Black Is The New Black

Shiny black horsehair furniture is a signature of formal Victorian era design.

Like Abraham Lincoln's rocking chair.

But black isn't stuck in the past.

This perching stool from Pearson combines the splash of Victorian shiny fabric and railhead trim with a modern shape and a great leg detail. 

Black With Texture

Like any tone-on-tone design, playing with black means thinking about texture.

Play with the rich texture of black velvet or chenille.

Or a knobbly black with teeny tiny flecks of primary colors.

There's always my personal favorite — a tweedy black inspired by suiting fabric.

Black With White

A black print on a white background or a jacquard with black tree trunks on white can be dramatic in a room with mostly black.

Black and white comes in menswear-inspired patterns, too. Like black and white houndstooth or black and white plaid. (Is it just me or is black and white plaid all over clothing at the moment?)

I especially love more feminine black and white patterns, like the sort of brocade-y looking black and white jacquard that is only available from Pearson.

But my super most favoritest of all is combining the splash of black and white with the rich feel of silk velvet.

Black With Brown

Black with brown almost echos the feel of black shiny horsehair fabric against the rich brown wood of a Victorian sofa.

In an all black or black and white room, an elegant brown-on-black damask could really pop.

One More Black Idea

How about newsprint wallpaper in a black and white bedroom?

Deconstructed Damask

Damask has a long and gorgeous history. It's a middle eastern weaving technique that's been around for centuries.

The most traditional damasks are monotone — the woven patterns become visible only because of  the difference in shine between the warp and weft threads.

But damask can seem a little stuffy.

So we took one apart.

It's a damask in pieces, "deconstructed" like they say on Top Chef. It plays with the idea of damask. And it's woven of beautiful indigo and ivory threads.

It looks like five different damasks were cut into strips and reassembled to create a new textile.