5 KEYS TO CREATING A DARK MODERN MOODY SPACE

The mood in a space is everything. And color is where you need to start every time. Whether it’s a finish on a marque piece that will go in the space, the type of tile in a bathroom, or the paint that will cover the walls, the color palette absolutely matters. For us, this means go bold or go home! So let’s get bold together and talk about how to create a modern, yet dark and moody space. The space we’re going to show and reference is our Auburn + Tenth attic turned moody master bedroom. And the paint we used throughout the entire space is Sherwin Williams Outerspace SW 6251 in Satin, and in flat.

Pick your Paint Color Wisely 

When it comes to a moody space paint is everything! You’re going to see that 4 of our 5 tips revolve around paint. Making the right paint choice is essential, so don’t approach this task lightly. You can check out just how we select paint colors here, incase you want to reference for additional info! We’ve got you covered if you’re feeling completely lost on where to start or just how dark and moody you can go. We’ve pulled together out favorite Dark Moody Colors.

Best Paint Colors for a Dark Moody Space

Sherwin Williams Cyberspace SW 7076

Sherwin Williams Outerspace SW 6251

Sherwin Williams Slate Tile SW 7624

Sherwin Williams Peppercorn SW 7674

Sherwin Williams Iron Ore SW 7069

Sherwin Williams Black Magic SW 6991

Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black SW 6258

Sherwin Williams Dark Night SW 6237

5 KEYS TO CREATE A MOODY SPACE 

Choosing the Sheen 

Sheen maters. It really does. Just in case we’ve got any new painters in the room, the sheen in paint describes how glossy it is going to be. The best way to think about this is the higher the sheen the glosser the paint will appear. There are 6 different types of sheen. Here they are broken down from least glossy to most: ceiling flat, matte/flat, eggshell, satin, semi-gloss, and high gloss. Each sheen serves it’s own purpose in a space. The best way to look at this is to the glossier the paint the more durable it is. But when it comes to Sherwin Williams, our preferred paint brand, no matter the sheen the durability is top notch.

Painting The Trim

Often times we find everyone paints their trim white. But that’s not what we’re talking about here…we’re talking about a color. There are 3 options you’ve got when it comes to painting the trim in a moody space. 

1. Keep the trim the same color as the room but use a different sheen. For this bedroom we used flat on the walls and satin on the trim. 
2. Go a shade lighter than your wall color.
3. Go a shade darker than your wall color. 

Painting the Ceiling

To paint the ceiling or not, that’s always the question. Well, of course we always paint a ceiling just rarely in a traditional ceiling flat paint. With the angled/slanted ceiling in this space we needed to paint the ceiling the same color as the wall to allow for the room to truly read dark and moody. However, with a flat ceiling we think you can go either way.

Choosing the Door Color

Painting the door the same color as the wall makes all the difference. This makes the door blend in rather than stand out, and when it’s closed you’ve got one cohesive look!

Keeping Accessories Dark

When it comes to styling and decorating a moody space you want to stay on theme. Here we kept most things in the blues, browns, blacks and grays. Even our book choices fell into the color scheme. By keeping everything alined it allows for the entire room to truly speak dark and moody!

We hope this moody room playbook is helpful in creating a moody space in your home! As always, please leave a comment or reach out on social if you have any questions! 

Much love

Danielle + Michael

A special thank you to our friends at Sherwin Williams for sponsoring this post.