Back to black...and white!

Are you a Mary Kate or more of an Ashley? Can’t decide which color scheme you lean more towards- light and airy white or dark mysterious black? Why can’t you be both?! Black and white is the perfect backdrop for Spring’s bright and colorful accessories. Both black and white are individually such timeless and classic colors. Pairing them together in interesting patterns makes a room even more intriguing than siding with one or the other.

When I design in black and white, my first thought is usually- wow this needs some extra punches of color! I usually opt to pair black and white with either bright pink, red, teal/turquoise, lime green, orange, or yellow. Pretty much any bright color will work well as your accent- just stay far away from chocolate brown (unless you use it in some kind of a wood piece accent) Brown and black have been known to clash. Yellow is the most trendy color to use with black and white right now. Adding cool grays to your black and white scheme will look striking. One of the nicest things about decorating a room in black and white is that you can always switch out your accent colors from time to time to change your room up a bit. Tired of pink? All you have to do is switch out those vases and flowers for another color and...voila! You have a whole new room. Black and white room with bright yellow accents featured in Elle Decor

Black and white bedroom with zebra and mustard yellow accents featured in Elle Decor

Black and white Living Room- here they chose to also use cool gray, purple, green, and silver accents. This is the Living Room of fashion designer Monique Lhuillier featured in Elle Decor. Just lovely!

Powder Bath featured in Met Home. Simply stunning!

Another black and white home with lots of fun prints!

This Living Room was featured in Domino. Not everything in your room has to be gray, silver, black, and white. How about adding in some gold? A surprising element but it really warms up the room a bit. Zebra print seems to be the popular choice among b/w rooms! Notice the teal accessories in here. This is probably my favorite color to pair with black and white.

This photo was featured on Point Click Home. Even the dog is black and white! Some people like to match everything in a house...well, whatever suits your fancy! This is a more traditional black and white scheme- very soft and more homey than some of the others. The paint color in the background warms up the scheme.

Where do you get black and white accessories you ask? Well I know of some great places where you can shop on any budget for these!

We love these tailored and whimsical William Sonoma Home bath towels- made for the queen in you!

I saw these on the West Elm website. I am in love with their mirrored tops and baroque style. Placing a few around a room would be spectacular.

I have been infatuated with this chair ever since I saw it on the cover of one of my college coursebooks, 1000 Chairs. This Verner Panton chair is a furniture design classic. Was created back in 1960 and was the very first fully plastic chair made from a single section. The panton chair has such a memorable slinky shape-especially in black- it practically seduces the eye! This chair I must say is truly a 20th century design icon! There are tons of them online, but DWR is your best bet.

On to black glassware...I did a post on these mysterious looking glasses back when I first started blogging. Since then I have been seeing white opaque glasses too! How fun would it be to get a set that you can mix and match of both colors! Available at Horchow- called "Shade drinkware"
This pillow I saw on the CB2 website- mod and abstract- leaf design perhaps? This pillow really struck a chord with me when I saw it. Inexpensive, chic, and trendy!

Another CB2 find, this Morocco rug contains a very unique quatrefoil pattern.

Ansel Adams, one of the most widely known black and white photographer in the world produced this image. We love this simple and elegant flower print. Ansel was an amazing photographer- you should check out some of his work at his website- Ansel Adams

A sleek wall clock from Lamps Plus

Last but not least (because these are probably our favorite finds) are these Z Gallerie vases. What a way to make a statement! Place them together or separately. Buy them here- Z Gallerie