Dark and Moody Study Lounge

Now that the staircase makeover is complete, we decided to tackle what I think is our biggest project yet! The dining room in this house is kind of a weird spot. Being in the front of the house by the entryway, it felt super detached and far away from the kitchen. (Not a good spot for a dining room!) Since we put our dining room table as part of the flow from the open concept kitchen-dining-living room, I knew I wanted to change that formal dining space into something more functional for our family.

Dark and Moody Study Mood Board

Rob has always wanted a more masculine study. He’s talked about it for years, but we’ve never had the space to really make it happen. So this was my chance to design one for him! I wanted it to be dark, moody, and masculine (with subtle feminine touches to soften it a bit and flow with the rest of the home design) while having almost a cigar lounge feel. Think: dramatic black paint, custom wall to wall builtin shelves, and leather chairs surrounding a round coffee table.

With this being the first thing you see when you walk into your home, I really wanted this space to be a WOW factor as our home’s first impression when you walk in. You can see my design plans / mood board for the project below!

When I tell people about the plans I have for this project, I typically get one of two responses. Either it’s excitement and anticipation or hesitation because they’ve think I’ve lost my mind when I tell them I’m painting an entire room in my home Tricorn Black. To be honest, I’m a little nervous about going all-black in a space like this. But go big or go home right? As I always preach, it’s just paint. I think great design is going to scare you to the point of excitement when you step outside of your comfort zone.

Inspiration

I was really inspired for this project when I saw Hand Makes Home’s Home Office Makeover on Pinterest while scrolling one day. It completely stopped me in my tracks, and I knew immediately I had to make Rob’s study design dark and moody. While the plans for ours are going to be pretty different in terms of shelving and layout, I loved the look of the dramatic all black builtins paired with the gold lighting.

Photo: handmakeshome.com

For our project, the back wall will contain wall-to-wall custom builtins. The surrounding walls on either side will feature shadow box trim below the chair rail and extra large shadow box trim above the chair rail to frame wallpaper that I’m using as almost like an art mural to balance and soften the space. I’ll change out the dining room light to something a little more modern and gold to break up all the black. Then I hope to furnish the space with dark leather chairs and a dark wood coffee table to give a masculine cigar lounge feel. As we finish the space, I promise to share specific details and links.

To say that I’m excited for this project is an understatement. Make sure to follow along on Instagram for all the details and progress for this project. I can’t wait to share with you how this all comes together!

What do you think of the design plans so far? Let me know in a comment below!