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The colour brown has always been a classic choice in interior design but is often perceived as somewhat basic and overshadowed by more vibrant options, such as pastels, bright shades, pale neutrals and the classics such as white. A brown room theme isn't often sought after, but there are many ways earthy tones can uplift your interior design and improve the atmosphere.
What Are the Benefits of the Colour Brown?
We see brown in elements of nature - the bark of a tree, soil in the ground, a sandy beach or mushrooms growing in a forest. Studies show that the presence of things like plants and natural materials in the home can help to relieve stress. Nature is all around us, but with the general population spending more and more time indoors, it's important to include natural elements in our environment.
In the psychology world, shades of brown are associated with feelings of comfort, peace and security. Experts in chromotherapy (colour therapy) believe the colour brown can help to connect us to the earth and make us feel more grounded and calm. With this in mind, it makes sense that the colour brown (in a variety of earthy tones and materials) can uplift the vibe in our indoor spaces.
How to Incorporate Brown into Your Interior Design
Brown is timeless and versatile. Whether you're choosing kitchen cabinets or painting your bedroom walls, brown carries an inherent sense of quality, making your space feel more luxurious. So how can you reap these amazing benefits of the colour brown in your interior design? Continue reading for some tips on how to make the most of earthy shades!
Start with Small Touches of Brown
Consider weaving brown accents into your home decor with strategic placement of throw pillows, curtains, and small decor items in natural tones that suit your preference. Small additions can instantly increase the comforting vibes, so you can benefit from the colour brown without overwhelming the space.
Natural Elements: Elevate Your Space with Organic Materials
Brown can be easily integrated into your home without opening a single tin of brown paint. Natural wooden furnishings, and other natural materials, such as stone, wicker or rattan, can help to create an earthy aesthetic and subtly blend brown into your home without overdoing it. They are also brilliant sustainable choices!
Brown Furniture and Flooring
Both elegant and classic, brown furniture and flooring can really anchor a room's design, creating a versatile base upon which to build your style. A brown leather sofa is stylish and luxurious, wooden tables provide rustic appeal, and genuine wooden flooring is amazingly grounding underfoot. Brown is adaptable in various design styles, whether you're aiming for a traditional, contemporary, or eclectic vibe.
Creating Depth and Dimension with Texture
Texture should always come into play in interior design. Think bigger than brown paint on your walls or wooden furniture and consider including rattan, suede, wool, and tweed fabrics in your home decor. These materials create a comforting atmosphere while making your design more dynamic and adding visual interest.
Using the Right Lighting
Lighting has an amazing power to dictate the mood and ambience of a space. Warm lighting casts a golden glow that can enhance brown tones. Whether it's a well-placed floor lamp, pendant light or even small touches such as string lights or candles, your lighting choices can make or break a brown interior.
Metallic Accents to Finish Your Brown Space
Metallic accents can add a luxurious feel to any space. Consider introducing elements like copper or gold into your design palette to complement your brown components. Copper and gold are especially complementary to warm earthy shades. Think picture frames, gilded table legs or metal lamps.
The Best Rooms for a Brown Interior:
When selecting your colour palette, assess how much natural light each room you are redecorating gets and at what time of day as this can dictate which shades of brown will pop. The examples below give you some ideas:
North-Facing Rooms:
Lighter browns can be seamlessly integrated into your decor, as they are neutral and provide more brightness. Opt for beiges and pale tans in north-facing rooms, as these rooms get the least natural light.
South-Facing Rooms:
In south-facing rooms, you can afford to go a little darker with mahogany or walnut, as these rooms are graced with the longest periods of bright sunlight. You can also embrace cooler browns in a south-facing room - perhaps a dark truffle or a greyish umber.
East-Facing Rooms:
East-facing rooms receive the most morning sunlight and can benefit from warmer shades, such as a rusty orange or a warm tan.
West-Facing Rooms:
West-facing rooms, where the sun sets, tend to do better with cooler shades, and in the world of brown, you could choose a medium ash brown or mushroom.
Related: Choosing Room Colour Based On Natural Light | A Guide for North, South, West & East-Facing Rooms
How to Make a Room More Relaxing with Brown
There are rooms in your home where you are more likely to go to relax, therefore, intentionally placing brown in these rooms may help you to reap more benefits.
Consider using rich browns in living rooms, bedrooms or reading nooks. Balancing the aesthetic with natural decor items such as houseplants or handmade ornaments.
The Benefits of Designing a Brown Bedroom
Let's start in the room where you relax the most - the bedroom. Having a visually pleasing colour scheme in your bedroom can set you up for a good night's sleep and improve your mood last thing at night and first thing in the morning. Here are some ways to modestly incorporate earthy shades to create a brown bedroom:
- Brown Bedsheets
If you don't want to go all out with your brown decor, a great way to integrate it into your bedroom is with your bed sheets. The calming shade can help you to feel more cosy and, in turn, unwind at the end of a stressful day. A bonus is that brown bed sheets help to disguise stains or discolouration that your sheets come into contact with.
- Natural Wooden Bed Frames
Incorporating natural wood into your is a fantastic way to create an earthy-toned bedroom design. Pine is a durable and affordable choice, or consider maple, oak, mahogany or walnut if you have a bigger budget.
- Natural Wooden Storage
Like your bed frame, consider selecting a natural wooden wardrobe, dresser or vanity table to increase the earthiness of your sleep space.
Incorporating Brown in Your Living Room Decor
The living room is a magnet for stains and dust. In addition to being a calming shade, the magic of the colour brown is that can easily camouflage discolouration in your living room, especially if you have children or pets. Here are some ideas on how to strategically add brown to your living room design:
- The Brown Couch - a Fan Favourite
Couches in shades of chocolate, beige or umber are easy to find, making them a great choice for your living room.
- Natural Wood in the Living Room
Natural wooden furniture in the living room is a popular choice. Wooden coffee tables, television stands and shelving units are abundantly available at both new and secondhand furniture stores.
- Brown Decorations and Brown Artwork
If you don't want to overwhelm your living room with shades of brown, you can select beautiful decor with a brown theme. Paintings of trees and forest floors or pottery with touches of brown make great additions. Earthy-toned rugs are also a brilliant option - especially shag carpets and vintage rugs, which can add to the cosiness factor of your space.
Creating Cosy Nooks with Brown
In areas of your home where you want to create a cosy feel, such as cushy reading nooks or home offices, you can adopt some dark shades of brown to create a rich, more sheltered atmosphere.
Colours That Go Well with Brown
To create a balanced colour scheme, you want to ensure you are negating an overwhelming brown interior design with the right colour combinations.
Be at One with Mother Nature with a Green and Brown Room
Green is a grounding colour like brown, and, likewise, one of the most prominent tones in nature. Therefore, these two are the power couple of the earthy shades. Greens in olive shades work particularly well with most browns, along with emerald greens, for a brighter look, and sage for a more subtle design.
Go Bold with a Brown and Black Room Theme
Black can be a tricky choice when it comes to room decor. It's a timeless colour and, when done right, it can add sophistication and elegance, but when overdone, black walls can make a space feel dark and small. It's important to balance darker shades with lighter colours or uplifting decor elements to maintain the brightness in the space.
A balanced combination might be a hickory-brown accent wall with a black couch or vice versa. If you want to incorporate black and brown elements into the room but are afraid of the dreaded darkness that dark colours can cause, you could consider lighter or brighter shades of brown such as sand or beige, or more vibrant earthy tones such as rust or cinnamon.
Something key when using dark shades is to choose the area of your home carefully and ensure it is well-lit with natural or artificial light.
Warm it Up with a Yellow and Brown Interior Design
Brown and yellow make a strong combo if you want to create a space that provides warmth and positivity. Yellow can instantly brighten up a room and is associated with feelings of happiness and optimism. When combined with brown's wonderful earthiness, the duo can be both invigorating and comforting.
Keep it Neutral with a Cream and Brown Design
Cream is a classic choice to combine with all sorts of shades of brown. Selecting cream for your decor provides a beautiful neutral palette, keeping your space elegant and classic while allowing room for you to add more vibrance in the form of your decorations if you wish.
Though it can be regarded as a basic colour choice, brown offers both versatility and an organic feel. So, don't underestimate the power of this humble hue and consider how elements of brown could positively impact your home, and in turn, your mood.