Making it Lovely

Tag: brown

  • Mustard, Copper, Toffee

    Mustard, Copper, Toffee

    This is a mix of favorites (I own eight of the dozen below) and things at the top of my wish list. It just so happens everything I want to surround myself with these days is either pink (my forever favorite), or something in this mustard, copper, or toffee area.

    Mustard, Copper, and Toffee
    1. Short-Sleeve Wrap Dress (Rich Gold), J. Crew
      Also comes in pink, navy, and black. I’ll be ordering once I can make up my mind on a color.
    2. Burnt Sienna Bandana, Madewell
      So cute, and only $12.50.
    3. Fan Statement Earrings (Sand Dune), J. Crew
      I have too many similar earrings, but am mighty tempted to add these too because hey, I don’t have them in this color yet.
    4. Camel Hair Percale Sheets, CB2
      I pair these sheets with bedding in white or various shades of pink.
    5. Tasseled Door Decoration (Rose), Anthropologie
      Also comes in a gold color and I have both because I just stick random tassels all over my house.
    6. Allegheny Sconce, Schoolhouse Electric
      Everything about this looks yummy and perfect.
    7. Ten Over Ten Nail Polish (Cliff), Target
      On my nails right now, and every time I catch a glimpse it makes me happy.
    8. Basketweave Throw (Copper), West Elm
      This color against my teal sofa is so good. Super soft and cozy!
    9. Avianna Mules (Mustard), Target
      I have these in the ‘mustard’ and ‘bone’ colors, and will wear them both to death.
    10. Rose Gold Razor, Oui Shave
      Anybody have one? I ended up buying a Harry’s razor last year (they’re marketed toward men, though now they’ve launched Flamingo to sell to women) because it looked OK, but this is especially lovely.
    11. Strong Flesh Lipstick (Prime), Ulta Beauty
      I tried it on a whim, looking for a peachy/brown/rose elusive “nude but better”, and it’s now my favorite lipstick.
    12. Textured Tunic Sweater, LOFT
      I reach for this sweater often and it’s held up to many machine washes beautifully.

  • Brown is Back

    Brown is Back

    Can I just tell you how excited I am that brown is making a comeback in interiors? Of course nobody just calls it “brown.” It’s leather, saddle, mocha, toffee, caramel, whatever… but brown is back.

    Gray is fine (we loved our gray bedroom), but it has been everywhere for the past decade. Beige is coming back too, and all white is still all over the place. I liked white for our last kitchen, and of course I love a dark, dramatic wall color like our living room’s black walls, but before I ever had black walls, I had chocolate brown.

    Home Library, Brown Walls, White IKEA Billy Bookshelves | Making it Lovely

    I mean, this is coming from the Pink Loves Brown girl, so you know I have a soft spot for the color. I had even considered brown for the hallways we’re working on instead of pink, but between the unpainted woodwork of the first floor and the new antelope print stair runners to come, the color is well-represented.

    Loloi Anastasia Rug in Making it Lovely's Home Library

    Working with all of the oak here has been a challenge. I have no doubt that our house would be beautiful with everything painted, but finding colors to complement the woodwork is a process that I’m enjoying and I’m finding inspiration in the various ways brown is being used these days.

    Here are some exceptional examples I’ve seen lately. The cool brown colorway of the Tourbillon wallpaper we chose in pink for the second floor.

    Cool Brown Farrow & Ball Tourbillon Wallpaper

    Paneled walls painted white with a bit of brown peeking out from the top.

    White Paneled Wooden Staircase

    A nuanced brown with green undertones.

    Green-Tinged Brown Walls

    Traditional wood paneling is classically beautiful.

    Wood Paneled Walls

    And one of my favorites, the home of Naomi Watts and Liev Schreiber (now separated).

    Naomi Watts at Home

    Are you noticing it too? Are you on board?

  • Welcome to the Brown Room

    Welcome to the Brown Room

    Where everything is a lovely shade of brown! Or cream! This room is very much in progress, and it has a long way to go still.

    Brown Town

    The couch is super-comfy, so no regrets there on choosing the IKEA Kivik, though it could use a throw and more than a single, sad pillow. The room is open to our bedroom, so I picked a brown that would work well with our brown upholstered bed. I wasn’t feeling the gray options, didn’t want white, and the only other colors at IKEA were red and purple.

    Add a bunch of wood trim and wooden furniture though, and YAWN.

    Room in Progress

    I like the Hemnes bookshelves in the room, and the Blake media console (that I picked up at the C&B outlet for half off) looks great. The Eames chair looks kind of lonely and out of scale against the wall right now, but I think it will look good in the room once everything comes together a bit more.

    Everything else though? It’s just kind of there. The sofa is floating in the middle of the room because I’m playing with the idea of putting a console or low bookshelf behind it for the kids’ toys. The rug was in the nursery, in the last house, and it’s a little small here. The coffee and end tables are OK, but only OK. The brown glider (also formerly in the nursery) is definitely not staying there, and it’s blocking a toy table which is weirdly shoved in a corner of the room.

    Room in Progress

    The room definitely needs paint, and curtains. That, plus art, will go a long way toward helping the room look better, but they won’t fix everything.

    Hello, embarrassment! Brandon informed me that I originally titled this post with a gross sexual term. Awesome. So yeah, I edited that out. WHOOPS.

  • Skinny Scarves

    Skinny Scarves

    These would be pretty in one’s hair. (In pink or brown.)