How To Make The Most of Earth Tones in Your Home

When it comes to earth tones, I find folks fall into two distinct groups. Those who love them and those who do not, especially when it comes to interiors. Personally, I love a good earth tone moment as I find them soothing and comfortable, but embracing earthy palettes doesn’t mean that your home can only be filled with dull, muted tones. The key to playing with these colours is using them in unexpected ways and utilizing the personality that is already there. Today I want to explore what it means to embrace earth tones and how to create a space that is engaging and comfortable without making it entirely brown and beige.

Recognize your base 

When it comes to creating a space it is no secret that your wall colour will play a role in how the room will turn out. As a renter I think about our white walls a lot, knowing that walls this colour often make rooms feel bigger, but usually only when there are items on them like art. Otherwise, your eye has no sense of scale and they can make the room look smaller. White is more reflective to light and therefore allows for the flexibility to use contrast and darker pieces of furniture to the advantage of the renter. I love the white in my home because it has a very slight yellow undertone which helps the room feel more alive instead of sterile and lifeless, like a blue undertone white may feel. Getting a clear idea of your base gives you a sense of direction when creating a room, especially one with earth tones as you’ll be using the undertone to dictate what colours will go best in your space.

Create a palette with two layers 

Now this may sound controversial but when I create palettes I like to include colours that are represented by both the furniture and the finishes, so I get a clearer idea of how colour will balance out in the room. For example, if I plan to have wood finishes I try to pull swatches that represent those colours so they’re captured. I would also include the base colour of the walls as layer one since it is also a base layer, showing me what the root of the look will be. The second layer is for the colours that you will use thoughtfully and sparingly as they are a little more vivid and present. For example, our green couch colour would qualify as a layer 2 palette because it is a colour that is only reflected in the room by one piece of furniture and arguably the plants. This kind of layering is essential with earth tones because, like working with any monochromatic palette, it gives you a sense of what colours add value to each other and work cohesively vs. ones that may clash and create friction in your calm space.

Furniture shape and finishes matter

Though earth tones are known to be boring, you have the opportunity to select finishes and furniture that have personality, even in a muted palette. For example, these two small side tables doubling as our coffee table are some of my favourites because they have unique woodgrains that don’t necessarily match aesthetically but because of the variations in the taller table you can see flecks of dark brown in the grain that make the shorter one more appropriate. Mismatching wood finishes, like colour undertones in your paint, help to keep your room looking cohesive and intentional and not like things are competing for your attention. Working in this palette will also often cause your eye to expect more rounded, organic shapes. Because of this, I usually go for furniture with rounded, smoother edges, as it still creates contrast but makes the furniture seem related. Our furniture often doesn’t match but their round edges and curved lines make them feel like they’re within the same world without being identical.

Remember light 

Lastly, your lighting means everything when it comes to working with earth tones, because depending on your palette you may need a lot of lighting or only a little. If you have several darker pieces and high texture finishes in muted tones, having more light will make the texture stand out in an eye-catching way, while if you have a large number of bright, smooth finish pieces, adding light may only make the room brighter when you need something to ground it. Placement also has a huge effect so keep a close eye, especially at night to see where you wish a part of the room was a little brighter, as this can often dictate where your lighting should be. Here we’ve opted to have the floor lamp over the reading chair as this is a central location that will illuminate most of our furniture in the space while still being functional for those cozy reading moments. 

Find balance & harmony in your palette 

I’ll admit that the eye for balance in a room takes time to cultivate but the easiest thing to remember is that there shouldn’t be too much of one thing and to think of your room like a scale. If you have too many dark colours in the same room everything will blend and look blah, but breaking up colour with more vivid options can make the room seem more harmonious. Likewise, if all of your darker colours are on one side of the room, and lighter colours on the other, you’ll find that your eye is always drawn to the darker colours because they create more contrast. All to say, take the time to evaluate not just the placement of your furniture but how they are talking together in the room. Sometimes I like to look away and look back to see where my eye lands, or even take a picture of the space to see where in the room my gaze is drawn.

All in all earth tones, like all colours, require tact and intention to succeed in a space, so next time you’re intrigued by a more muted palette, take the time to build out what the room could be and if a calm, tranquil space is right for you.

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