Painting Tips for a Purple & Black Teen Room

Color Selection

• Use a bright, royal purple for a bold, striking effect next to the black. This is ideal for a stylish modern room with an urban chic, city vibe. For a more delicate and feminine feel, use a soft, pastel purple. This color scheme is suited to a pretty, girly room featuring floral prints. The black maintains the funky modern vibe and prevents the look from becoming too "country cottage." Avoid dark purples, such as eggplant, as they will merge into the black and create a dark, oppressive atmosphere.

Application

• Use purple as the main color and black as the secondary color to keep the room from becoming too dark. Even with a light pastel shade of purple, too much black will darken the room significantly. For example, use purple on three walls and black on the wall where the bed is positioned. This will encourage purple bedding to stand out more. If you prefer even less black, split the walls into two sections. Use a brighter purple on the lower section and a pastel shade on the upper section, separated with a striking black border. Remind your teen that more black can be added with items such as bedding, cushions and curtains.

Accent Wall

• Create an accent wall, or simply add more texture to the room, with a faux paint technique. Sponge painting, rag rolling, and color washing are all easy-to-achieve techniques that only require basic supplies from your local DIY store. Faux finishes such as marble, leather and parchment create a rich, sophisticated, expensive-looking effect. Get really creative and mix and match a couple of different effects, such as sponge painting on two walls and a faux marble finish on the other two. Alternatively, use faux effects on just one wall instead of wallpaper. For a really cool look, try black and purple zebra stripes.

Other Colors

• Don't be afraid to introduce other colors to the room, as these will not distract from the finished effect but can actually improve it. A rich cream will really lift the color scheme, even if it's only used on one wall. Alternatively, paint the entire room cream and stencil purple and black motifs on the walls. Accent black and purple walls with silver for a striking splash of sparkle. If your teen is insisting on a mostly black room, meet her half way and swap some of the black for shades of gray.