Do you ever get sick of your current colour schemes, know that you want something different, but get stuck in a cycle of confusion over which colours go with what best? You can break the cycle by simply ditching them all. Black and white are the simplest of colour schemes. Even if you have a bright feature wall, you can create a striking focal point with just one single addition or multiple pieces of black and white photography displayed in a monochrome frame.
3 Ways Black and White Prints Are Super for Transforming Rooms
1) Colour Accentuation
It does not matter what colours you have in a room; black and white go with them all.
If you take a look around the room that you are reading this in, you will see numerous items with black. It could be the large flatscreen, the wall shelves or furniture, or if you are in the kitchen, you will see the monochrome effect on the white goods such as a white washing machine with the brand name in black print along used to signpost the various controls to let you know what setting does what.
In any room, regardless of the colour scheme you have, black and white will accentuate it. If you have a bright feature wall, consider floating shelves with neatly placed black and white prints across it for instant transformation that looks classy.
2) Emphasises Shapes and Adds Depth
Colour distracts from the details in art pieces and photographs of anything. It is not evident when you look at colour prints, but it is noticeable when you look at the same print with a monochrome effect. The shapes are emphasised, in particular in nature photography such as trees where you can see more clearly the shapes of tree trunks, leaves and even the blades of grass and outlines of flowers.
Black and white prints add more depth and character to photos that are more difficult to appreciate in colour prints.
3) Neutral Backgrounds are Ideal to Bring the Best Out in the Print
While black and white art will work in any colour setting, its best use is against a neutral backdrop. This is a trick right out of the playbook of home-stagers. For a truly crisp look, sharp white walls or a light ivory or beige help black to really stand out.
It is hard to overdo it on either black or white, but if you feel it is too bland for your liking, a punch of colour can be incorporated using the photo mount, whether that is surrounding the entire border of the photo/print, or using a double mount to put a thin strip of colour around the border, while keeping the majority of the frame monochrome.
When framing black and white prints in a collection such as a gallery display, both black and white frames can be used. With a white frame, an all-black mount may be too much accentuation; however, if you switch to a double mount, a narrower black border could be placed around the print, helping the art and the frame stand out without overdoing it.