Brown hues are making a comeback:
modern meets cosy
Illustration: Blörn Steinmetzler, Vereinigung Deutsche Sanitärwirtschaft e.V. (VDS)
Photo: Villeroy & Boch
The bathroom increasingly feels like cosy living space and on-trend
colours like petrol or ultraviolet can be used to reinforce that impression. But
interior designers tend to favour natural colours, which are both warmer and
more neutral – the kind of colours that are mainly found in the
palette of brown and sand hues. However, the new shades of brown
have nothing to do with the old familiar colour known as Bahama Beige – on the
contrary: the browns available nowadays add up to a thoroughly modern world of
colour. Because similarly to grey, there’s just one simple rule: anything goes –
as long as it’s not boring or devoid of nuance. The secret lies in the subtle tints
and shades. Brown can contain hints of mud, clay or terracotta, olive, bronze or
rust, pine forest or cedarwood, powder or taupe – the possibilities are endless.
There are two main options for interpreting brown in a contemporary way:
either as a colour spectrum inspired by nature, often used in combination with
natural materials to create a harmonious colour space, or as an artistic
reference to historic styles. Matt surfaces are a popular choice for
underscoring the fresh, natural look. And when it comes to materials, wood
tops the list of frontrunners for creating a bathroom with a snug feel. Whether
it’s used for the wall, the countertops or the floor, there’s a perennial
favourite for conjuring up a pleasant, feel-good atmosphere: oak, preferably
with a finish that reflects the current trend towards a light ambience. On the
other hand, elegant arrangements featuring darker wood hues from cognac all the
way to bog oak are coming in again, especially among the avant garde. In this
case, the brown colour scale is used in an emphatically upmarket way to add a
hint of art deco and luxury to the modernist bathroom.
No matter what style is preferred, however, the question as to which
materials to use is often resolved by means of simulation: shower trays, floor
tiles or splashbacks printed to look like wood and countertops made of
composites skilfully imitate nature and combine it with the positive material
properties of the established product canon. Up-to-the-minute brown hues can transform
any bathroom into a lifestyle space, especially when combined with suitable
accessories in complementary accent colours – like the petrol shade mentioned
above, turquoise, orange, a beige-tinted dusky pink (or Millennial Pink as it’s
now called), ultraviolet or the odd dash of mustard, which looks great with
olive and brown shades.
