Teak, walnut and mahogany have fallen back in favour. Is dark wood making a comeback? 'After many years of lighter-coloured, Scandinavian-inspired woods dominating home trends, darker, more traditional woods – like teak, walnut, and mahogany – have fallen back in favour,' says Etsy's trend expert, Dayna Isom Johnson.
Along with mid-century-inspired curved furniture, the brown tones of this period are also poised to make a major comeback in 2023. This natural color—particularly its darker varieties—creates a sense of earthy stability, says Claire Druga, an interior designer based in New York City.
This may be a surprise to many, but we are expecting more dark wood tones to pop up in homes in 2023! Last year we saw a lot of DIY bleached furniture and light wood floors.
Brown wood furniture is a hot trend in 2023 for many because it evokes a new sense of warm and security. It also brings the often-fleeting, natural world into our homes. This is especially appealing in these uncertain times. If you love brown wood and its lustrous quality already, I don't need to say anything more.
Dark wood tones have nearly been forgotten over the last decade as light wood tones took over homes. Dark wood exudes a rich look and feel and has many benefits over light wood tones. We're expecting dark wood tones to make a comeback as more traditional designs begin to pop back up.
Shades of Light
Light wood finishes are trending all over the place and look exceptional when teamed up with darker colors like black and navy. We love the stylish golden wood finish on this table by Tiffany Duckenfield who paired it the stark black chairs giving it a sleek modern sophisticated look.
It's time so-called 'brown furniture' had a renaissance. Falsely labelled as dated, dark and hulking, dark wooden pieces from the late Georgian period onwards are beautifully made and can be picked up from local auctions for a song.
Pair wood furniture with painted pieces.
You can either space out the set throughout other rooms, or hand unwanted pieces down to someone else. Then balance the dark wood by choosing painted or metal finishes for other bedroom furniture pieces.
Somewhere around the 70s, we started to turn on this furniture. The forward-thinking Mid Century Modern approach quickly made traditional antique furniture look tired and dated. Luckily, trends are always cyclical, and the brown furniture renaissance is finally here.
First, paint walls a pale neutral, then choose artwork, accessories, and accent furniture in lighter or colorful hues to balance the darkness of the furniture. Light gray walls, white trim, and cream-colored accents keep the couch from feeling too heavy.
Though nature still continues to inspire color trends into 2023, Pressman interestingly points out there's increasing interest in "more earthbound natural shades linked to craft." In particular, shades of warm brown that are reminiscent of different types of woods, minerals, and even jewels.
Warm and Calming Neutrals
“In the living room, we are seeing warm, calming blues, peach-pinks, and sophisticated neutrals like sable, mushroom, and ecru—these are really catching my eye for 2023,” she says.
If you want timeless furniture, go for a timeless color. Yes, a color! A blue, yellow, or black sofa will be a lot more timeless than the popular gray. The gray sofas of today are just the brown leather sofas of 10 years ago.
Here, designers, decorators, and color experts reveal why beige is replacing gray for 2023, and how to decorate with beige for a beautiful scheme every time.
"People have been drawn to nature-inspired and earthy tones the past couple years, and this is something that will continue into 2023 and beyond," says Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams. "Greens, blues, and browns can make any space feel safe, calming, and grounded yet still energized."
Digital Lavender, Luscious Red, Sundial, Tranquil Blue and Verdigris are the color names for 2023. Who chooses the names of the new colors? Names are selected by the WGSN and Coloro color team, before being verified by our in-house Equality Vision Team to ensure a proper translation on a global scale.
Its associations with the earth: the calming and resilient element that keeps us quite literally grounded. So perhaps it's no surprise that after two whole years of pandemic uncertainty, brown is seeing a massive resurgence in home decor and interior design.
Brown is a versatile choice for living room or dining room furniture, as it can take on many different moods. Depending on what it is paired with, a room anchored by brown upholstery or wood can be warm and enveloping, earthy and natural, elegant and sophisticated, or full-on glam.
Is Dark Wood Furniture Out of Style? While recent trends have steered towards light and bright rooms, dark wood furniture still has its place in modern design. The key is to balance dark furniture with contrasting flooring, bright colors, and plenty of light fixtures to keep your room from feeling dark or crowded.
From earthy shades to rich caramel hues, brown is a go-to neutral for decorating in 2023. As color trends shift away from the cool grays and whites that have dominated the past decade, warmer shades are at home once again—and one cozy color is making a comeback.
My first tip for working with dark wood furniture is to use tones (paint, bedding, pillows, artwork, curtains, etc.) that compliment the wood tone – usually warm, neutral colors. In this design, I painted the walls BM Revere Pewter – a warm gray.
Generally speaking, lighter colors work best for modern designs while darker colors complement traditional and rustic atmospheres. However, you can always mix and match your wood color to achieve the perfect design. Keep in mind that undertones also influence the feel of a room.