Earth tones are in vogue, including terracotta hot earth, lately stands out above the rest.
Very powerful color, great strength, natural character, which comes from dry clay and which knows how to dress any space with a large presence, as we will see below.
Join me and discover this trendy color, how to apply it, with which colors to combine, how to do it, as well as see ideas for painting and decorating with it.
We started.
Terracotta paint for painting walls
Vtwonen Photography
Earth tones have been imposed this year in interior design, especially for painting walls.
From the lightest tones like beige, a word that comes from French and means raw, to the darkest, like brown chocolate or terracotta, that goes through the entire middle range.
And it’s not often that these colors have gone so far, especially the dark ones, because they’ve always had a negative connotation.
Brown has been considered an ugly color since the Middle Ages, because it was the color of peasants and the poor, who wore brown clothes, because the colors of their clothes were intended for the lightest and cheapest colors; while the upper class differed in the variety of bright colors they wore.
Pantone terracotta in color
But despite all the connections these dark tones have to the negatives, it also has several positive meanings, such as the one considered robust, sober, natural and warm in color.
Perhaps for these reasons, these tones reached the top of the trend, at least for a moment, to paint the walls; and, between them, terracotta is more in vogue than ever.
yes, okay terracotta is a color that comes from dried clay and associated with interiors or spaces of a rustic character, today it is the perfect color for painting the walls of any space, whether rustic or even minimalist.
Photo by @Villakarisma
And not only do terracotta-colored walls work in different styles, but also in different spaces, such as living rooms or hallways, as we see above these lines, or in bedrooms, hallways or staircases, as we see below.
Bedrooms with a warm and powerful atmosphere can be created by adding terracotta color to the walls, even in children’s bedrooms:
Jotun terracotta in color and photo
In fact, the company Jotun chose terracotta for one of the trendy colors for children’s bedrooms.
Naturally, like all shades, there are colors that match better with others.
Plus, it’s a color with so much power and so much meaning that you have to be especially careful when combining or adding it.
Let’s take a look at some tips and colors for properly adding terracotta.
How to combine and add terracotta color to a decoration
Terracotta is a color of great strength and presence, so it is desirable to combine it with other tones, colors or materials that soften it. These could be lighter terracotta tones, creating a monochromatic palette, white, wood or cool tones like green or blue that complement each other very well, achieving a harmonious palette.
The color of rosewood and red terracotta from Bruger
Since it is such a powerful paint with the addition of brush strokes and well combined with another color, it may be enough to add space with a proper injection without applying. Its presence will be noticeable even in small doses.
If we have terracotta clay floors, we must be careful because painting the walls in the same color can saturate the environment. However, painting moldings can be a good idea to soften as many colors as possible and add them without worries, while expanding, even visually, the floor surface.
La Redoute terracotta cover
Combined with white and other natural elements like wood or plant fibers, the color is one that shines with radiant energy, and is applied in rustic interiors, or on surfaces with flaws like wabi sabi aesthetics, even more so.
With what colors to combine terracotta
New native color palette 2019 Terracotta by Pantone
In addition to various materials and other elements to consider, terracotta is subject to other colors in terms of their combination. This color must be combined with colors that calm it and / or have the opposite effect. Therefore, the whole palette of soft earthy or sandy tones works very well, as well as cool blue and green tones and, of course, neutral. Let’s look at some examples of colors that match terracotta.
Soft earth tones
Terracotta combines perfectly with a calmer and more neutral earthy tone. He lowers the terracotta in neutral, he is calm. Calm his strength as we see above these lines.
Yellow and orange
All the conjunto from Maisons du Monde
In this stylish set of Maisons du Monde we can see how the color terracotta works well with mustard yellow, pink, gold and, of course, wood, all warm colors, because it therefore goes very well with these tones on caution because they are very aggressive colors and if add them up, it is better that some go in small doses.
Soft roses
Another color that combines with terracotta on the walls or decoration in general is pink. But softer pink colors, like pale pink or dusty roses, and very gentle salmon tones, in addition to copper and similar tones.
Neutral tones: gray, white and black
Jotun’s photo
Whether it is standard and pure white or broken white with a creamy touch, white is another perfect color that combines terracotta in all its varieties. The darker the terracotta and the purer the white, the greater the contrast between them.
Wooden tones
Photo by @Villakarisma
It goes well with wood tones because they are natural colors, like terracotta.
Green
Photo by Upcycler and Salvage Hunter
Green is a cool color so it perfectly contrasts with the heat of terracotta. Cool tones can help us reduce it. If we have painted a large area and see that the environment is very full, we can use neutral tones or accents of cool colors to «refresh» the environment.
Blue
Whether in large doses or brush strokes, yes, in addition to balance, blue tones also combine very well with terracotta. It’s the same as with green. They are opposites. One warm and one cold.
Now that we have seen the colors that combine with terracotta, let’s get to know the different shades of this trend color.
Terracotta awnings
There are many shades of terracotta color, but in order to be able to clearly distinguish them and have a reference, we can divide them into three shades: standard, medium tones and soft tones. All of them are also available in different shades. Some lean towards the spectrum of browns, creating brown tones of terracotta, and others the spectrum of reds, resulting in more vivid terracotta or pink tones. Let’s look at three nuances:
Pure terracotta or standard terracotta
Photo A thousand ideas for decoration
The natural color of terracotta, real terracotta, is never smooth or uniform, always showing light and dark spots. Natural color is never uniform, but, of course, like all other colors, we have it in synthetic, where the appearance is uniform and smooth, which makes it more commercial and suitable for more space:
Synthetic terracotta
This shade would be a traditional terracotta in wall colors. Smooth and uniform colors with strong and strong pigmentation of natural terracotta. Each brand of paint has its own terracotta, which differs from one to another, depending on its philosophy and standards, among other parameters.
Mid-range terracotta
Photo by Leneorvik
This terracotta tone we see on the wall of this room would be a medium terracotta tone. It is a standard terracotta, but with less saturation than the authentic, though as we see, color with still great strength.
Terracotta color in light tones
Photograph by Gitte Christensen from the subject and use
A soft terracotta or soft terracotta tone would be the one we see in this bedroom. A calm, soothing color, but of course clearly reminiscent of its standard color.
If we’re looking for a lighter tone than this, we’d already have to look in a range of non-terracotta colors, like dusty pink or dusty pink.
And if we want stronger tones than the standard terracotta we saw earlier, we would also step out of the terracotta range, to get into darker and more saturated reds and browns, like English red or chocolate brown.
How to make terracotta paint
I get a lot of comments, including emails lately with the question of how to make paints with paint or paints, and among them is always terracotta. It is easy to make, although it all depends on the tone we want to achieve, because, as we have seen, there are several shades of this color. But so as not to create too much confusion, I have prepared two ways to make terracotta a color: one for dark and the other for light.
How to make a dark terracotta color
Terracotta is mostly made of brown and red. So, to create it or get closer to pure terracotta, we need brown or brown and red shades. We put the brown color on a white background, tinting the white until it almost darkens to the desired tone. Now we add red to achieve the terracotta tone we want. More reddish or brownish, but dark.
How to make a light terracotta color
To get a light terracotta tone, we will make it the opposite of dark, because we don’t have to darken it that much. We need the same shades: red and brown or brown. We put red on the white color until it gets a medium pink color. After that, brown color is added until it achieves the desired terracotta tone.
Note that the more brown we add, the darker the color will be.
Naturally, terracotta can have other shades depending on the tone, such as beige or orange, for example. But with the red and brown hue we can easily get a very approximate terracotta tone.
If you have any questions about how to make this color, apply it or combine it, leave a comment that you already know I will be happy to help.
What do you think about the color terracotta? Did he win you over too?
See: 17 warm colors to paint the bedroom
