Color Psychology: Decorating With Brown

Welcome back to Decorating with Color weekly series. If you missed any of my earlier posts in this series, click on the links to learn about decorating with Black, Blue, Green, Violet, Orange, and Yellow. Today, I will explore decorating with the most popular neutral color…..Brown.

I am sure most of you (if not all) have something that is Brown in your home. It is such a popular color in interiors mainly because of wooden elements that are usually brown in color such as floors, furniture, and cabinetry.

Contemporary Dining Room design by San Francisco Photographer mark pinkerton – vi360 photography

Brown results from mixing the primary colors (red, yellow, blue). Depending on the ratio of each color in the mix, different shades of brown develop. Some shades of brown have a red undertone, others are more yellow and so on.

At Home In Tuscany

Color psychology of Brown

Feels warm, inviting and comfortable

Inspires order and organization

Darker shades are sophisticated, elegant and dramatic

Color Harmonies

Decorating with Brown is easy because it matches with every color on the color wheel. You can’t go wrong with brown! 🙂

Here are some examples of interiors decorated with Brown.

Modern Living Room design by Boston Interior Designer Rachel Reider Interiors

Contemporary Bedroom design by Detroit Interior Designer Margeaux Interiors Inc. – Margaret Presti

Traditional Family Room design by Portland Interior Designer Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc.

Traditional Dining Room design by Toronto Interior Designer Jane Lockhart Interior Design

Traditional Bathroom design by Boston Architect Siemasko + Verbridge

Mediterranean Bathroom design by Minneapolis Tile Stone And Countertop Mercury Mosaics and Tile

Even though Brown does not attract attention on its own, its presence in any room is impressive as it grounds color schemes. Please note that too much brown can be boring. Therefore, be sure to vary the shades of brown in the space in order to add contrast and visual interest. That said, you don’t have to match wood tones in a room {for example, side tables do not need to match each other or the coffee table.} The contrast created by varying the shades of wood in a space adds visual interest. Take a look at the different shades of brown in this room as seen in the floor, cabinetry, coffee table and dining table.

Traditional Family Room design by Chicago Architect COOK ARCHITECTURAL Design Studio

For more ideas on how to decorate with brown, check out Kate’s post from BHG Sensational Style where she discussed Five Ways to Decorate with a Brown Sofa.

Now that you know how to decorate with Brown, how would you apply it to your color scheme? Would you use it as a dominant color or would you use it to help your dominant color shine? please share in the comments below.

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Comments

lama says

01/30/2013 at 2:00 pm

I agree! you can’t go wrong with brown. I am sure your home feels warm and inviting with brown as the dominant color. 🙂
andrea says

01/28/2013 at 10:26 pm

Until a few years ago, I did not like brown . . . Now, everything in my house has some kind of brown! I accent the brown leather sofas in the living room with mocha/glass tables and burnt orange/yellow, etc accent pieces. In the dining room, I have a dark brown table with glass inlays and I accent that room with white/glass and teal . . . Such a rich color and you really can’t go wrong with tan / other shades of brown.

Color Psychology: Decorating with Brown

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