The idea for this project was to see how dark, is too dark. Combining dark brown stained parts with some large black stained panels, this project has very low contrast but I think it works in its favour.

I’ve always been a fan of very dark, Gothic Style furniture, but I also only like building in the Shaker Style. So by combining the two, it’s kind of like a traditional craftsman hitting their emo phase. We’ve got the gentle curves and overall simple design brought by the Shakers that gives this piece its overall simple appearance. Then we cover all that nice natural wood in stain to rebel against what society tells me fine furniture should be. (Did that sound emo enough?)

I’ll admit this is a very strong stylistic choice and I don’t expect most people to like it but in my personal opinion, there’s a lot of potential to this design style. When put up against white walls this piece pops but is also not too obnoxious to have a whole room of. There’s also the ability to shuffle around the combinations or create new ones, think of making a bed frame with a dark brown frame and then natural white oak panels. Just by making that change those white oak panels are going to be the focal point of the room and would look amazing.

So, can you go to dark? It all depends on your personal preference and for me, I think I’ve found a new favourite style!