• Use a black and white picture to add texture and visual interest to a room.black and white farm image by andreaschneider from Fotolia.com
  
  The color black is a useful interior design element, but it is important to use this color appropriately. If it is used carelessly or if there is too much of it in the room, black is overwhelming. Create a welcoming room with black by carefully balancing the colors and thinking about where you want to incorporate it.
  
  

Weathered Black Furniture

• Use weathered black furniture to complement a traditional or cottage-inspired room. The black gives an otherwise lightly colored room some weight and prevents it from looking overly sweet. Purchase used black wooden furniture from a thrift store, or use sandpaper to wear way at the edges of newer black furniture, giving it a worn look.
  
  

Black Wood Accents

• Black wood accents help a smaller space appear bigger by emphasizing the negative space and removing distinct room borders. For example, in a crowded entryway, paint the walls a pale color like cream or pale rose and then paint the wood trim black. If possible, install black wood flooring. This allows the area to gain some height and some weight, and the black gives the area more visual contrast.
  
  

Black and White Photos

• For a room that you are trying to keep monochrome, consider putting black and white photographs up on the wall. Keep the frames simple, using either stark black frames or dark wood frames. Depending on the frames you use, you create a stark modern effect or an old fashioned look that recalls the early part of the 20th century. The black and white photos are a subtle use of black in the home.
  
  

Black Silhouettes

• Buy or make black silhouettes, glue them to white poster board, then mat them or frame them. Black silhouettes hung up on a wall calm down a room that is too bright. Make silhouettes of your friends or your children by taping a white piece of paper to the wall and sitting them down with their profile to it. Shine a strong light on them to cast their shadow on the paper, and trace their shadow. After you cut out the figure you have traced, transfer it to black paper or even black fabric.
  
  

Mix and Match Blacks

• Place two decorative elements with different shades of black in the same area. For example, a wooden statue that is painted in grayish black paint does very well when set atop a deep black table or armoire. The two types of black do not fight but instead harmonize and create a richer look together. Use this to create an attractively busy look.