BROWN INTERIOR INSPIRATION AND IDEAS- how to bring this on-trend colour into your home in a stylish way
Welcome to the BLOG
Hi, I’m Sandra.
If you're in awe of stunning interiors and crazy about home decor, you’re in the right place. As an interior writer with a background in styling and photography for leading magazines around the globe (see below) as well as an avid home renovator, I am here to help you style and decorate your home with ease and confidence, like a pro.
On this blog, I’ll be sharing insightful articles packed with advice, tips, and ideas for home styling and decoration, along with inspiring tours of beautifully styled spaces. Having styled countless homes with very different interiors, I know it’s the final touches and thoughtful curating that make a space magazine-worthy, regardless of whether it’s an architectural masterpiece or filled with high-end furniture. And, rather than focus on one particular interior look or style, I aim to open your eyes to a wide variety so you feel inspired, not limited. This week’s blog is about embracing the current colour brown, looking at different shades and ways to bring it into your interior.
BROWN INTERIOR IDEAS
Brown can make its appearance in many shapes, forms and shades from more subtle nuanced tones to dark and dramatic, like in this gorgeous Dutch interior by Enter The Loft in Amsterdam.
Photo: Sandra van Aalst
I’ve recently been to Focus/25 on Design and to Amsterdam, where the biggest interior takeaway was brown - on the walls, rugs, cushions, sofas, wallpaper, artwork and other home decor items in most showrooms and interior shops. I’m not just talking about chocolate brown, but a whole gamut of delicious shades including caramel, mocha, cacao, mouse, rust, camel and espresso, which makes brown surprisingly versatile and, with lighter shades in the palette, a timeless colour. Vogue was one of the first to run a feature on brown interiors back in 2022 but trends take time to filter through. The brown revival is very much tied to influences from the seventies, eighties and nineties, where brown was popular; I can still picture my parents’ brown sofa that was in our family home. This is coupled with Mocha Mousse being the Pantone Colour of the Year for 2025. And, just as I’ve been compiling this article, Benjamin Moore has announced that their colour for 2026 is Silhouette, which is also brown tone - a rich espresso, softened by notes of charcoal and, as Benjamin Moore puts it, emulates the warmth, sophistication, and timelessness of a custom-tailored suit. I have often favoured brown for clothing and have teamed brown leather trousers with a cream linen shirt, and one of my autumn go-to items is a brown cardigan, so I can fully appreciate the appeal of brown interiors.
Warm earthy tones have been trending for a while and I have recently swapped grey for warmer neutrals and blue for terracotta. But brown can be a bit more tricky to decorate with as it can look flat, dark and drab. But, you will see from this article that if done well, the results are striking. The key is all about introducing brown in various subtle and rich tones with complementary textures, and teaming them with warm neutrals, cream or white to create harmony and contrast. You can also bring in brown, and may already have it in your home, in the form of natural materials, such as wood furniture, timber floors, shelves and cabinetry. And don’t worry if you have grey in your interior, you don’t need to ditch it as brown can complement and add warmth to it. And the brown comeback doesn’t mean we all have to replace black doors and window frames that are now found in many homes; brown also teams perfectly well with black, which you can see in my Focus/25 on Design blog where Ralph Lauren’s new collection blends brown, black and cream. Hopefully, once you’ve read the article below, you will see how brown can be liveable in a modern way and, instead of a fleeting trend, it will become a classic tone.
COCOONING WITH BROWN - THE DESIGNER WAY
Photo: James McDonald at WOW!House at The Design Centre Chelsea Harbour
This is the Shepel’ bar at WOW!House 25, a show house constructed of 22 rooms designed by some of the world’s most eminent interior designers. This was one of my favourite rooms and I’m showing it here as it exemplifies how designers use brown fearlessly, with layer upon layer, enveloping the room in shades such as mocha, cinnamon and espresso. The result is striking, intentional and luxurious. Interior designer Tony Black has used rich textures and patterns so the room feels far from flat. Rather than dark, it is cocooning with beautiful finishes such as velvet, metallic and marble to catch the light. If you have the courage to try to emulate this look in your own home, the result can be spectacular, but take note of how the scheme has been put together. Firstly, the stunning oversized leaf wall covering by Arte acts as the backdrop for the rest of the room, while the sofa by Shepel’ is a mix of single-toned velvet and linen with a fringe trim, resulting in the curved silhouette that stands out against the wall. The bar stools introduce more pattern, while the rug, with its softer tones, anchors the space and pulls the whole look together.
BROWN PAIRING WITH CREAM
Photo: Six The Residence
I wanted to show you here how the contrast of dark brown with cream, warm whites and ivory is so effective. Many of us, including me, have a cream sofa or accent chair, and while brown-toned cushions are probably the simplest way to introduce the colour, painting the wall brown takes it a giant step further and really makes a dramatic statement. As the dark brown wall featured above is one tone, the overall interior looks far less stark as other lighter browns in interesting textures have been introduced, like the organic wooden side table and caramel velvet footstool shown here. Adding other brown accents prevents the whole scheme from looking flat and heavy. In this interior, the bouclé on the gorgeous cream chairs by Six The Residence also adds texture, while the home decor, including the brass table lamp, artwork and vase, bring in additional tones, softening the harshness of the wall. Paint companies like Benjamin Moore and Farrow & Ball have an array of brown shades in their palettes. Tanner’s Brown, London Clay and Salon Drab are three popular browns by Farrow & Ball, while North Creek Brown and Middlebury Brown are a couple of good choices from Benjamin Moore’s brown palette.
BROWN ARTWORK
Photo: Desenio
You will notice that several of the other images of brown interiors, including the next two, have at least one or two paintings or prints with touches of brown. A gallery wall is also a way to layer a variety of shades of brown into your interior in a dramatic and interesting way. As you can see with the artwork by Desenio shown here, you don’t necessarily need to have brown frames; in fact, white works really well, contrasting with and adding emphasis to the brown artwork. This way, the colour story of the artwork takes precedence, not the frames. This gallery wall, with such a vast variety of shades, shows that brown is not just one note but an entire palette.
BRINGING IN BROWN WITH A RUG
Photo: Caffe Latte
A rug is the starting point for me when changing the colour palette, as it sets the tone for the rest of the room. I recently moved from aqua and teal to warm earthy tones, so my first stop was to look for a rug before decorating the rest of the room and buying soft furnishings. The patterned rug pictured here by Caffe Latte has warm mocha tones and feels contemporary. Also, by being interspersed with off-white, it is not overpowering. The rug is subtle yet shows how, aside from cushions, this is one of the most effective ways to bring a new colour into your interior. The rest of the scheme is neutral with a cream sofa, wooden tables and beige-toned curtains. Also, notice how the legs of the travertine stone tables are a grey-brown, described by Caffe Latte as ‘steam rising from a hot espresso shot’, which demonstrates a simple yet sophisticated way to add a hint of brown into your interior.
PAIRING BROWN-TONED FURNITURE
Photo: Libra
Furniture is a considered way to layer brown without overwhelming a space - like the contemporary nesting tables and console pictured here by Libra. These sleek tables in an aged-black finish, with a subtle metallic texture and gilded dark bronze frames, create a rich, sophisticated brown tone. Contrast is an essential design element. While black pieces are used to create it, this interior shows how it works beautifully with brown, which is softer and more liveable. A cream wool rug, sofa and bouclé chairs bring a distinct sense of luxury to the scheme while balancing the brown and creating contrast. The delicately ribbed circular tables and curved console are an on-trend way to introduce brown, yet are less of a commitment than a sofa or an entire brown-painted wall. Beyond contrast, this scheme also shows how Libra has achieved a cohesive look by repeating brown in the console table and chair frames. If you already have, or are considering investing in, a single large brown or even black piece, echo the colour elsewhere in the room, whether it’s in the artwork or another piece of furniture, so it creates cohesion rather than one dark, overpowering piece.
COMBINING BROWN TEXTURES
Photo: Sandra van Aalst
Brown can look luxurious and sophisticated, like in the image here, when you layer multiple shades and organic textures. A wool, deep-pile rug with a soft, matt finish grounds the space, while cushions add pattern and sheen. I particularly like the way that an organic brown is expressed in the fossilised tree coffee tables which, made from petrified wood slices with a scalloped bark edge, are rather special. Finally, the artwork brings in darker, inky notes to the scheme. By varying finishes against calm backdrops of cream and taupe, the brown accents in this interior feel plush and elevated, rather than dark and heavy.
OPTING FOR A BROWN-TONED SOFA
Photo: Arteriors
If you want a little bit more than a couple of brown accents, you could pick one hero piece of furniture, such as a sofa. When choosing a sofa, don’t just immediately go for chocolate brown; also consider lighter, richer tones like the one by Arteriors, which is in a butterscotch tone and, being leather, has more warmth to it than just a flat dark brown. This image also shows how browns are elevated when the rest of the scheme - floor, rug and walls - are kept light and neutral, which breaks up the intensity of the brown. Rather than a stand-alone piece, this butterscotch-toned sofa sits beautifully in the room as it is complemented by a deeper brown sideboard and lamp, which enrich the colour scheme further.
SMALL DOSES OF BROWN WITH CUSHIONS
Photo: Sandra van Aalst
Cushions are by far the easiest and most inexpensive way to introduce a new colour to a room. I have recently done exactly this by swapping my aqua-toned cushions for a warm, earthy terracotta. You can also alternate cushions during different seasons, with warmer tones in the winter months and fresh, brighter colours in the spring and summer. The cushions shown here are a perfect example of how to layer browns so they feel soft and modern. The palette moves from a geometric cushion in a mixture of rich brown, taupe and tan, to a taupe fringed model at the back, and a soft mid-mouse-brown velvet cushion in between. The sofa is upholstered in a thick linen weave in a light beige, which is the perfect backdrop for these nuanced browns.
TEAMING WARM BROWNS WITH WITH BLACK ACCENTS
Photo: Folk Interiors
Shown here in the form of a pedestal, is a way to bring in a warmer, earthy brown, adding the colour without it feeling heavy. Paired with the sleek floor lamp and sculptural black vase, the brown pedestal by Folk Interiors is entirely crafted from glass fibre-reinforced concrete and looks crisp and contemporary. Pedestals are versatile and are a key item in Dutch interiors, often used as plant stands or to display a sculpture or vase, like in the image here. The shorter models can also be used as a side table or beside a bed. Finally, I want to draw your attention to how brown teams so well with black, as shown here with the chequered black and white sofa, as well as the black metal floor lamp base. Softer, warmer browns, like the pedestal, complement black perfectly, resulting in a sleek and sophisticated look.
BROWN-TONED LIGHTING IN THE BEDROOM
Photo: Lights and Lamps
So far, we have looked at using brown in the living room, and I was sceptical about how it would translate in a bedroom. The image here proves that brown can look fabulous in a bedroom when repeated in just a couple of key pieces added in a considered way. A whole bedroom colour-drenched could feel claustrophobic and drab, so keep to accents in varying textures and tones to add brown without weighing the room down. Notice how the bedroom has been layered with three brown elements in completely different materials, including linen, glass, and wood, which really adds interest, giving it a more tactile, airy feel. The statement piece is the mid-century glass chandelier by Lights and Lamps in a smoky brown, which sets a warm tone that’s echoed by the linen throw and walnut tapered lamp base. Everything else - the bedspread, rug, walls, and curtains - are pared back in calm neutrals, so the bedroom remains a stylish, yet restful, place to be.
INTRODUCING BROWN DECOR
Photo: Sandra van Aalst
Aside from cushions, another ideal way to introduce brown into your interior is with home decor accessories such as vases, pots, dishes and other vessels. On the stone table pictured here is a stylish collection of glazed earthenware in reddish-brown displayed on a tray. You can place brown-toned vessels on any other surface such as a console, mantelpiece, shelf or side table. Group the objects in odd numbers and add other items, as the stylist has done here with the mustard-coloured beads and greenery, to lift the palette and break up the brown. This interior demonstrates how decor like vases is perfect for weaving in that extra layer of brown, tying it beautifully to other brown elements in the room.
BACK TO NATURE WITH BROWN-TONED WOOD
Photo: Laskasas
Many of us already live with brown wood - ceiling beams, timber flooring, or a piece of furniture like the sophisticated piece shown here in a hazel tone, which was chosen by Laskasas as part of a bedroom project they worked on. With its natural grain, wood brings an interesting texture and offers a subtle, organic way to introduce brown without overwhelming a space. The streamlined unit pictured here has been beautifully styled as a vignette, with the ceramic pots and artwork picking up brown accents in varying tones, so the whole display feels cohesive.
ENHANCING YOUR BATHROOM WITH BROWN-TONED TILES
Photo: Hyperion Tiles
The bathroom pictured here shows how well brown walls and tiles can work in a bathroom and look striking as a backdrop to white or natural stone basins. The metro-style glazed tiles pictured here are by Little Greene in brown with subtle purple undertones. The wall has been painted in the same purple-brown shade by Little Greene and the flatness really allows the texture and finish of the tiles to literally shine. The dark wall and tiling is offset with a white rustic timber console with a bright white large tiled countertop. If you are tempted to recreate the look in your bathroom, keep the fixtures and fittings light to add contrast and definition.
TEXTURED BROWN WALL COVERINGS
Photo: Arte
Multiple brown tones ripple through this richly textured wallpaper, crafted from bark, raffia and wood, bringing natural materials into the room. With its palette of browns, this tactile wall covering by Arte has a three-dimensional effect and looks stunning next to the bright white fireplace. I’ve also chosen this image to show you how grey pairs well with brown, demonstrated here with the combination of the soft grey sofa with a walnut base. So if you’ve heard that ‘grey is out and brown is in’, that isn’t the case; the current mood simply leans towards warmer tones, which you can easily and effectively blend with grey, black and white.
SUPPORTING BROWNS WITH CURTAINS
Photo: Ian Mankin
I have learned through decorating my own home, and a few mistakes, that curtains or blinds are far more than just the finishing touch and an ideal way to bring in colour. Choosing curtains or blinds in brown tones can be pivotal in an interior scheme built around shades of brown. Take, for example, the Terrain Beech Nut brown curtains shown here by Ian Mankin. These drapes are still brown, but sit at the lighter end of the palette, perfectly complementing and lifting the darker elements in the room, such as the walnut dining table, as well as the deep brown artwork. Layering a few tonal variations keeps the palette rich and cohesive, allowing each piece, including the curtains, to become an integral part of the aesthetic.
COOLER SHADES OF BROWN
Photo: Earthborne
I think that the shade of brown on the walls shown here has a distinct Dutch feel - neither chocolate-like, as with the woven side table, nor overly warm but softened by pink and grey undertones, which the throws subtly echo. The paint is by Earthborn, which I have used myself in a room and love for its chalky finish. Notice how the skirting boards have also been painted in the same colour, another Dutch decorating trick I'll always use as it visually extends the height of the room. I also include cornices, too, for a top-to-toe colour-drenching.
SADDLE BROWN WALLS
Photo: Benjamin Moore paint
This fresh, modern classic dining room is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Leather Saddle Brown. Inspired by the depth and character of well-worn leather, it’s a grounded shade that gives a cosy feel and complements the earthy tones of the leather chairs and tablecloth. The white of the window frame, cornices and skirting really pops against the brown, showing that white and cream can create a more dynamic, high-contrast look than neutral tones such as beige or taupe. Finally, this shade of brown also combines well with the time-worn timber floor, giving a modern rustic vibe to the interior.
When I think of brown, it’s the more chocolatey dark hues that spring to mind, but in this article, as well as dark brown, I’ve tried to feature a gamut of shades such as caramel, mocha, cinnamon, rust and espresso. The interior pictured here swings more towards the warmer palette with almost rust tones in the rug and chair, while the wall is even more sun-baked. The rug is the Kota rug from The Rug Society and only has small amounts of brown set against ivory in a design loosely inspired by animal prints. It anchors the room, while the ivory contrasts with the brown and lifts the aesthetic.
CHRISTMAS WITH BROWN
Photo: Annie Sloan paint
As we are only two months away from Christmas, I had to show you the doyenne of paint, Annie Sloan’s Honfleur, which, named after the French town in Normandy, really has a French feel. In fact, it was inspired by the rich, warm brown shades found in the rustic French countryside. And teamed with the red berries and stair runner, it has a current and seasonal feel. If you were to remove the bunches of eucalyptus and berries, and swap the stair runner, this warm, red-toned brown also works well when paired with pink or duck-egg blue.
LET’S SUM UP
So now you see that brown can be beautifully liveable and work with other colours if done in a considered way, and pair with brighter, lighter shades to avoid a dark, heavy look. Aim for rich, warmer browns, not flat, dull shades and mix textures like leather, velvet and linen. Unless you want to envelop the room, keep the rest light with neutrals or cream and white.
