Darkness has luster

Black, charcoal, midnight blue and pine green walls, floors and ceilings make up the interior of more and more homes. After white and blond wood from Scandinavia, dark shades attract desires for settings shrouded in elegance and mystery. Light on a dark trend… far from depressing!

A black house or nothing. The desire, radical, arose forcefully after visiting a property worth some 1,400 p.^⁠2 built during the 1990s on the Plateau Mont-Royal, in Montreal. Large industrial windows on three facades, two majestic black-painted steel staircases and a high ceiling dictated the backdrop for the new field of expression of the artist couple behind the young Bolitomino studio.

The modest house dressed in white has transformed into a total work of art. To do this, the new owners had to embrace their avant-garde vision, sometimes against the advice of the professionals who lent them a hand in order to give substance to what seemed, in the eyes of others, to be a pure utopia. A year after having made their mark in this unique setting, they praise its soothing virtues and its elegance.

Designer Louis Béliveau, co-founder of La Firme, had the chance to orchestrate this extraordinary interior with its owners: “Based on the fact that we were facing a black setting, we had to calibrate the spaces so that it there is a certain difference between them, and that those in which the owners were going to spend a lot of time are a little less dark. » This is how the kitchen in granite and Fenix ​​(“which doesn’t keep track of your fingers!”), designed by La Firme, was clad in black walnut panels. This tip among others also had the advantage of avoiding sinking into monotony. A search in a wide repertoire of materials, textures and prints for the design and furnishing of the house made it possible to meet this challenge.

Highlighted

Matte and shiny surfaces, for the walls and tables, or even velvety and striped, for a quilted velvet sofa by Inga Sempé at Ligne Roset and a carved wooden bar by Quebec designer Simon Johns, punctuate this den where the art is sumptuously highlighted.

In addition to ensuring optimal lighting in a room, this process allows it to be reconfigured as needed. “We can, for example, add pendant lights and vary the intensity of the lamps,” confides Louis Béliveau. Thanks to a careful choice of pieces by Quebec and foreign artists and designers, also mostly black, certain corners of the house evoke the curio cabinets of yesteryear.

The designer, who likes to integrate black into his projects, for example in libraries or bathrooms, cherishes another dream, that of being able to build an all-black chalet for his family. “I will erase its surfaces to allow the eye to focus on the exterior. This way, the chalet will blend in better with nature,” he believes.

From the shadow to the light

The use of black for the layout of a house or apartment makes it possible to “erase” certain volumes, but also to create an impression of depth and more subdued atmospheres conducive to relaxation and rest. The Atelier Barda team has the habit of designing its projects as directors would for a film. “We work on our spaces as if we were carrying a camera on our shoulder,” explains Antonio Di Bacco, co-founder of Atelier Barda, who favors contrast effects in his architectural approach.

For the renovation of the Alma residence, in Little Italy, architects Cécile Combelle, Antonio Di Bacco and Kevin Botchar alternated light and dark surfaces in order to allow transitions from shadow to light. A black terrazzo bathroom, dark colored floors and furniture and an interior garden with burnt wood cladding stand out against a backdrop of light walls and textiles. Lovely chiaroscuros are created when the sun infiltrates the space.

Wrap yourself in mystery

All it takes is a darker area in an interior to create a completely different living environment. In his loft in downtown Montreal, fashion photographer David Picard invited architectural firm Future Simple Studio to create a mezzanine bedroom with built-in storage.

Perched on a wooden box stained with pine green oil, like the Norfolk pine which stands out in this abundantly windowed space, the mezzanine allows her to recharge her batteries away from the urban hustle and bustle. The interior of this versatile boudoir-style addition also lends itself perfectly to photography activities and evenings with friends.

“This personal space is where David begins and ends his days, and reproduces his daily rituals,” emphasizes Christine Djerrahian, founder of Future Simple Studio. This corner, which evokes the forest, exudes calm. “Its dark color prevents the mind from wandering and slows down the pace. It also opens the door to creativity,” points out the architect. With a few candles and the Japanese music dear to David in the evening, the mystery has found refuge here.