If you’re tired of the plain colors in your apartment, you might be desperate to try something new. This is especially true for the millennial generation trying desperately to break free of the millennial beige they are known for.
It’s not always easy to tell if two colors go together. What seems right in your head may actually be a mess in real life, or you can’t quite match up the tones you want. Thankfully, if you’re wondering “do brown and blue go together”, this article is here to show you that they indeed work well together.
Do Brown and Blue Go Together?
If you’re a millennial and tired of beige dominating your living spaces, introducing new colors can go a long way in reviving a boring, drab place. Thankfully, brown is a good stepping stone from beige and it allows you to add other colors. Blue is one color that goes really well with brown, as do other earth tones like green.
Blue And Brown Color Scheme for Living Room
Now you know the colors go together, but that’s not all you need to know. How much brown and blue do you need? What shades go better together? For those questions, images work best. Check out these 13 Pinterest images for the best inspiration.
1. Keep it Neutral
Image source: Pinterest
If you are taking your first step into colors in your home, you don’t want to start with bright and bold colors. This brown and blue combo takes just a step away from beige on the walls and adds a more neutral and natural blue.
The blue and brown are carried throughout the whole living room, from the couch to the picture on the wall. Because the colors are muted, you don’t have to worry about adding too much of either color. The brown wall creates a perfect backdrop for as many blue items as you want, and you can still add brown in small decorations like the smaller pictures on the couch.
2. Add Different Shades
Image source: Pinterest
You don’t have to stick with just one or two shades of blue and brown in your living room. Find shades and tones that go well together and mix and match to your heart’s delight.
You can see here in this picture that there are a few different shades of brown. You have the rich brown of the couch, coffee table, and wood on the chairs. This also connects to the brown in the picture frames.
The brown of the pillows is just a shade lighter than the rest. Then, you have more of a beige or light brown color on the walls and rug. As for the blue, most of it is a muted blue, from the chairs to the pillows, but there are hints of a deeper blue in the smaller decorative pillows that still match well with the rest of the room.
3. Add Other Colors
Image source: Pinterest
Because brown is a neutral color, there’s no reason you have to stick to blue. You can use blue as the main accent color but don’t forget to add hints of other colors throughout the room as well. In this picture, they use all sorts of colors, including yellow, purple, and red.
A fun trick is to find something you really like, such as a decorative pillow, chair, or an abstract picture that you want in your living room. Then, pull out the colors in the picture and tie them into the rest of the room.
For example, if you have the chair in the image above, use mostly a matching brown and blue, and then add hints of yellow and red as other decorative pillows, blankets, or trinkets spread out throughout the room to tie it all in together.
4. Add Gold
Image source: Pinterest
Not sure about adding tons of different colors? Take it just a little step further with gold. Gold has hints of browns and yellows that go well with a rich brown. Find pillows with hints of gold within the brown and blue decoration to add just a bit more flair.
It’s not hard to find decorations with a bit of a yellow or gold tone to them. Brown, blue, and gold go quite well together and look quite nice. You may even be able to find a nice painting or pillow and use that to decide what shade of gold you want throughout the rest of your room.
5. Make the Rug the Focal Point
Image source: Pinterest
Rugs are often used to tie in colors but aren’t always used as the main attraction of the room. If you’re hesitant about picking out bold pictures or pillows, consider finding a bold rug instead. If you pick one with elements of your two main colors, you can use it to decide what colors your couch, wall, and decorations need to be.
If the rug ends up being too bold, it’s easy to hide it more to mute the pattern. Instead of leaving it in the center of the room, place it under a coffee table or partially under the couch to reduce how much space it takes up and to break up the pattern some.
6. Have Your Furniture Be Bold
Image source: Pinterest
A great option is to use neutral walls and flooring, like the gray-brown color you see in this picture. This sets up the rest of your living room to be any color you want. If you get bored of browns and blues in the future, you just need couch covers and a new rug instead of a whole new paint job.
It also gives you room to be bolder with your decorative choices. Instead of having to try and tie in the wall color, just go bold. Use various shades of blue, from green-blues to rich dark blues. Tie in browns with different shades of brown, like in the rug where there are deep browns, pale beige, and even bright yellows.
7. Let Blues Catch the Eye
Image source: Pinterest
Do you already have a fairly neutral brown color in your home? If you don’t want to do a complete redo, consider just adding a deep blue. This dark blue works to bring bold color to the room and change up the space.
You don’t need a lot of color, either. Just add some decorative pillows, a few paintings on the wall, and maybe a figurine or vase on the table in your chosen shade of blue and it changes up the whole space.
8. Accentuate Your Leather Couch
Image source: Pinterest
Did you inherit a big, brown leather couch? Even if you love it, these leather couches draw the attention of everyone that enters the room. You can’t change up the color and adding a couch cover only hides the beautiful leather.
There’s no need to fight with the leather. The natural shade of leather goes perfectly with all different shades of blue, from a paler, more muted shade to a deeper ocean blue. If you still want a little more color, find hints of gold to throw in as well, or muted reds and purples.
9. Go Fully Blue
Image source: Pinterest
Instead of having brown being your wall and floor color, change it up and use shades of blue. A gray-blue on the floor and a solid dark blue on the wall make for the perfect backdrop for other shades of blue, dark wood furniture, and a brown couch.
If you like this picture and want to recreate the colors in your own home, the picture even offers a handy color guide of the various shades they used for easy matching. Follow it closely, or use it as a base and deviate with a few more bold decorations to better suit your personal tastes.
10. Feeling a Little Green
Image source: Pinterest
You don’t have to stay with wholly blue colors to match it with brown. Blue-greens and teals also work quite well with browns. If you want a more natural and earthy look, focus on natural brown colors as you get from wood, and then add various shades of blue, green, and all the colors in the middle.
This picture doesn’t show the whole living room but gives inspiration on the colors and types of furniture to use. They even provide a handy color guide at the top right. To get the most out of this color scheme, focus on only natural browns. Use real wood tables, wicker baskets, and simple patterns on your blankets and pillows.
11. Fill the Space With Patterns
Image source: Pinterest
Just because you’re using bright colors doesn’t mean you have to keep the patterns plain. Take advantage of your color scheme to the fullest by embracing bold patterns. In this picture, not only are there patterns on the pillows and rug, but the whole wall itself has been turned into a picture.
Though all the patterns are different, the various shades and colors go well enough together so that it doesn’t hurt the eyes or feel like it’s shrinking the room. If you want patterns but aren’t sure you can handle them all mismatched, consider adding one more set of pillows that are a solid color.
Pick a color that goes with most of your pillows, such as a black or white pillow in the case of the image above. It adds a bit of solidness to the decorations and makes the patterns feel a little less bold while still keeping them in the room.
12. Go Industrial
Image source: Pinterest
If you want a bit more of an industrial color scheme, but still a bit of color, consider going for a copper color. This shade of teal feels like old copper rusting in the weather, which goes well with bigger, bolder industrial pieces and natural wood beams.
Keep the blue to a minimum, though. Instead of painting a whole wall blue or adding a big blue rug, just throw in a couple of pieces that have hints of the worn copper color, such as this pillow.
13. Live on the Coast
Image source: Pinterest
Love the coastal vibe? It’s just various shades of brown and blue in light tones. Focus on light browns like light natural wood and pale wicker. Your furniture should be almost off-white with just a hint of brown. Then, pick bright blues and blue-greens.
Coastal is usually a bright and refreshing color scheme, so you want to stick to lighter blues. Focus on the colors you’d see right at the edge of the beach, such as the blue-white of ocean foam, the teal-green as the water gets deeper, and the blue of the sky.
These colors will make you feel like you’re right on the ocean, and add some brightness to your living space. Keep it classy with simple seashell and palm tree decorations, or fully embrace the beach theme with funny beach signs, flip-flops, and surfboards.
