Earthy Elegance: Why Brown is the New Neutral
An often-forgotten shade in the wider interiors sphere, various tones of brown are what we love working with here at Tom Raffield, thanks to our penchant for natural wood. Colour and design go hand in hand when it comes to the feeling of a room – whether you’re aiming to make a statement or create a relaxing retreat.
Evoking a sense of warmth, sophistication and a grounding energy that helps us feel relaxed and calm in our most sacred of spaces, incorporating touches of walnut throughout the home can anchor a space, allowing other colours and textures to play.
Go bold and brown
Opting for a neutral colourway doesn’t mean you can’t make a bold statement. In open living spaces, there’s more to play around with shapes, colour and light. Our Skipper Pendant Trio Cluster in Walnut casts curvaceous shadows across ceilings and wall, while the diffused light from each shade produces ambient lighting perfectly suited to the bigger living area. Twirling and twisting, the undulating loops of walnut wood are handcrafted from sustainably sourced European timber and assembled by our expert team using a dry construction process, showcasing responsible design at its best.
Alternatively, let your hues of brown take centre stage on the floor and add depth in a quiet corner; our Verso Floor Light in Walnut is cleverly crafted from three continuous lengths of timber, allowing the light to flow through and add a warm glow to spaces. Inspired by nature, the Verso range represents the gravity defying, swooping motion of falling leaves in the wind, with the walnut shade adding to the effect.
For the ultimate in elegance, opt for Arame Wall Light in Walnut; a celebration of nature’s formations, materials and tones. Inspired by everyday organic shapes and movements, the Arame range provides a surge of optical energy with shadow and light unfurling, pirouetting and tumbling in a kaleidoscopic tessellation across your walls. The darker hue adds to the statement, adding the perfect amount of drama on quieter, lighter walls.
Timeless Elegance
Neutrals go hand in hand with an elegant style, and incorporating more brown tones into the home doesn’t mean you need to let go of a style that’s inherently you. If going big and bold doesn’t appeal to you, there are plenty of subtle design touches you can play with.
Mix up your soft furnishings and add in textiles in shades of luxe brown to help create a cosy atmosphere. Have fun with different textures such as suede, velvet, linen or boucle to add variety while embracing all that brown has to offer.
For those opting for subtle look, our Kanna-Kurv Table Light in Walnut is rooted in Scandinavian serenity; minimal and beautifully simple. The ceramic table lamp has a curved base, hand-glazed and proudly holding its wooden shade. Diffusing a warming glow across its surrounding, this piece features an organic wooden grain in the simplest of designs to grace your bedside table, living room or home office.
Pendant lighting can be a wonderful way to make a statement in a big, open space, but the more subtle variations are wonderful for adding a minimal design touch to a room.
Our Keel Pendant in Walnut – or Oak if you’d prefer a lighter shade – adds a striking display of modern design, crafted from one isolated section and arched by hand into its final shape. The funnels of diffused downlight create a warm light in bedrooms, hallways or even over kitchen islands. Inspired by the power and grace of the Atlantic tide lines, this beautifully elegant design is ideal for adding hints of brown, without overpowering your surroundings.
Posted: 12.12.25
Updated: 12.12.25