Most of us have an idea about how we’d like to style our homes, including colours, fabrics, materials and everything in between. While we know what we like, sometimes going about it can be more difficult than it first seems.

Styling your home with black has met mixed receptions in the past, but when used well it can be very effective in your home. If you’re keen on black styling – or even still on the fence about it – we’ve put together some ideas and techniques that show that black is a shade to embrace in your home.

Black is one of the few colours that matches everything. It is one of the most versatile colours you’ll come across. Using it as a backdrop on the walls or using bright walls to contrast black furnishings will work equally well! One great way to keep a monochromatic colour scheme interesting is to pair blacks, greys, and whites with differing textures – a feature texture can be as exciting as a feature colour. Contrast soft-textured blacks against hard-textured blacks and match them together with something halfway in between. Any style, including industrial, contemporary, or mid-century modern can incorporate black into the colour scheme, so whichever style your house is will work just fine.

Black lighting is a good way to incorporate black elements into a room. You’re likely to be putting some type of light fixture in every room, so black lighting can create a nice theme throughout your house. Similar lighting can tie together your different rooms without exactly matching styles throughout the house. Alternatively, you can place a bold coloured light, like brass or copper, or a brightly coloured fixture against a mostly black room. This will draw the eye to your light fixture and furnishings.

Warm metals (which are very popular this season) work quite well with black. Gold, brass, bronze, and copper look great with either a black backdrop or with black accents. You can style with these colour combinations in many different ways including lighting, decorative accents, chairs, or even metallic paint for the walls! Timber and other woods also look great with black.

The boldness of black has big advantages. If you have a space that feels a little shallow or flat, injecting some dramatic black into the room can lift it almost immediately. Using black alongside brighter colours really makes those colours pop. If the colour is the central focus in a room, black will fall away to show off the feature piece.

A good rule to remember is not to go too black across your whole home. Having a full black wall in a statement room combined with other, smaller black elements injected into the rest of the house works well. Too much black can become heavy or overwhelming.

Black is so universal that it will match with whatever colour scheme, style, or personality you want in your home. When you’re stuck for ideas, turn to black to either enhance the styling in a space or to complement the other features and make them shine.