Balanced use of black can create a dramatic effect, writes Eoin Lyons.
About two years ago at the Milan furniture shows, high-end Italian furniture companies such as Casa Milano and Minotti put forward interior looks based around the idea of shades of black against black: a black sofa sat on a black carpet with perhaps a black bookcase behind it. These two designer-led manufacturers play a big part in the direction of contemporary European furniture - in comparison to fashion they have the influence of say, Prada or Alexander McQueen, and are comparatively as expensive. While other brands such as B&B Italia have moved onto acid colour, Casa Milano and Minotti have stuck with the black look and now take in white, greys and very dark greens.
Look in style magazines such as Surface and you'll see apartments with all black rooms relieved only by lighter accessories such as lighting. The monochrome thing isn't new: in the 1920s architect Robert Mallet Stevens decorated artist Tamara de Lempicka's Montparnasse apartment in shades of dark grey. The 1920s seems to also be a loose inspiration for much of Casa Milano's furniture, while Minotti has 1970s nightclub and bachelor-pad glamour: leather, shaggy carpets and deep curving sofas. Both have been called the Gucci look - slick, shiny and seductive. It's all very neat, precise, controlled, and might sound oppressive to live with but the trick is balancing black with white and grey. Using shiny black pieces and textured materials also helps.
"A layering of black is interesting and with the correct lighting - nothing too stark - a black interior envelopes you," says designer Maria MacVeigh. "My last apartment had glossy black tiles on the ceiling, walls and floors, mixed with mirror and exposed strip lighting. The effect was very glossy and interesting. I tend to use black in spaces that do not receive too much direct sunlight - bathrooms are perfect. Mixed with a combination of fluorescent and incandescent lighting, the atmosphere becomes very luxurious."
To see how it's done - and how it can work even in a traditional Georgian building - make an appointment to visit Helen Kilmartin's home and showroom on Herbert Place, where she has recently decorated two rooms compete with black walls, grey sofas, dark wood and shiny surfaces, all from Casa Milano and Minotti.
ADDRESS BOOK Casa Milano and Minotti are available through 8 Herbert Place, Dublin 2 (01-6627894) Surface magazine is sold at Reads, Nassau Street, Dublin 2. Brown Thomas, Grafton Street, Dublin 2 (01-6056666); Clothes Peg, Sutton Cross (01-8321130); Cyan, Rathmines (01-4968681); House of Ireland, Nassau Street, Dublin 2 (01-6711111); MRCB Paints, Dublin, Kildare and Waterford (01-6798755); The Design Centre, Powerscourt Centre, South William Street, Dublin 2 (01-6795863); Waterstones, Dawson Street (01-6791415)