A Little Dining Drama

Loyal reader Laura recently asked me to post about my favorite colors for dining rooms. Well, I have a lot of favorites so narrowing them down was a bit tough. I favor bold and dramatic colors for dining rooms, and why not? After all, dining rooms tend to be more formal (this is the room where we use our best flatware and china) and are used predominately in the evening (at least this is the way I use mine!). My latest obsession is with deep, dark and glossy walls for this room (think dark brown, aubergine, and even black). How beautiful these colors look at night by candlelight! So, here are a few examples of dark dining rooms done right. And stay tuned for tomorrow's post in which I'll post images of vivid and bright dining rooms!

Suggested colors:
"Bittersweet Chocolate" by Benjamin Moore
"Mahogany" by Farrow & Ball (especially dramatic in a high gloss)
"Brinjal" by Farrow & Ball- a nice eggplant shade
"Noir #24-16" by Pratt and Lambert- a midnight blue shade. A great option in lieu of black.



No, this is not a dining room, but I adore this glossy aubergine room by Mario Buatta. This room served as inspiration for my parents' lacquered aubergine dining room. This is a gorgeous, rich nighttime color!



Here is a chocolate brown dining room by Tom Scheerer (walls are Benjamin Moore Chocolate Candy Brown and trim is Atrium White). According to Scheerer, "Any house can use a chocolate brown room". I couldn't agree with him more. (Photo and quotation from House Beautiful)


Is this not a gorgeous room??? This dining room at "Harbourside", the Bahamian home of The Hon. Lady Baillie, was designed by Maison Jansen. The walls are a deep, glossy dark green with white Chinese Chippendale-style trellis overlay. This room is making me rethink dark green! (Photo from "Jansen" by James Archer Abbott)


Another crisp dark brown dining room, this time by Bunny Williams. The combination of chocolate brown and white trim is truly a classic!