Light vs. Dark | Two Design Options I’m Considering for Our Study

Sharing a light & dark design option for our study.

This little study just off of our entry way is my very favourite room in this whole house. With each and every wall lined with floor to ceiling shelves and a wood burning fireplace in the middle of it all, it’s such an inviting space. Although it’s tucked away from the rest of the house, it’s one of the most used rooms in our home.

I’m really hoping this cozy little space will be the very first room that we can wrap up renovations in and finally call “finished” (as much as any room can ever really be finished anyway). We’re not planning to change a whole lot in here, so it should be fairly simple really – new flooring, new tile and some cozy new furniture – you can catch up with all of our plans for this space here if you missed it.

I’ve been playing around with ideas for this space, but I’m having such a hard time deciding which direction I want to go with in here (surprise, surprise!). Do I want to roll with the dark + moody vibes I’ve already started to introduce with that dark brown/black paint? Or, do I want to lighten things up a bit and maybe even introduce some colour? Should I embrace the darkness of this north facing room, or try to combat it instead? Honestly, who would have thought I could come up with so many ways to highlight (and love) all that honey oak?!

As I sit here debating just which way I want to go with this design, I thought I’d share the options I’m considering with you. Let me know your favourite in the comments below!

Light + Bright Study Design

Sure, white walls might seem a little boring at first glance, but I really love the way a warm white pairs with wood and my goodness, there’s A LOT of wood in this little space. Even more, white walls would give me a bit more freedom to bring in some colour and/or contrast with some other materials such as the carpet, fireplace tile and curtains. I can’t get over how amazing that green tile looks paired with the warm white and oak! I think it brings such a cozy, vintage vibe. Vintage, especially of the 80’s variety has a strong potential to just feel dated, so to offset that, I plan to bring in some really modern elements with lighting, furniture and hardware. I really love the way that black can make honey oak feel so much more modern (which is why I love our current dark walls), so bringing in some pops of black through the coffee table and hardware is my way of keeping that contrast that I love so much.

Dark + Moody Study Design

In terms of design boards, this is by far my favourite, but I think that’s because the colours all looks so balanced when they’re all laid out like this. In reality though, there’s a whole lot less paint, and a whole lot more oak. Also worth noting, those russet coloured chairs would be directly in front of the honey oak shelving, so instead of being a stand out feature that ties in with the oak, I’m worried they’ll simply get lost in it all. But oh my gosh, all these moody vibes sure make for a cozy feeling space. And with most of our house being a whole lot of white, this little moment of darkness might be just what this house needs.

A Little Bit of Both

I have to credit my sister-in-law with this one – “what if you left the ceiling black?”. I never would have thought of this on my own, but I absolutely love the idea if that little unexpected pop of dark up there. It looks amazing on this design board, but I do wonder if keeping the largest painted surface in the room such a dark colour would leave the room feeling too dark – I often wonder if it’s too dark now with everything painted out black, but maybe the white walls would offset that if I left the ceiling dark? This one really does feel like the best of both worlds though, don’t you think?

And finally, I have one last question for you: which chair option do you love more? I think I like the idea of the russet velvet and the way it ties in with the honey oak, but I’m worried it will get lost sitting in front of all of those oak shelves.What do you think?

Honestly, I think I’d be thrilled with any of these options, which is why this is such a tough decision I think. It always helps to chat through my ideas with a friend, so I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below?What are you loving about these designs? What would you change? Why? Tell me all the things, I’d be so grateful for your help!

Wishing you SUCH a lovely day my friends! 

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