One of the most valuable breeds of African wood gave the name to the dark shades used for the execution of furniture, decoration materials, doors, and various interior elements. Noble dark shades of wenge can not only effectively emphasize the geometry of the room, but also bring luxury and nobility into the image of the interior. African dark wood is known for its technological qualities – strength, durability, and wear resistance. But its wide popularity is due, first of all, to the original natural pattern, deep dark shades, and original texture. Nowadays, not only residents of Europe and America actively use the “wenge” name for decorating their dwellings. Many people around the world are also able to appreciate the beauty and luxury of African wood. It is difficult to find a manufacturer of cabinet and recessed furniture, in the model-lines of which there would not be Wenge models. But African wood is expensive. Not every average citizen can afford purchasing furniture made of natural material. Imitations of dark wood are performed at a very high level: it is impossible to distinguish between the natural material and the analog. Thanks to this, anyone can decorate the interior of his home with furniture, parquet, doors, beams, or any other architectural or decoration solution of this noble and slightly dramatic color.
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Features of Wenge Color
What is the associated color of wenge used for decoration of residential interiors? First of all, they are laconism, strictness, conservatism and restraint luxury, and prestige. If you want to create an image of a room in which stability, rigor, and respectability will not be ambiguous, the wenge color is your choice. You just need to decide how you want to apply this deep and laconic tone. Whether you prefer to create a floor covering or to build furniture, to make a contrast design of the whole room or to single out only one detail?
The color of wenge is often called masculine. It really has a lot of brutalities and even stiffnesses. It is hardly suitable for decorating even minor elements of the interior of the maid’s bedroom or boudoir, but it will look luxurious in the living room, kitchen or dining room, office, and even a bathroom. Many of us, with the phrase “Wenge color”, most often associate a dark brown, almost black hue. But African timber is very ambivalent. Its structure is rather complicated. Depending on the lighting and the accompanying colors, the wenge can appear in the form of a shade of bitter chocolate, a coal-ashy tone, or almost black.
Wenge color palette has a narrow, but very “dramatic” range of shades – from chocolate (dark brown) to almost black, with a light purple tint. The genuine African timber has even a special slight glow due to the finest golden veins visible only through the magnifying glass.
But whatever the choice of the shade of the wenge color, one thing is clear: the entire spectrum is represented by rather dark and heavy tones. That’s why designers recommend using this noble color dosed and combined with light colors. For example, if an indoor floor covering is made in one of wenge shades, then the walls and ceiling should be light. This approach not only helps not to “load” the image of the room but also visually increases the height of the ceilings of the room. But the white color also has many shades. If you need to create a warm, albeit contrasted picture of the room, then you need to choose a wenge from the “chocolate palette”, and white from the milk group. If you need a strict, intentionally dynamic interior, then a snow-white tone combined with a dark brown, almost black wenge will be the best combination.
Wenge for the Execution of Cabinet and Built-in Furniture
Most often, wenge color is used in the manufacturing of cabinet- and built-in furniture. Cabinets, kitchen sets and small tables, storage systems of various modifications, dining and writing tables, chairs and mini-chairs, beds, and any other pieces of furniture with a frame – the Wenge color is suitable for all parameters of designing in modern style. Wenge furniture is most logical to use in an interior with a light finish. The dark severity of African wood can be presented most effectively this way. But finally, it is your choice whether to use color accents in such a contrasting image of the room.
However, the color of wenge as a shade for the execution of kitchen facades has its own drawbacks. The wenge decorated surfaces will require special care. The fact is that on the dark doors of the cupboards you would see even dried up water drops and fingerprints. Another nuance of using kitchen facades of Wenge color is associated with the use of natural wood. If you are a happy owner of furniture made of natural material, you will have to take care that it does not fall under direct sunlight. Color can be burnt out in the sun and brighten significantly over time.
Furniture Ensembles
One of the most popular options for using wenge colors in modern furniture production is the execution of kitchen sets. Whether it is a ready-made furniture solution or an ensemble of custom-designed storage systems, but the stylish, respectable, and laconic appearance of your kitchen will be provided. Brightness can be added due to the execution of the kitchen splashback in a colorful scheme or by the choice of a color solution for textiles. It can be curtains for windows, tablecloths for a dining table, upholstery of bar stools, etc.
Wenge has an incredibly positive effect on the formation of the interior in terms of emphasizing the geometry of the room. Dark shades seem to discipline the overall design, give rigor and orderliness to the picture of the interior. The space looks stylish, laconic, but at the same time, it’s exquisite and respectable.
If you use wenge color for the execution of the lower tier of kitchen cabinets and opt for a light tint for a higher level of storage systems, you can achieve a visual increase of the height of the kitchen.
Even the lightest shades of wenge color are quite dark for the performance of a large kitchen ensemble. If the furniture set takes most of the room and even occupies space from floor to ceiling, it is necessary to “dilute” the dark facades with fittings, glass inserts on the doors of the upper tier. The kitchen will have a very strict and even gloomy look with absolutely smooth facades.
But wenge color looks luxuriously as the main tone of storage systems not only in kitchen spaces. For example, the vanities in the bathrooms can be executed in dark tones, thus emphasizing the brightness of the whiteness of the sanitary ware. A dark color can be repeated in the mirror frames or a pair of open shelves next to it in order to create a harmonious image of the utilitarian room.
You can choose absolutely smooth storage facades for a modern style of bathroom design. The interior will only benefit if the vanities under the sinks will be the only dark spots in the bright bathroom design.
Another type of furniture ensemble that can be decorated with wenge color is a bedroom set. The composition of the finished furniture solution usually includes a bed, a pair of bedside tables, and a wardrobe. The bulky cabinet is replaced with a compact chest of drawers in some ensembles. It fully depends on the dimensions of the room and its layout. But it is important to understand that this furniture solution can withstand a fairly spacious bedroom with good natural lighting. For smaller rooms, it is better to choose a wenge color furniture as a dark accent. Only a bed, a chest of drawers, or pedestals will be dark spots on a light background of the bedroom.
If in most standard apartments there was a possibility of allocating a separate room for the arrangement of a dressing room or it would be enough room in the bedroom for the design of a similar zone, the color of the wenge could be recommended for the execution of numerous storage systems. Furniture ensembles for wardrobe in dark chocolate or ash-black color look respectable, impressive, expensive, but at the same time laconically.
Wenge as an Accent
The wenge color is noble, strict and at the same time refined. But not every owner can use it a lot. Most often, the sizes of rooms in standard apartments do not allow a large number of dark surfaces. The solution is in using furniture or small structures in dark colors as accent elements. For example, this could be the facade of a kitchen island or peninsula in the kitchen.
A dark accent can be created by the execution of countertops from African wood (or its spectacular counterparts) in the kitchen space. Against the background of light facades, this accent will look especially impressive.
In the dining room or dining area, a dining table can become an accent within the combined space. Any serving looks great on the dark surface of African wood. From the standpoint of choosing chairs for such a table, you can go in two ways. The first one is connected with the choice of chairs or mini-chairs from a similar material, which will create a harmonious dining group. The second way involves a contrasting version of the chairs – light (usually snow-white, looking especially dazzling on the background of the dark table) or colorful – all depends on the design of the whole room.
Such an accent element can be a coffee table or a small storage system in the living room…
A desk or a work console can appear as a dark spot in the home office or in the workplace area within the combined space…
Wenge Shade Decoration for a Modern Home
Another popular direction of using African wood for the design of living spaces is the finishing of various surfaces. Obviously, even the most spacious and bright room can’t take the decoration of the walls in such a dark execution. Therefore, wenge is most often used to create an accent. Designers highlight beams or supports, mount insets from laminate coatings, and use moldings of dark tones. Wenge can be used only for the installation of ceiling beams if we speak about finishing the ceiling. But you can safely use dark colors of a parquet board or laminate for a floor covering.
Coatings
As a finishing material, wenge color is most often used to create floor coverings. Bright or colored furniture, any decorative elements looks the most spectacular on a dark background of the floors. In addition, the dark execution of the floors, together with the light walls and the ceiling, gives a visual increase in the height of the room, which is very important for apartments of standard planning.
Wenge color is used to create spectacular imitations of African wood. Such flooring can be used in living rooms…
In bedrooms and children’s rooms…
In kitchens and dining rooms…
Within the auxiliary premises – hallway, corridors and spaces near the stairs…
Ceramic granite tiles, imitating not only the color but also the texture of African wood, are used for bathrooms and toilets.
As a wall decoration, wenge color is rarely used even for creating accent surfaces. Not every room can afford such a dark performance – you need not only the broad space of the room itself, but also a high level of illumination (one panoramic or a pair of standard windows, at least). But if such conditions are met, then you can create a truly non-trivial interior of the room, with original decoration and some drama in the atmosphere.
Constructive Elements
One of the most popular variants of execution of constructive elements of an interior in dark color is the use of interior doors. Obviously, the wenge colored door on a light background of finishing inevitably becomes an accent element. Beautiful models with moldings and various inserts bring a touch of luxury even to the most neutral design of the room. Solid door sheets in a dark color order space, make it stricter, geometrically stressed, concise.
An effective, contrast, dynamic, and at the same time non-trivial way of creating an original ceiling design is the use of ceiling beams in wenge color. Decoration of the ceiling infrequently can become an accent in the interior. But with the help of deep chocolate or brown-black shades of wenge, this design method is easy to apply. But it is important to understand that such a ceiling design is suitable only for spacious rooms with sufficient height, otherwise, the dark beams will visually “press” towards everyone present.
Another way to introduce contrast and clarity of geometry into the decoration of rooms is to select certain surfaces using skirting boards, moldings, framing windows and doorways (casings), columns, and supports using dark shades of wenge.
