The Art of Balancing Wood Tones in Your Home

One of the most frequent design dilemmas that we help our clients resolve is working with the dominant wood tones in their homes. In particular, wood species that seem to have yellow, orange, or red tones.

It just so happens that the art of balancing wood tones in your home is one of the skills that our team is particularly talented at achieving. 

There is a natural tendency for many homeowners to select furnishings or color schemes that mirror the color tones in the dominant wood in their home. Yet, furnishings, rugs, art, and layers in similar warm tones tend to bring out even more orange tones than might be desired.  

As a result, clients end up feeling stuck to a particular color palette and held hostage by the natural wood that graces their homes. Luckily, that is not true, and you are not stuck!

The trick to creating timeless interiors is to know how to balance out the warm and cool colors in your home to provide a feeling of balance and calm. Last week, we worked with clients that perfectly illustrated the art of balancing the warm with the cool. Take a moment to look below at the before (infused with warm tones) and the after (balanced with cool tones.) 

I couldn't get over the difference when I saw this before and after photo. Not too warm, not too cool...balanced just right.

When a home is infused with too many warm tones, it can make a home feel closed in or drab. Too many cool colors can make a space feel cold and unfriendly. Instead, it's best to have a mix of warm and cool colors throughout your home to provide a feeling of balance and serenity.  

This looks like an entirely different house, doesn't it?  

We didn't have to change the flooring, trim, or paint to achieve an entirely different look in the home. We removed the browns, reds, and orange tones that dominated the room and made it feel a bit dark and drab. Instead, we added lush, cozy textures, taupes, greys, blacks, cremes, and some light brown tones to balance the existing warm tones.

Our clients wanted the home to feel cozy, which means adding lots of textures and layers. The natural ottomans above exude warmth through texture rather than color. The area rug also made a massive difference in both the living room and the eat-in kitchen.

We also added a light wood rectangle dining table to better fit the space as well as upholstered chairs that are as comfortable as they look. Lovely, isn't it?  

Our client's home office needed a little love as well. His office furniture was dark, and we decided to remove the pops of red in the artwork and pillows that coordinated with their former living room. Just a few touches like rearranging the furniture, adding the neutral suede chairs and the cool-toned artwork made all the difference in the world!

In many ways, your home design is a balancing act. All of us are a little different in our tastes and styles. Some of us lean toward the warm and others the cool. But just like anything else, too much of one thing...might be too much!

Never fear, we have a team of stylists at your disposal to help you with all your design dilemmas. Our goal is to help you get unstuck and create a home that speaks to you in the best of ways. You don't have to rip everything out and start from scratch to create a new view in your home.   

I promise you'll be inspired!