolores Suarez of Dekar Design told Apartment Therapy, interspersing these deeper colors with lighter furniture “tricks your eye into thinking the room is not only bigger but has more natural light.”

Meanwhile, Crystal Sinclair of Crystal Sinclair Designs recommends choosing rooms that are already dark and small. “Play to the room’s natural light,” she told Apartment Therapy. “If it’s a tucked-away space with little or no light, lean into that with a darker color.”