Black & White all over
Simple color scheme exudes sophistication
Simple color scheme exudes sophistication

By Chris Jones

Published: March 27, 2008

It's as simple as black and white.

Think of eye-catching harlequins and dominoes or the stripes on zebras and the spots on Dalmatians. The combination of black and white draws attention in nature, art, clothing and household furnishings.

Add a touch of lime green for drama, and a house decorated in black and white makes an impact.

The model home Jan Penner Dewbre decorated in a new housing development in northeast Norman is a study in black-and-white sophistication.

The two-tone theme is carried out through the three-bedroom home, from the entrance to the kitchen, baths and trendy nursery, where a border of giant polka dots adds whimsy to the walls.

Penner Dewbre, owner of JP Designs LLC, said she likes to create a design people will remember in the model homes she decorates. The majority of her design work is residential, and she has done several projects for Ideal Homes in Norman, including five homes in 2007.

She said she begins working on her plan for each home before the house is constructed. She studies catalogs to get ideas. Then she selects a theme and begins her search for furnishings.

She starts with the basic paint finishes, flooring and appliances provided to the buyer and works with those elements as a background. She selected black appliances for the kitchen and used a dramatic black-and-white accent rug for the kitchen floor.

"I try to design on the edge — something updated and trendy,” Penner Dewbre said.

This year, she decorated two model homes for Ideal Homes in the Park Hill neighborhood in Norman. One home features black and white, and the other home with a different floor plan is decorated with earth tones.

When prospective buyers are touring house after house, the lines can begin to blur on which home had the best floor plan, a great kitchen or stands out in some way from other homes.

"I try to create an image people will remember,” Penner Dewbre said. "I want people who tour the home to think about the black-and-white house. I want them to say, ‘Oh yeah, there was that one house with just a little green.'”

A model home with a distinctive look may motivate a buyer to come back for a second look.

"These are fun creative projects,” Penner Dewbre said. "Once I started on the black-and-white house, it just kind of grew, and it was hard to limit. There is a cricket that pops up in several rooms, penguins in the baby room, and black-and-white lambs.

"I like to have a theme within a theme, and the crickets are a theme in this house.”

A pair of black-and-white chairs in a herringbone pattern caught the designer's eye in a Norman furniture store. The chairs set the stage for the furnishings Penner Dewbre bought for the home.

There are no wood tones in the model home. The furniture including the armoire, tables, baby crib and rocking chair are all in black or white. The lamps have geometric shapes, clean lines and unusual lamp shades.

"I avoided the usual square linen lamp shades and anything with a froufrou look,” Penner Dewbre said. "Shopping for and selecting the artwork for this model home was the most fun.

"The infant room was the most challenging part of decorating in the black-and-white theme. I spent days on the Internet trying to find bedding for the crib, and I didn't think that would be so difficult.”

She kept searching until she found the perfect bedding for the nursery, and she added a green band to the valance and a slight bit of green trim to the bumper pad on the crib set.

She said her searches for the perfect pieces take her on somewhat of a scavenger hunt. She used an impressive 72-inch-tall art deco-style black mirror in the home's entryway to reflect light and create an impression as guests step into the home.

A large piece of art makes a statement in the master bedroom. Artwork is also a big part of the decor in the home's bathrooms and hallway.

The master bath features natural light due to a large window over the garden tub. The designer selected a tall black-and-white harlequin figure as a sort of sentry on the oversize windowsill.

Homebuyers may want to choose opaque glass for the bathroom window, and if they like the look of clear glass, there are numerous window covering options to obtain privacy.

Windows in the model home let in an abundance of natural lighting and showcase the black-and-white decor against a backdrop of neutral off-white walls and carpet.

Penner Dewbre said she uses minimal window treatments in model homes because she wants the natural light to come in the rooms.

"Natural light makes a house so homey,” she said, "and I try not to cover up the windows.”

Penner Dewbre said she decorated her home in black and cream with touches of red. She said the use of black-and-white decor is easy to live with, trendy and can be changed easily with the use of a different accent color in the accessories or by painting a wall.

"At the design seminars I have been attending lately, there is a new home interior look every season,” Pennner Dewbre said.

"It didn't used to change that frequently, and that's the appeal of black-and-white. Just add a new throw, pillows or a lamp, and keep the basics.”

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