Skip to content

Top Navigation

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Home
  • Garden
  • Holidays
  • Videos
  • current issue
  • Sweepstakes
  • Road Rally

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Midwest Living

Midwest Living Midwest Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 14 Fresh Places to Eat, Drink, Play & Stay This Summer

      14 Fresh Places to Eat, Drink, Play & Stay This Summer

      Hot off the minds of Midwest travel writers: a fresh look at where to eat, drink, play and stay around the region. Read More
    • Out Now: Best of the Midwest 2022

      Out Now: Best of the Midwest 2022

      Find your summer adventure with our new bookazine, available now in the magazine store! Read More
    • This Family's Garden Farm is a Nature-Filled Paradise

      This Family's Garden Farm is a Nature-Filled Paradise

      On land passed down through generations, a Wisconsin family experiences—and shares—the glory of gardening. Read More
  • Travel

    Travel

    See All Travel
    Urban-Pop Art, a New Boutique Hotel and More—Here's What to See and Do in Fort Wayne Right Now

    Urban-Pop Art, a New Boutique Hotel and More—Here's What to See and Do in Fort Wayne Right Now

    On a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana, catch a colorful wave of fresh development, plus a new hotel from the cofounder of Vera Bradley.
    • Weekend Getaways
    • Family Travel
    • Around the Region
    • Beyond the Region
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Michigan
    • Minnesota
    • Missouri
    • Nebraska
    • North Dakota
    • Ohio
    • South Dakota
    • Wisconsin
    • Free Travel Info
  • Food

    Food

    See All Food
    Mango Toast with Prosciutto

    Mango Toast with Prosciutto

    • Comfort Foods
    • Desserts & Baking
    • Breakfast
    • Quick & Easy
    • Chicken
    • Soups & Stews
    • Midwest Favorites
    • Fruits & Vegetables
    • Fish
    • Grilling
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    5 Clever Tips for Repurposing a Potting Bench as a Bar Cart 

    5 Clever Tips for Repurposing a Potting Bench as a Bar Cart 

    With smart accessorizing, a potting bench becomes a celebration station for summer soirees.
    • Quick Decorating
    • Featured Homes
    • Organizing & Storage
    • Outdoor Living
    • Seasonal Decorating
    • Room Decorating
  • Garden

    Garden

    See All Garden
    Expert Tips for Growing a Window Box Garden

    Expert Tips for Growing a Window Box Garden

    Casey Lawrence’s lush window boxes were a revelation to her online followers. Use her tips to grow your own.
    • Container Gardens
    • Flowers
    • Featured Gardens
    • Midwest Gardening Calendar
    • Garden Ideas & Inspiration
  • Holidays

    Holidays

    See All Holidays
    Festive 4th of July Dessert Recipes

    Festive 4th of July Dessert Recipes

    Get out your red, white and blue for these patriotic dessert recipes.
    • Easter
    • July 4th
    • Thanksgiving
    • Halloween
    • Christmas
    • Valentine's Day
  • Videos

    Videos

    See All Videos
    These DIY Orange Beeswax Candles Will Make Your Home Smell Amazing

    These DIY Orange Beeswax Candles Will Make Your Home Smell Amazing

    Don't toss those orange peels! Instead, use them as vessels for our super-simple and fragrant candles.
    • Brighten Your Front Door with This Colorful Easter Egg Wreath
    • These DIY Orange Beeswax Candles Will Make Your Home Smell Amazing
    • Ring in the New Year with This Glam Star Garland
    • How to Make a Modern Fruit Cake Box
    • An Eye-Catching Oval Treat Box You Can Make
    • Make a Colorful Paper Raffia Wreath to Welcome Fall
    • How to Make a Dried Floral Arrangement
    • How to Make an Easy Pina Colada
    • How to Make an Amazing Pavlova
    • How to Make Pumpkin-Spice Icebox Cake
    • How to Make an All-Butter Pie Crust
  • current issue

    current issue

    See All current issue
    Midwest Living's Best of the Midwest Winners 2022

    Midwest Living's Best of the Midwest Winners 2022

    • March/April 2022 Issue
    • January/February 2022 Issue
    • November/December 2021 Issue
    • September/October 2021 Issue
    • July/August 2021 Issue
    • May/June 2021 Issue
    • Summer 2022 Issue
  • Sweepstakes
  • Road Rally

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Newsletters
  • Email Preferences
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Help
  • Logout

More

  • Win Your Dream Getaway!
  • Give a Gift Subscription
  • Magazine Issues
  • Destinations
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Midwest Living
  2. Homes
  3. Decorating Ideas
  4. Decorating with Brown

Decorating with Brown

By By Carol Schalla January 02, 2013
Skip gallery slides
Pin
More about decorating with colors
Brown's neutral, earthy tones give rooms a familiar and comfortable feel. See how you can use brown paint in rooms throughout your home.
Start Slideshow

1 of 8

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Add an accent

Add an accent

In this Indiana home, one accent wall in brown (Glidden 2107-20 Mocha Brown) provides an earthy foil to the red and gold accents, as well as a visual link to the roughhewn wood beams in the adjoining space.

1 of 8

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 8

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Coordinate with wood

Coordinate with wood

Brown harmonizes well with stained wood furniture. In this Indiana dining room, the rich dark coffee bean brown walls (Glidden 196 Stewart House Brown) and wood floors are relieved with blocks of light cream in the drapes, seating and accessories.  The choice of just these two high-contrast colors adds drama to the room.

2 of 8

3 of 8

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Define white

Define white

Brown (Glidden 2107-20 Mocha Brown) is a great choice for highlighting white trim and other light accents. In this back entry, brown gives crisp definition to the architecture.

3 of 8

Advertisement

4 of 8

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Comfort with warm brown

Comfort with warm brown

This warm wall color (Benjamin Moore 2096-30 Chocolate Truffle) will be even more comforting by lamplight at night when the owners are heading to bed. Yet it is also the perfect sophisticated foil for the black and cream accents that give exotic style to the room.

4 of 8

5 of 8

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Spice up small spaces

Spice up small spaces

Most homeowners paint small rooms a light color so the rooms appear larger. But if the room is to be used for quiet pursuits, such as this Chicago-area home office, a dark brown (Benjamin Moore AF-170 French Press) offers a calming, cocooning effect. A window and large pieces of white-matted art break up the deep color.

5 of 8

6 of 8

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Paint a ceiling

Paint a ceiling

Visually lower a high ceiling with a dark color. The chocolate brown ceiling in this dining area warms the room and helps coordinate the colors of artwork and upholstery fabric.

6 of 8

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 8

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

Offset strong colors

Offset strong colors

The gray-influenced brown (Benjamin Moore AF-720 Sparrow) acts as a great midtone neutral in this modern room and subdues the impact of the strong black and red accent pieces.

7 of 8

8 of 8

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

More about decorating with colors

More about decorating with colors

See a color you like? Most home improvement stores are happy to mix colors if you show them a picture or a fabric sample you're trying to match. They're also usually able to match discontinued colors. Remember that colors can look different depending on factors such as light and the size of your room-plus colors can look different on a computer screen or a printed sample. Always buy a small container first and try the shade out before painting the entire room. Get more color inspiration by browsing any of our slideshows below.

8 of 8

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By By Carol Schalla

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 8 Add an accent
    2 of 8 Coordinate with wood
    3 of 8 Define white
    4 of 8 Comfort with warm brown
    5 of 8 Spice up small spaces
    6 of 8 Paint a ceiling
    7 of 8 Offset strong colors
    8 of 8 More about decorating with colors

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Midwest Living

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Contact Us
    • Help
    • Free Newsletters this link opens in a new tab
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Renew this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise this link opens in a new tab
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Affiliate Program
    • Free Travel Info this link opens in a new tab
    • Special Promotions this link opens in a new tab
    • Sweepstakes this link opens in a new tab
    • Video
    • Home Advisor this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    Sign Up
    MeredithMidwest Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Midwest Living. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.midwestliving.com

    Sign in

    View image

    Decorating with Brown
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.