Black & White, or not?

The other day I posted about some of my lasting loves in design and a few of them are soon on their way to becoming a reality.....or are at least being considered for it.

Here is the current state of our living room - at least structurally.

Obviously you can see that that fireplace needs some work. We considered taking it back to the original brick, but it's that sort of rigid dark red brick (aka ugly), so we quickly gave up on that idea and began thinking elsewhere. You can't see it well because if the screen in front, but there is a boring yellow brick on the floor that also needs some work too. To keep things classic, but yet still modern, we're hoping to add some white built-ins under the windows, enclose the painted brick with a nice wood surround and add black subway accent tiles. We're also considering taking the molding off of the mantle, stripping it down to the original wood and staining it to match the floor. I'd love to do a glass paneled sliding door on the built-ins, but depending on who and how we do them, we may just go with something stock.

This is the inspiration.

It's exactly how black and white should be done in my mind. Crisp but warm with lots of texture.

I also posted these pics of black trim.

You may recall when we were considering painting all the window trim in the house black. Well, because of privacy & lighting issues, it looks like we're going to put cafe style plantation shutters across the front of the house (including the living room). I don't love the look, but they are popular here and will help to give us privacy but still let in lots of natural light. So unfortunately that means that the black trim probably won't work since the shutters will be white. That doesn't mean that we can't ground a white room a bit with other black trim work.

We also have these great french doors that close off the living room from the dining room. We're liking the idea of painting them black along with the crown molding and the inside of the front door. It's still classic & tasteful, but different. We like different. Different is good. Add some black drapes and all the white will surely be grounded. In addition to the black, we're also toying with the idea of a gray ceiling to warm things up a bit. I better decide quickly. The painter is coming soon!

The dining room is also getting a makeover with tall white wainscoting and a picture ledge.
I'm not sure yet exactly how it will be used, but this shade of blue will be used somehow in there too. If not on the walls, then the curtains or a painted buffet. We'll see what I come across in my searching.

I think it's a nice compliment to the black and white and will help transition into the softer styled kitchen. And the teal will be carried on subtly with the cafe curtains that will eventually be hung in there.

In a fabric similar to these that I scored at a closeout for $3/yard.

What do you think?
Are you feeling the black & white or do you think it will be a big mistake?