The days of gray are over. Although you may still see it in kitchens and bathrooms, the color palette is expanding to bring the outdoors in.
“Some people refer to it as ‘healing colors,’” says Kelsey Bechtel, designer at Blue Ribbon Millwork in Woodstock. “The idea is to bring nature inside and make a more natural escape inside your house.”
This emphasis on natural palettes means you’re more likely to see beiges, tans and greens incorporated into every design, and that includes whites and grays, which now skew toward a “warming” tone.
The concept also appears in wood stains, which now range far beyond your traditional browns, tans, reds and honeys. The new term is “true brown,” a neutral tone that’s somewhere between a weather-worn gray and a bleached umber. It’s particularly striking when matched with a rift-sawn white oak – another up-and-coming trend.
True to its name, white oak is more neutral in color than the common red oak, and the rift-sawn technique makes its grain softer and less pronounced. When covered in a true brown stain, white oak achieves echoes of white paint while still revealing that signature wood grain.
“It’s a very straight, linear grain, so definitely not anything like the old-school honey oak that everyone is used to,” says Bechtel. “It’s so durable and such a hard wood, and it lasts so long that it’s still a very popular choice for cabinets.”
Finally, natural stone is making a solid comeback. You’ll find manmade quartz countertops are still the go-to option, but for something unique and unmatchable people are going with nature-made quartzite.
Put it all together and you have a comforting, yet bold, new take on home design.
“People have been more risky with colors lately, which is so much fun,” says Bechtel.
Blue Ribbon Millwork is located at 1401 S. Eastwood Dr., in Woodstock. Call (815) 338-8900 for an estimate.
3 Trends to Bring Natural Touches Indoors
