How can I use brown to transform my interior space?

An Epicurian’s sense of home

What is it about the colour brown that has us running for the hills whenever it’s mentioned on an interior project? As I struggled to understand our indifference to this naturally occurring colour and its continuous bad press over the years, I realized that I never actually explored the ‘why’ until now.  With its huge potential for creating warm and luxurious spaces, what’s not to love about brown’s complexity and grounding properties, its hidden depths from burnt sienna to raw umber and its diversity for creating unrestrained and unique colour schemes.

Engaging

Brown for me is an immersive colour and my failure to previously explain this I believe is the reason I have been unsuccessful in my conviction when recommending this hue for our homes. The colour of earth, brown is a colour you can smell and the basis of some of my favourite autumn/winter scents that include turf, amber, cedar, tobacco, leather and smoke.  It’s one of those sensory colours you won’t appreciate until you trust in its potential and when you take that risk, you’ll wonder why you hadn’t done so sooner.  A tertiary colour with equal parts primary red and secondary green, it can ground a scheme and contrast or compliment almost every colour.  It’s beautiful with blue, great with green and lifts any pastel colour;  If you trade cream in for white (see below) it will instantly freshen and modernize any space.  For moodier and dramatic spaces think of inkier blues, blacks, charcoal and tonal variations from tree bark browns to burnt umber, adding natural materials such as stone, wood and linens for textural variation.

Autumn

Our senses tend to respond to autumn more than any other season and apart from the visually stunning display of colour with brown at its core, they are further heightened by the sound of leaves crushing under our feet and the pungent earthy smell in the air.  When we seek inspiration for transforming our homes, we only need step outside our own front door and immerse ourselves in the landscape. What Gardener doesn’t mention the joy they derive from the sensory connection they have with nature when they work in the soil. When brown was revealed as the colour of AW2019, I believed that the long overdue renaissance of a much loved colour had finally arrived and my search for the perfect brown geansai had reached an end.  Sadly, this was short lived but variations of the colour did filter down to some lasting caramel and toffee tones.  Finding a home textile in the perfect hue however, still proves challenging sadly, unless it’s in a tweed or similar styled pattern. 

Negative nuances

So why are we so averse to brown?  Our dislike for an item generally tends to do with negative connotations and many cite our school uniform as the reason for this but what about blue, grey or green? A colour historically linked to poverty, I don’t believe its reach goes as far back and am guessing that it has much to do with its popularity in the 70’s. Many of us (of a certain generation) grew up with this dominant hue in our homes and how we potentially co-ordinated this colour through the use of strong, bold design from carpet to wallpaper and then weighed it down with mahogany furniture I believe to be the root of our prevailing dislike. Ironically, the spiraling ochre and brown patterned carpet of our ‘good room’ is the reason for my dislike of the colour yellow and have only recently revisited this with a fresh pair of eyes.  Cream offered us the softer and safer contrast for our school attire which eventually translated into our homes.  Magnolia replaced the vivid hues in the 80s, proving to be the paint colour of choice, and it’s this enduring, cream/brown contrast I blame today for not being able to see beyond these limitations. The visionary Miuccia Prada, utilised pastel blues, lavenders and gold when distinguishing brown in her www.miumiu.com clothing range (the younger version of Prada), yet still couldn’t revolutionise our attitude to this colour.

Visual Art

If we look back to the renaissance when some of the earliest brown pigments were utilized and sourced from the iron oxide rich, soil clay of sienna, we may find a third and more obvious reasoning.  For most, this pivotal era in art history didn’t incite much enthusiasm given the predominant use of brown, which when you think about it, doesn’t particularly translate well on paper when for most of us, print material was our first experience of art at an early age. We can only truly appreciate the renaissance or any other masters working in these deeper hues, if we experience them in their true form. You only need look at one of these paintings to discover browns visceral quality, its hidden depths and leaning to taking a backseat to its colour counterparts. Antoni Tapies, brought this to a whole new level in the 20th century with his ‘matter’ paintings incorporating mud, sand, tar and found objects onto his canvases which he slashed and tore, to create highly tactile and textured sculpture paintings.

The visionaries

Understandably we are drawn and react more positively to brighter colour and no one expresses this idea better than a child.  Darker colours affect our mood so we are naturally more hesitant when it comes to applying it in our homes. If you are suddenly feeling braver and wish to embrace this palette, then look to the northern europeans who have been leading the way with their darker and moodier interiors for some time including Axel Vervoodt who completed the Greenwich hotel in New York (in collaboration with Tatsuro Miki) www.thegreenwichhotel.com. Oliver Gustav www.olivergustavstudio.com utilises slubby browns with lots of earthy toned linen and textured walls to ‘convey a quiet and yet dramatic atmosphere’ in his interior schemes.  Art director and swedish stylist Hans Blomquist (started out his journey with ikea) is inspired by a northern colour palette and has collaborated with www.bauwerkcolour.com/en/colour-lab/browns. who create lime paint washes that work in harmony with nature and your buildings’ materials. www.relentlessmicrocement.com/colour-options/ offer a concrete textured alternative if you wish to embrace the tactile quality of tapies on your walls. 

‘matter’ painting by Antoni Tapies

Brown in your home

So before you rush out and purchase ‘mahogany’ or ‘tanner’s brown’ to transform your space, like any other colour, the environment has to be right in order for this dark hue work its magic.  What are the finishes in your home? What is the light like?  Have you an open or closed plan arrangement and how will this colour tie in with your existing scheme. Look to an area that is utilised less such as an entrance hall or ensuite for example to create impact and see how you feel when you’re in this space.  If it’s a new build, look at finishes; Start with a wooden floor which will introduce nature to your home, this will endure, offer the comfort of familiarity, feel warm and improve with each passing year.  Consider other hard finishes and fittings being mindful of material overuse. What do you wish your space to say about you? If you’re not quite ready for the full immersive experience but wish to sample some of brown’s sensory joy, then consider one or all five ways you can include that.  Small tweaks might include layering your home with warmth and scent by including natural materials. Soften an upright kitchen chair by draping a turf mohair blanket from www.stableofireland.com/collections/irish-blankets-throws/products/turf-mohair-blanket over its back or including a lumbar cushion in herringbone tobacco with contrasting dark brown sheepskin from www.townhousewestport.ie for instant comfort and visual appeal.  Don’t forget bedroom and kitchen linen for instant, added movement from table napkins, tablecloths and cushion covers in varying tones and hues. The Belgian brand www.libecohomestores.eu/en/ supplies home accessories woven in linen by artisans in beautiful, natural, earthy tones and can be found in www.watersandwild.com Glandore. Elevate any morning coffee ritual or simple dining experience with textured small plates and vessels by www.fermoylepottery.ie where the colour and materials really do speak for themselves.

If all else fails and I still haven’t convinced you of brown’s visual and impactful appeal, then try embracing its essence instead and all the seasons of autumn and winter have to offer. Start slowing down as the light begins to fade and the days grow shorter. Burn a candle, breathe in and let the power of scent transport you. #smoulder #homebody www.cleanslate.ie/collections/amber-

 What atmosphere do you wish to create in your home?

 Do you struggle with creating a cohesive colour palette on your project?