HOW TO USE EARTHY TONES TO CREATE A COSY HOME

It’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the chaos the world can throw at us sometimes. However, a great way to counteract this psychologically is to ground yourself with your home interiors. Implementing the natural essence of earthy tones can positively impact your space,  helping to create a calming yet uplifting ambience that soothes your mindset.

Whether this means rethinking your colour scheme, choosing furniture that encourages an earthy, calming flow, or considering the strengths of biophilic design, the opportunities to evoke cosiness in your interior design are limitless.

We explore how you can help nurture your environment with earthy tones to create the ideal cosy home.

Essentially, earthy colours are the ones we experience in nature. Whether deep browny reds, greens, or sandy to burnt oranges, there are numerous earthy colour schemes to choose from that range from warm tones to cool accents. Before creating your cosy environment, familiarise yourself with the earthy colours at your disposal. Earth-tone colours encapsulate a broad palette, allowing you to personalise and fine-tune the mood of your setting. 

Whether experimenting with light, layered, or textured materials, the wide variety of earth tones to accomplish your cosy home is liberating. If you ever get stuck for inspiration, simply stroll outside and seep in the colours at your disposal. Also, try implementing a bit of this natural world into your home through the organic positivity of biophilic design.

It’s perhaps no surprise that cosiness can be accomplished by incorporating earth colours into your furniture. One of the advantages of embedding earthy tones is that they don’t go out of style due to their predominately neutral colour scheme.

Consider emulating the colours of the outdoors to establish a sense of cosy in your interiors. Due to the compatibility of earth colours, these tones can easily be balanced with more vivid colours if desired.

Select textured furniture that represents your idyllic exterior. Distressed wooden tables, for example, would work wonders to develop that classic cosy feel. So would well-chosen antique furniture, including tastefully appointed upholstery sofas. Cosiness means comfort, so keep this in mind when choosing the right furniture to match your earthy tones interior design.

For most of us, strategically using earthy tones to create the ultimate bedroom sanctuary would be a dream come true. The soothing accents of the great outdoors would surely provide the ideal environment for a restful night’s sleep.

An earth-tone bedroom should therefore be a place inspired by the natural exterior environment and its calming consistency. Choose a bed and cupboards made of natural materials, and complement these with bedding that matches the tones of nature. Texture, once again, is a great way to create cosiness, and you can’t go wrong with a variety of beiges to express an earthy aesthetic. However, don’t dismiss the power of darker earthy tones too, which can be carefully balanced with the light for equally stunning results.

An earth-tone living room should be a haven for relaxing positivity. Invite the outdoors in by ensuring window frames are fully exposed to encourage the benefits of natural light in your home. 

Once again, carefully consider your furniture options by opting for earth tones and comfort over aesthetic pretension. You can continue the earth theme of your bedroom or opt for something a little more adventurous to create a unique point of difference. 

If you’re lucky enough to have an open fireplace, capitalise on its cosiness by ensuring it becomes the focal point of your space over the customary flatscreen TV. You may be surprised how quickly your ambience will be positively influenced by simply removing electronic technology from this space.  After all, these don’t exist in nature, so why should they intrude on your natural, cosy home environment?

Arguably as restful as the bedroom, the earth-tone bathroom has the added benefit of working with the soothing, impactful element of water. An ideal earthy bathroom would recreate some of the natural outside world through carefully chosen fixtures and fittings that mimic nature.

Consider a natural granite stone basin in either black basalt or sesame grey to bring stunning texture to your bathroom. If you’d prefer a calmer colour to increase the cosiness, you could opt for a solid surface basin sink in almond or posy.

You can’t go wrong with a stunning clawfoot freestanding bath for the focal point of your earthy bathroom. For tapware, choose earthy colours like brushed copper or brushed brass — just ensure they are pleasingly consistent.

For further cosy home inspiration, explore our blog, ‘Cottagecore: Your Guide to Achieving the Look.’