Key aspects of creating a moody room include a dark color palette along with rich and warm tones (for example, deep wood stains and jewel- or berry-tone palettes).

Against a dark wall, the colors of the furniture and art pop and can command more attention than they might in a bright room. “I want my house to feel kind of like a museum,” Ms. Peterson said.

“Some spaces want to be the moody, dark rooms of the home, so let’s embrace the darkness,” Lind says. Many of us spend our days in brightly lit offices, she says, so a richly colored room at ...

White linen upholstery feels fresh against the dark millwork built by Jewett Farms and Co. 2. Wikman paired the clients’ leather-bound books and vintage vessels with contemporary pops of white.