design 101
Try Dark, Not White, in a Small Room
Everyone is told to paint a small room white to open it up. Often it does the opposite, leaving the walls looking flat and the corners obvious. A deep colour works differently. It blurs the edges where the walls meet, so the room stops announcing how small it is and feels intimate and intentional instead.
Snugs, studies, downstairs loos and bedrooms suit this best. Paint the walls, the woodwork and sometimes the ceiling in the same dark shade, so the corners melt away and the room feels wrapped rather than boxed in.
Add warm lamps, because a dark room needs good lighting to look rich rather than gloomy. Small and dark feels deliberate. Small and white often just looks small.
