STYLE IT DARK: Hottest Hashtag on Instagram

Interior design by Collin Robison. Photo by Ellen McDermott

#STYLEITDARK

Now that we have turned the clocks back and kissed daylight savings time goodbye, it seems the perfect moment to share with you my latest source of design inspiration from Instagram. Plug in Instagram's hottest new hashtag #styleitdark and you will quickly be enveloped in a cozy, warm and somewhat moody environment. Very intriguing for these cooler days. "Style it dark" makes you feel as if you stepped right into an old master painting!

Get the Look

Style it dark is interior design's version of chiaroscuro (the treatment of light and shade in painting). Designer Collin Robison, one of the leaders of the new trend, explains that he is drawn to contrasts in his decorating, often offsetting black or dark tones with white. When tackling the look, he advises pairing opposites: light and dark, items from nature with something polished like a mirror, rough with shiny textures, and the like.

According to Collin, some of the best rooms for styling it dark are those where you naturally want to feel cocooned like a den, library, powder room or dining room. He advises embracing the look wholeheartedly, all the way down to the tablescape vignettes.

To see more of the trend, be sure to follow Collin on Instagram @collinrobisondesign and have a look at the rest of his house in the article "Cool and Collected" in the November 2016 Connecticut Cottages & Gardens. It got the cover! Most of these photos are NOT in the magazine, so there is a lot more to see. Also follow Ellen McDermott @ellennyc, who took all of these marvelous images except where indicated. And of course, search #styleitdark on Insta.

Please be sure to tell me what you think of the #styleitdark trend in the comments.

Vignette in Collin's Robison's living room. Photo by Ellen McDermott.

Interior design by Collin Robinson. Photo by Ellen McDermott.

Interior DesignLynn ByrneNovember 7, 2016Collin Robison, Ellen Mcdermott, style it dark, Styling, trends