If you like a neutral color palette but want a bit more depth added to your natural colors, earth tones are a great way to add a bit more contrast and character to your interior design without being too bold or contrasting.
Earthy colors are easy to combine with each other and with light neutral colors and bright whites, which makes them a perfect color option for a balanced interior. Earth tones add warmth, can easily be combined together, and go very well with beiges, white and natural materials with yellow undertones. An earthy color palette in your accessories can do wonders to an otherwise minimal interior and can elevate the look to a new level.
Earthy tones in the living space
This beautiful small apartment in Sweden is rather small, yet has a great living space with a sofa area, dining area, and even a small spot for working from home. The sheer warm beige curtains* set the stage for this look as it warms up the daylight coming in from the windows.
The earth tones combine really nicely with the curtains and even though different shades are picked for different elements, these complementary colors give a very coherent look to this space.
Earthy colors in the sofa area
The white Ikea sofa with a Bemz custom linen cover* is decorated with throw pillows in neutral tones and an art print with burnt orange details. The warm cream area rug adds a lot of texture to the sofa area and visually separates the sofa from the rest of the space.
When working with earthy color palettes, it’s easiest to pick out the main furniture in modest colors so that the earth tones stand out in an optimal way. Beiges and white are great choices, while as cool tones and vibrant colors are more difficult to combine earth tones with.
The green leaf plants in both the window and on the side table add a touch of color from the opposite side of the color wheel, which is why they stand out so much among the eathy colors in the accessories and plant pots.
earth tone art prints and bentwood dining chairs
The earth tone color palette continues in the prints at the dining table where chocolate brown elements are mixed up with the contrasting black bentwood chairs and a white linen tablecloth*. The warm colors in the art prints add depth to the white walls and they turn the dining table into its own area in the space.
A home office spot with earth-tone art prints and accessories
On the other side of the room, you can find a small home office spot, with a grey desk and office chair combined with a warm beige flowerpot desk lamp (€239* – $600*), beige accessories, and skin tones in the art prints on the wall.
The dark wooden bench in the corner fits so well in this setting with a mixture of three different kinds of wood. While this area of the space doesn’t work with the obvious earth tones like in the rest of the space, it does have a more subtle palette that goes with the cool grays in the furniture.
A niche bedroom where the earth tone color palette is continued
Since the niche bedroom is visible from the living space and everything is planned in an open way, it’s a very natural design decision to also include earth tones in the bedroom area.
The art print, throw pillow, and lamp complement the color palette of the living area and since this bedroom doesn’t have any natural light coming in, it was a smart decision to place a mirror next to the bed that reflects the light coming in.
Other earth-tone color schemes to take inspiration from
In this beautiful apartment, a mix of brown, beiges, and earth tones has a similar effect in both the bedroom and living room, while as in this apartment, the earth tones come back mostly in the throw pillows and smaller accessories, which can also have a nice effect in the space.
An earth tone color palette can be as minimal or elaborate as you think might fit and if you’re unsure if earth colors would match your interior style, the easiest way to start is by changing out an art print or throw pillow, as it will easily give you an idea of the effect of the color palette in your space.
via Alvhem
