14 Indulgent Brown Hallway Ideas For An On-trend Look

These brown hallway ideas show how easy it can be to get on-board with this growing colour trend that can feel rich, sumptuous and luxurious in an interior.

Brown has become the new beige and grey in recent years, and it taps into the growing earthy design trend. It feels good to be around!

This is one hue that will stand out above the rest, this earthy shade gives a nod to the natural world outside, but it’s a defining shade that can deliver warmth and cosiness too.

Here’s 14 ways that you can start using this on-trend and surprisingly delicious colour in your hallway.

14 Indulgent Brown Hallway Ideas For An On-trend Look

1.Embrace Differing Shades of Brown For A Cosy, Warm Ambience

Studio McGee is already leading the way with her love for brown in an interior.

One of my favourite ways to utilise brown in a hallway and beyond is to layer with differing shades of brown. The contrast of colour and texture will deliver a sumptuous, rich feeling which will leave a warm lasting impression on your guests.

Mix panelling for depth, introduce warm brown pouffes and brown decor accessories to cement the look.

2. Create A Warm, Neutral Hallway With Light-Mid Brown Tones

Sometimes it’s as simple as a new lick of paint.

If you’re not quite brave enough to embrace the overly dark shades of brown, a light-mid brown like this can be great, and it’s a warm neutral that brings more character than a beige or white.

You might also want to look into ‘colour drenching’ with a brown. This involves saturating the entire room in one colour – walls, ceiling, woodwork and even radiators!

A one colour look can create a really cosy and inviting space, in both large and small spaces.

3. Showcase Original Hallway Floor Tiles

If you have a period property you might be lucky enough to uncover some original hallway floor tiles. Absolutely embrace them rather than covering them up.

Hallway tiles like this will ground the space, but they’re also going to be the instigator of what other colours you use in the space because of their defining pattern and colours.

4. Use Brown As An Accent Colour For Definition

You don’t need to paint your walls in chocolate to appreciate using brown in your hallway.

Choose to use brown as simply an accent colour in your hallway for definition. It can be a refreshing swap for black, and brings a slightly richer, more sumptuous feel with it.

Use brown as an accent colour on furniture, mirrors, lighting and other decorative accessories.

5. Go All In With A Rich, Chocolate Shade

Up the ante and really lean into brown with a rich chocolate paint shade like this. I share all of my favourite brown paint shades on this post.

It’s one of those colours that you have to see in situ to really appreciate how it can make an interior feel.

If you have a small hallway, I would paint the skirtings in the same brown shade as it’s going to make the space feel bigger, and your eyes aren’t going to dart around all the different colours as you step into a hallway.

6. Add A Brown Built In

If you already have a beautiful built in for a bench and storage purposes, you might just want to give it a fresh lick of paint to appreciate this new colour trend in your hallway.

Paint it in a rich brown paint, it will define the built in, and bring a grounding aspect to an otherwise neutral hallway.

7. Half Painted Walls For Character

Half painted walls are just a great way to add perfect separation to a hallway without using a dado rail. Simply choose where you want to paint up to and use a deep brown on the lower half.

Teamed with a light neutral on the upper half and it helps to draw the eye up, giving the illusion of much higher ceilings.

The chocolate looks amazing against the black and white floor tiles too, a hugely defining aspect which delivers a definite style statement in this hallway.

8. Combine Pink & Brown Tones For A Rustic, Feminine Touch

You might be surprised to learn than pink and brown make a fabulous colour combination.

This unsurprising partnership of colours really works, these pink and brown based colours work in harmony.

Light, dusty pink balances well with the intensity of the brown and it can deliver a neutral, yet feminine contrast in a hallway where brown lines the other side of the hallway.

9. Use A Dado Rail For Colour Separation

If you don’t fancy trying half painted walls, a dado rail is an effortless way to separate colour in an interior.

Follow the dado rail up the stairs for ascending colour. Choose the brown shade for the bottom half as it will ground the hallway, and top with a warm or light neutral above to draw the eye up as you enter the hallway.

10. Let Wooden Flooring Ground A Hallway

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to decorating with brown, and if you already have dark brown wooden flooring you don’t need to do much else apart from let it breathe in its true glory.

Wooden flooring like this will beautifully ground a hallway with its deep richness, of course you can choose to still introduce other brown accents if you like, or introduce black for a touch of modernity.

11. Combine Baby Blue Tones With Brown For A Striking Look

But, perhaps my favourite of all the brown hallway ideas, it’s such a classic yet unsurprising combination of brown and baby blue.

It’s the look that shouldn’t work but it does, and quite effortlessly.

Using a light brown for the foundation in the hallway, baby blue is used as a small but notable accent on the front door and architraves. The balance between these two shades is beautiful, yet offers timelessness and a cosy aesthetic that’s cool, and warm in equal measures.

12. Soft Taupe Brown

Nothing beats a soft taupe brown as a paint colour in a hallway for an inviting yet warm look. Mouse’s Back by Farrow and Ball is one of my favourites, it’s actually a green based brown and positioning it with other greens will bringing this out in the wall colour.

A perfect foundation colour for building out your colour scheme in a hallway.

13. Purple Meets Brown

Want something a little moodier? Lean into a mahogany, almost aubergine brown shade for something that will create high impact as you step into the space.

The shade used below is Farrow and Ball Mahogany which is packed full of warm tones for a truly unique colour.

14. Front Door Details

Draw the eye in with a front door painted brown, a less than traditional front door colour that will hide a multitude of sins!

It’s earthy, warming and great for adding definition without being as overpowering as a black.

Which of these brown hallway ideas is your favourite? Will you be leaning in to this on-trend colour over the coming year?