Black, White and Wood: Two Masterclass Homes of Contemporary Style

Decorating your home can seem an infinite challenge. What colour scheme and theme will you go for? Which pieces in your current abode will you take or store away? Designing in black, white and wood can offer a simple, contemporary solution. These two interiors, both using black, white and IKEA-friendly pale wood, show how to use materials to their highest functionality. Drench your surfaces in texture, creating a classy finish. Make shapes with mirrors, rugs and chairs, letting individualism shine in your living space. These two well-designed finds show how make the most of simple colour schemes.

Visualizer: Pavel Voytov

Our first living space is drenched in block walls of black, white and light wood. Based on a paler wooden floor, this design draws in the eye with textured black kitchen panelling, adding both distinction and room demarcation. White bauble lights lead towards the lounge, where light wood furniture mixes with a white leather L-sofa and zig-zagged rug. As a detailed grey plinth segments areas, a row of white windows looks out to mountains beyond.

The finer elements create shapes in each living space. The living room boasts circles glowing on the wall, reflected in the mirror and carved for the coffee table. A space for reading hosts triangles in the room partition and quilted ottoman chair legs. Looking from the kitchen, the spaces tie together through the lines of the bookshelves, black and white striped rug and white quilted couch.

The kitchen adds drama with a strong presence of black and white. With one wall in full black and the other almost in full white, contrasts are created without blocking off the room. Similar grey partition shading complements a white dining table and chairs, artfully constructed in industrial mesh. A painted portrait and two curved, thin lights bring kitchen and dining areas together in harmony.

Around the corner, a meditation haven makes itself known. Warm colours mixed with white, light plywood and black glass are illuminated by standing candles, infusing the room with a calm aura. A potted plant in the corner beside darker-hued prints ties in the room to the remaining interior.

Two bedrooms and bathrooms give the interior diversity. The master bedroom shows its masculine side, with a heavy black futon bed with stark white bedding. LED-lit beside a chorus of lamps, the headboard’s geometric pattern is lightly etched into its surface, creating a bigger visual around the bed. A large, grey-quilted chair harks to the living area, while a chequered rug and muted-tone portrait tie its elements together.

The guest bedroom meets the master and meditation room halfway, with a lighter-shaded room featuring pieces in black. Roofed by wooden panelling, its white walls contrast with unusual dark wood, blending in the TV. Lighter bedding joined by grey makes the room contemporary, as do thin leaning mirrors, potted plants, triangular pops of orange and a light made of pipes. A floating desk and tucked away cupboard add functionality, as mushroom lamps lead to a relaxing white window seat.

The ensuite takes the living room’s circles and makes them oval, with a stunning misshaped mirror. Incorporating an exposed brick wall, concrete ceiling, tiling and light wood, the design appears minimalist by painting in white. An under-bath bookshelf, darker wood towel rail and sculpted figure add character to a room white, bright and open.

The main bathroom opens with a pop of mint. A rainforest shower head peeps behind a tinted glass panel and above a marble step, as another oval mirror greets its gaze. Joined by a distressed concrete panel, exposed brick wall and steampunk light, the corridor behind opens up to another bookshelf-bottomed bath. A basin underneath adds a quirky punctuation to the space.

Visualizer: Yevhen Zahorodnii

Visualised by Yehven Zahorodnii, our second space boasts much less room – and much more innovation. A quarter-wall clad in plywood holds a TV in the living room. Extending through to a mid-grey wall with LED panelling, a grey-and-white block couch offers up teal cushions. A leaning fauna artwork and velveteen rug tie into two ornamental shelf legs, while thin, warm-coloured lamps drape over and beside seated spaces.

A place for breakfast is offered by three grey kitchen chairs. Juxtaposed with a white table and potted shelves, a textured black wall adds interest. A grey blind and white bench open up the space, letting in light from the city below. Light wood forms a corridor and cabinetry, making the room appear larger and hiding a kitchen sink behind closed doors.

Dreaming under a canopy of chiffon and lanterns, the bedroom stylises in black and white. A leaning abstract adds a cool, collected vibe, a poofy ottoman and desk functionality.

Deviating from black and white, this large-format tile bathroom warms it up with golden-lit shelves holding trinkets. As a large porcelain bath invites in the viewer, a honeycomb wall links with a circular mirror and light-wooden under panel. A sprig in a vase adds life.