The great return of brown in our interiors

Exit bright colors, the trend is brown! A color that is both deep, luminous and soft, brown is not only the hue of autumn leaves on a landscape picture or chocolate, it evokes the warmth of a cocoon, the natural world and well-being. The latest decorating trends show brown at will, from small furniture to key pieces, including tableware and textiles. What does this great return mean?

For more calm and voluptuousness in our cottages

Warmth and softness are recurring qualifiers when we talk about the color of caramel and brown tones in the world of decoration. After two years spent indoors, we have become more aware of where it is good to live, and their interior design. Naturally, photos of cozy spaces where brown reigns are multiplying in decorating magazines.

Warming up bodies and hearts

Brown readily lends itself to the tones of a welcoming living space. Who has not one day curled up in a leather sofa or enjoyed walking on a natural parquet floor? In living rooms, brown tones also absorb reflections and flashes of light, and relieve the eyes. In a room intended for rest, brown perfectly contributes to creating a soothing atmosphere.

Woody and dark tones evoke the notion of a sanctuary, a place where you can recharge your batteries and find peace. The abbey of Fontevraud, in the Pays de la Loire, converted into a hotel is a splendid example of a modern sanctuary. The mixes of wood and natural leather backed by anthracite gray insulating panels, at the heart of its original pale stone setting, create a unique setting that forces you to feel peaceful.

Landscape photo of 70s brown in industrial loft

Brown in interior decoration has this little nostalgic side. The trend seventies which has been dominating decoration and fashion for some time has something to do with it. Let's be clear, the combination of brown and orange in the photos of the time may have aged badly, but the current version gives it a renewed elegance.

Hotels with polished aesthetics such as the Standard Hotel in London have adopted brown to make up for the urban greyness while keeping a luxury side tinged with retro seventies. The spaces are both relaxed and elegant: rattan chairs in the lounge with chocolate-colored cushions, the bar area with a varnished wooden slat ceiling and its very seventies brown tiles. Take inspiration from the photos of this place for your next decorative makeover!

More recently, browns have found themselves associated with gray metals in the New York loft spirit. With other designers like Loro Piana, shades of powdery brown sublimate materials, textures and minimalist shapes. through trends, brown has managed to become timeless.

The Japanese trend

Meeting Japanese and Scandinavian design, from which we derive the famous concept fun, interior design photos of this style show a simple, yet elegant aesthetic. Light wood, stone or even ceramic, the whole thing rests the eyes and the mind. We find brown in the preference for quality natural materials, without artifice and functional. Comfort meets a minimalism that has got rid of its austere side, relaxation here passes through refinement and purity.

The brown leads the dance

At the Salone del Mobile 2021 in Milan, designers gave pride of place to shades of brown. Offering a less cold option than black and gray, while remaining neutral, the color appealed to minimalists. Varnished or glossy brown tones also go very well with interior lighting effects. As in a harmonious landscape photo, brown has the gift of enhancing the softness of natural colors, with a subtle contrast, such as shades of green (forest, lichen, etc.), a pale pink or the velvety apricot.

Pantone, the fashionable colorama prescriber, describes it in these words:

“Brown adapts and modifies our perception of the colors around it in a very particular way. This is something that was previously overlooked in brown and has now become its core advantage; brown's ability to anchor bold colors while creating sophisticated shades is rare.”

Photos of touches of brown are everywhere in this year's collections, whether on wood textures, textiles with geometric patterns or bright color blocks. In the 2022 collection of the darling brand of Parisians, Maison Sarah Lavoine, we find it sometimes alongside a burning orange, a sage green or even fir, other softer colors intervene like beige, sky blue and off-white.

The color of withdrawal and epicurean pleasures

“Brave Ground” is the name of the color 2021 elected by the colorist Dulux who explains it by a return to nature and stability. By surrounding yourself with brown, it would be a question of laying a healthy foundation for a better start, to reconnect with the calm of interiors during the storm. We also notice a gastronomic, even epicurean, inspiration in the names given by Pantone to the diversity of chestnuts in its catalog: hot fudge, cocoa, carob, brownie, cashew, tapenade, olive oil, etc. What if brown marked a return to the simple pleasures of life?