Sunnybank, Lyncombe Vale, Bath

Take a look at Sunnybank, a handsome Victorian villa just south of Bath city centre that’s recently come 

. It is, we think, a consummate example of the power of darker decorating. “Wait!” you might be thinking. “There’s hardly black here!” But that, reader, is exactly the point. What Sunnybank shows is that, when dealing with inkier hues, a little goes a long way.

Take, for instance, the open-plan kitchen and dining room. Yes, it’s pink – and a jolly lovely one too – and has warm wooden floors, but notice that wherever your eye lands, there’s a dark detail. The staircase is charcoal, the chairs, dresser and doorframes too. Kitchen cabinets – painted in a glossy coal colour – punctuate the plaster walls, while fixtures and fittings – from a smart articulated wall lamp to the fridge and Falcon range cooker (with obligatory black-tiled splashback) – delight and add difference in equal measure.

In the house’s smaller spaces, the current owners have gone for a more saturated style. As the study, master dressing room and panelled pantry prove, when you’re working on a smaller scale, you can afford to go big on black.

Speaking of bold choices, ever considered black in your bedroom? If you haven’t yet, after seeing Sunnybank’s garden-facing double, found within its sleek extension, you will. Here, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking lush lawns and planting are the ultimate foil for one wall painted in pure pitch, while another behind the bed – not 

black, but painted deepest sludgy green – has been brightened by romantic herbage and verdure, hand-stencilled by the artist Kaffe Fassett.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to join the jet set.

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Afraid of the dark? You shouldn’t be. Incorporating black into your interiors might seem daunting, but it’s not as difficult as you might think, as this beautiful house illustrates