A friend of mine asked me recently if I think that black walls are overdone at this point, having been featured in every décor magazine and interiors blog around the world for several years now. My answer was a resounding NO: I love a good black wall (I wrote about them a while back, too) and I’m not afraid to say it!

This is the black wall in my office. That’s not paint, of course, it’s Fir Tree wallpaper from Ferm Living.

From Scandinavian Style.

Photo by DeanStreet. I love how the deep gray Mañana Lamp blends into the wall color.

At the Moormann Berge hotel in Germany (via Remodelista). PERFECT. Now, will someone please take the time to make that branch chandelier for me?

Black kitchen and bath at Harts Lane.

From LivingEtc. I wish I were brave enough to have an acid-green door in my life. Maybe in the apartment. Hmmm.

From LivingEtc. Will I ever get over the wonder that is Jenna Lyons’ house? No, I won’t.

L: Interior architecture and design by Philippe Harden; R: Home of Laura Aviva (via Design*Sponge).

Photo by Aaron Able at Apartment Therapy. Black paneling at Studio Aalto, Alvar Aalto’s design office in Helsinki.

L: Source unknown (sorry!); R: From Sköna Hem.

From LivingEtc.

L: Interior by Rose Uniacke, photo by Andreas von Einsiedel (via Remodelista); R: Photo by Keller & Keller. That’s actually a tall cabinet painted black on the left, but it reads as a full wall.

L: Ruthie Sommers’ kitchen, from Domino magazine; R: Interior by Ilse Crawford.

There’s something I really love about white bricks. It’s a contrast of texture and roughness with uniformity and a kind of secrecy—almost like hidden treasure.

This is at the BDDW in Soho. A few years ago, Apartment Therapy did an article on how to (maybe) get your brick walls to look like theirs, but apparently it’s a bit of a secret recipe.

Great backsplash, right? From Alvhem, a Swedish real estate site.

Interior by UXUS Design (via Design Crisis).

In case the bar cart wasn’t a tip-off, this is at Studio Aalto, Alvar Aalto’s design office in Helsinki. There’s a great tour of the entire office at Apartment Therapy.

Is there any doubt that this is going to be the most amazing kitchen ever? It belongs to Heather and Fernando over at Get to Fixin’, it’s still in progress, and I plan to rip it off as much as I can when it comes time to overhaul my own kitchen (which has nearly the exact same layout, right down to the hearth).

Photo by Hotze Eisma; Photo by Lisa Cohen.

I’m pretty much in love with everything about Andreas’ Greektown loft. Sigh.

From Inspace Locations; Photo by Hotze Eisma. (Yes, I know it’s black! I’m just making sure you’re paying attention.)

In April of this year, I posted a number of photos of interior designer Frédéric Méchiche’s 1712 home in le Marais, which he calls “a tribute to Bauhaus in Paris”. I cannot get enough of this space! Every photo I see of it fills me with inspiration. I love watching the subtle changes that occur over time; how he replaces the fabric on this piece, adds a rug over there, moves the dining room to a different area completely…

I am so happy to share a set of more recent photos from Interiors magazine. They were brought to my attention by D16 reader Avant-Gardenist, who maintains the fabulous Flickr pool h ♥ m e.

My earlier post on Méchiche’s loft (with commentary!) can be found here.

(All photos by Beto Riginik for Interiors magazine.)

I’m not a huge fan of orange, but I do like it when it’s a bit on the red side—particularly when paired with grays.

I have orange numbers on my house. These were designed by Erik Speikermann for DWR in 2006. Unfortunately, they have since been discontinued.

From LivingEtc. I know, this is pretty much heaven. See what that purple velvet chair has going on with the burnt-orange leather sofa? They’re going to run off into the sunset and get married, I know it.

Uh, where do I start? The crooked floorboards, the glossy gray paneled walls, the ceiling, the chairs, the sideboard—WOW. But you know it’s the orange lamps (yes, plural—see what’s going on in that back bedroom?) that make it. From ShootFactory.

Okay, the polar bear rug is a bit much, but shamone. LOOK AT THE ORANGE CHAIRS. Again, they totally make the room. Panton chairs really are at their best when they’re allowed to just chill out on the sidelines. And that orange striped rug in the next room over?! Oh, yes please. Both photos are from Sköna hem.

This photo was styled by Sofie Andersson (found via Nestled In). The orange pillow is so fabulous that I can forgive whatever that weird rickrack situation is going in over on the right.

Eames Red-Orange is one of my favorite shades, but I don’t own a shell chair in this color (yet). I love how it looks with the white walls and the wood bench—and how it picks up the orange detail in the pottery. Lovely. Photo by Roland Bello.

I know, that’s right on the verge of being red, but let’s call it orange because it’s too perfect to leave out of this post. From LivingEtc. (Jenna Lyons, why are you so perfect? Also, WHY ARE MY BEDROOM WALLS NOT BLACK?)

p.s. If you happen to have a spare copy of the September issue of LivingEtc lying around, I would LOVE to buy it from you. For some reason, my regular magazine shop never got that issue in, and I missed it. That’s the first issue of LivingEtc I’ve missed in YEARS, and it’s one that I’d really really really like to have. attygreen13, you are awesome!!

p.p.s. If we met at the Remodelista party on Friday, speak up and say HELLO!

I’ve never thought of myself as being a blue person, really, but lately I’ve been noticing a lot of white interiors with smidgens of blue here and there winding up in my inspiration files.

L: Sköna Hem; R: Hus & Hem

Clipper Street Residence, envelopeA+D

I’m really, really tempted to rip off this paint job exactly in this nearly-identical room in my house. Is that creepy/lame? The paint color is Benjamin Moore Pool Party.

Clipper Street Residence, envelopeA+D

L: Sköna Hem; R: Orla Kiely’s house, Grazia Living

ShootFactory

Pieces wallpaper from Hygge and West

My house is brick, so I don’t have to think about exterior colors much, but if my house were wood or stucco, I’d be really tempted to paint the entire thing black. (Let’s pretend heat absorption wouldn’t be an issue, okay?) As it is, I’ll just have to be satisfied with a black door—and eventually a black porch and cornice.

Clipper Street Residence, envelopeA+D (see more at the NY Times)

Peacock Hill, Budget Living magazine (Oct. 2003, see more here)

Houston, TX house (via Carolina Eclectic)

As with all-white interiors, I really like the way that a monochromatic exterior plays down the details of woodwork and other kinds of trim on older homes. Of course, all-black looks great on more contemporary structures, too!

Harts Lane (via desire to inspire)

Swedish cabin, PS Arkitektur (via Remodelista)

18karat store in Vancouver, BC (via Grey)

Private residence, Lahaska, PA

I’ve been obsessed with interior designer Frédéric Méchiche’s Le Marais loft for a while now, and I’ve squirreled away a bunch of photos of it from various sources and taken at various times over the past decade. I keep looking for an opportunity to sneak them in with another topic, but I’m starting to think they really deserve their own post.

Okay, so this is pretty much the ultimate interior moment for me. I honestly feel a tug on my heart looking at this photo. Look at the upholstery on that daybed! (And the cross pillows!)

What, you don’t have original works by Joseph Beuys and Jean Dubuffet in your living room, too?? It’s not often that I find myself wishing I were rich, but if I suddenly were to come across millions of dollars, I’m pretty sure I would spend a whole bunch of it on really fabulous art that I could see in three dimensions, in my living room, every single day.

Really, does it get ANY better than this? No, it does not! The combination of black and white, old and new—the contrasts, the textures, the light, the wood, the glass, everything! I’ve never wanted to climb into a set of photos as much as I do these.

These last two photos are more recent, and may have been taken at a different property:

It’s almost too much to handle, right? Sigh. SIGH.

(Images from Marie Claire Maison and Elle Decor UK;
via Automatism, Interiors, and Apartment Therapy: SF)