The Impact of Black and White

As a designer, I have long believed in the value of a lit­tle black and a lit­tle white in every room.  I’ve often said every room should have a bit of one or the other or both.  As I’ve matured, I have come to appre­ci­ate black and white in a deeper, more mean­ing­ful way.

Black and white each rep­re­sent an extreme that in design is so nec­es­sary.  Black is the absence of color, the dark­est effect known to man.  Black will ground any­thing.  Black demon­strates a dis­tinc­tion and refine­ment that ele­vates itself beyond any­thing that sits near.  Black gives objects a per­fect form.  It can make the inex­pen­sive look expen­sive and color shows amaz­ingly well against a black wall.  Everything pops and plays against it perfectly.

White is the ulti­mate purity.  White is the light that comes from the blend of all color. White helps other col­ors shine. It rarely com­petes with color and is there­fore crit­i­cally use­ful in ton­ing high lev­els of color sat­u­ra­tion.  White is a sophis­ti­cated com­pli­ment for most palettes and a well-known trick for those of us in the busi­ness.  When on a bud­get, it is usu­ally a fail-safe plan to “Paint them white.” or “Paint all of that orangey wood­work Black.” White and black ele­vate their sur­round­ings often as aptly as an expen­sive cus­tom fin­ish.  When used together, the impact of black and white is pow­er­ful and strik­ing, the most con­cise state­ment in design.

I have now fallen deeply love with black and white, even in stronger, more statement-making com­bi­na­tions, even­tu­ally evolv­ing to under­stand their great pur­pose and their abil­ity to endure time and trend.  I have found that I use more white, more black in my designs than ever before.  I look for­ward to ulti­mately liv­ing in a home that is pri­mar­ily white, black and brown (per­haps through the use of strong wood elements…like a plank floor or solid ceil­ing beams…) on which I can layer my col­or­ful folk art col­lec­tions. I should like to find myself liv­ing in an envi­ron­ment that offers a ter­rific palette for beloved objects, so that the envi­ron­ment has the cheer­ful­ness of life-giving color, but with­out becom­ing trite, trendy or cute.

There is also the the­ory that black is mas­cu­line and white, fem­i­nine.  I find this idea appeal­ing, the use of equally ele­gant, oppos­ing traits together in a har­mo­nious bal­ance.  Whatever the expla­na­tion, the purity of each and the energy they exert when used in con­cert is undeniable.

You may not be ready to live in a pure black and white envi­ron­ment, but the appre­ci­a­tion of the con­cept holds a key to bet­ter design.  Some uti­liza­tion of the two, what­ever the dose, seems unavoid­able if one is a true explorer in the world of design and color.

Leah Spurrier. HighStreet