A brown living room creates a unique design challenge because too much matching brown furniture, accessories and textiles gives the room a muddy, dark look. Integrate light colors to brighten the space. Depending upon the shade of brown that predominates your living room, different colors can establish a rustic, French country, Japanese, Indonesian, Indian, Moroccan or eco-design decorating scheme. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
1. Consider accent walls. If your brown living room features four walls painted a dark brown, opt to change one of them to a lighter shade. Go with antique white or cream for a classic look. A pale green adds Zen tranquility, while lavender accenting espresso brown has modern cool. A medium brown set against mango orange evokes an Indian palace. Saffron or mustard yellow with brown has French farmhouse style. Add a contrasting color of wall trim by using stencils or by freehand painting flowers, vines or swirls.
2. Invest in a focal point piece of furniture in a lighter, brighter hue. Simple frames with no ornamentation keep the look sleeker. Tray a modern couch with a modular frame and simple cushions in off-white, pale yellow, sage green or popular periwinkle blue. A couple of armchairs in light and bright patterns may not match but may share the same background or accent color. Go shabby chic with a low, round coffee table painted white and distressed with sanding at the edges, or soften the look by using two tufted ottomans in place of a table.
3. Maximize natural light in the room. Keep window treatments minimal or non-existent. Use pale window scarves to merely frame the window, suggesting curtains rather than covering the glass. Alternately, set a thin tension rod halfway down the window, and hang repurposed vintage dish towels or pillow cases as cafe-style curtains. Use translucent cotton fabrics that allow natural light to stream through. Avoid setting any high profile furniture in the path of natural light.
4. Accessorize with light and bright colors. Install a simple floating shelf in a corner or a narrow shelf that extends the length of the wall. and line it with simple white pillar candles for Japanese-inspired wabi-sabi simplicity. Clear and lightly-hued glassware can add sparkle to an otherwise dark brown living room, especially if you flank glasses with artificial or natural lighting.
5. Integrate nature into a brown living room. One of the best sources of light colors is plants. Frame a doorway or window in tall, leafy palms or decorate a sunny spot with an earthenware planter filled with cacti or succulents.
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