An Orange County Home That Proves the Power of Black Paint

Shannon Wilkins and her husband, David, knew they wanted their Newport Beach, CA, home to stand out from the all-white interiors typical in Southern California. But they couldn’t deny that bright white paint would transform the dated rooms of the 1999 Craftsman-style ranch they bought a year and a half ago. So Shannon, a designer, whipped out her secret decorating trick: black paint. She used it on the kitchen cabinets, the walls in her office and — most prominently — the window and door trim throughout the home.

The black-and-white contrast is not only undeniably eye-catching, it’s also the perfect backdrop for Shannon’s groovy decorating style, which relies on cool vintage finds, vivid colors and worn kilim rugs. Shannon has experimented with black tile, black front doors and black grout in her clients’ homes, but she’s never had the opportunity to put the dark hue to work on a grand scale — until now. “There’s nothing scary or depressing about black,” says Shannon. “Use it the right way and it can actually emphasize all the color in your home.” 

David and Shannon with James, 3.

Shannon and David replaced French doors with wall-spanning sliders and painted the wood trim around them black (Black by Dunn-Edwards). “It draws your eye to all the pretty greenery in the backyard,” says Shannon. To make the large room feel more intimate, she placed a colorful mix of old and new sofas and chairs around a burl wood Anthropologie coffee table. The vintage Turkish kilim rug from Juxtaposition Home was too small, but Shannon couldn’t pass up its sunset hues. “Vintage rugs come in odd sizes. My fix: Layer the right size jute underneath,” she says. 

Shannon painted three of the walls black, then covered the fourth in black-and-white mud cloth-inspired wallpaper by Amber Interiors for Studio Four NYC. The faded wool rug is vintage from a local dealer, and the desk, an antique from Spain, belonged to Shannon’s mom. “I had been coveting it for forever,” says Shannon. “Finally my mom told me she’d give it to me as long as I found one to replace it. I was on a mission.” The sleek brass lamp is from Arteriors.