DECORATING Shades of brown give rooms a touch of hot chocolate

Warm browns give a room a cozy feel, decorators say.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- When Mary Williams' interior designer suggested she paint her dining room in yummy chocolate colors, the elementary school teacher thought she'd gone crazy.
But once she began smoothing stripes of dark- and milk-chocolate-colored paint onto the walls, her initial assessment of her designer's mental state softened like warm fudge.
"I just love it," Williams said. "It has that 'wow.' It's different, elegant but cozy."
All shades of brown, especially the deep chocolate colors, are winning over homeowners looking for something bolder than beige and more tantalizing than taupe.
"Brown has a lot more pizzazz," said Williams' designer, Lynn Smith. "It's neutral but with a twist."
Incorporating deep, rich browns in home decor took off in 2003, influenced by fashion and textiles. Designers expect its use in home decorating to continue flourishing this year.
"The furniture industry embraced brown in 2003, taking a cue from the fashion world, which embraced brown in place of black," said Mindy McVay Heilmann of Mindy McVay Interiors.
"There is a security in brown, something people long for in uncertain times."
Color combinations
The most stylish color combinations with brown this season have been robin's-egg blue and lime green. Linda Fuhst, a fabric expert at Rose Arbor Fabrics in Myrtle Beach, said she has seen an increase in selections featuring dark chocolate brown with lime green.
"We just got in the most beautiful linens," she said. "And we now have a toile in chocolate brown."
Williams used the chocolate brown toile in her dining chairs and found white china that featured images of downtown Charleston emblazoned in brown tones on the plates. For a splash of color on the dining table, Williams used a floral arrangement that featured vibrant red flowers to contrast against the darker walls.
Pink and sage green also are popular with brown. Debbie Frazier of Frazier Interiors decorated a model home using brown tones with accents of sage green and raspberry.
"I had never done a model in chocolate brown," she said. "I wanted something unique, that hadn't been done before."
Frazier chose a subtle mocha tone for the walls in the master suite, using sage green in accent fabrics and milky-colored furniture to contrast with the darker walls. Linen lampshades softened the artificial light and cast a warm glow as it reflected off the walls.
The palette of color created a warm, cozy feeling in the room. "I think it's warm without feeling dark," Frazier said. "It gives a tranquil feeling."
The idea of decorating with dark browns intimidates some homeowners who think it's too stark, unappealing or confining, Frazier said.
"People think a dark color can make a room seem smaller," she said. "But I think it seems more spacious. And it doesn't make a room dark either as long as you have a window that can bring in some daylight. When you've got that natural sunlight pouring in, it will add warmth to the room. You get a great play of light against the chocolate brown."