How To Decorate Your Home With Terracotta

When it comes to decorating our homes, using colors can have a profound impact on mood and emotion.

While it can be really intimidating when you prefer neutral colors, why not step out of your comfort zone and try to decorate your home with terracotta?

What Color is Terracotta?

“Terracotta” comes from the Italian words for “baked earth“. Terracotta is an earthy shade of orange, popularly considered burnt orange.

However, terracotta can have many different hues ranging from orange to brown; it is very rich though-just think of how terractotta pots can look.

This rich color of the earth can easily warm up your house and create an inviting atmosphere. No wonder it’s perfect for fall decor.

Terracotta is easy to mix and match, working nicely with warm colors and materials like wood, as well as cold colors like blues and materials like concrete for the perfect contrasting effect.

You May Also Like: How to Decorate a Maximalist Living Room

These tips to decorate with terracotta are inspired by SK Design.Ru, Space Joy App, Decauree, and The Cool Republic.

How to Decorate with Rich Colors

Terracotta is rich in color and looks great whether paired with other rich and bold colors or muted colors. Gather tips for decorating your home with rich colors below before we get started:

1. Match Your Rich Color with the Largest Pattern in the Room

For a cohesive room, it is important to match your colors so your maximalist interiors can also look put together.

Thus, if you have textiles in the room like a patterned or colorful rug or curtains, choose an interior color scheme from the largest pattern in the room.

This also gives every decor item a reason to be because the room will be tied together.

2. Vary Your Colours Or Shades Vertically

Rich colors can come off as very overwhelming, sometimes. To minimize the effect, vary the shades vertically.

I mean, use darker hues of the color for the floors to anchor your space–a good rich rug would be handy. Use medium color hues for furniture then the walls; you can finish the ceiling with the lightest hues.

Whether you use one color for monochromatic interiors or use different colors in varying shades, this natural transition of color mimics our outdoors where the earth is darker, vegetation is lighter and the sky is the lightest in color.

3. Decorate Formal Rooms First

When decorating your home, it is prudent to start by decorating your living room first.

It is perhaps the most important room in the house and once you’re done, you can always a pull a color from the palette and transfer to other rooms, in similar shades or varying hues of the color.

However, if you’re not a decorating pro and unsure about using rich colors in your living room, feel free to experiment with other rooms around the house like your bedroom and if the palette looks great, transfer to your living room.

You May Also Like: Top 7 Mistakes To Avoid In Maximalist Design For Your Home

What Colors Go Well With Terracotta?

1. Contrasting Color Schemes

Directly opposite on the color wheel, contrasting colors like blue tones are a natural fit for terracotta- think navy blue, light blue or even indigo.

The key is mix and match deeper shades of terracota with deeper shades of blue, and lighter shades alike.

2. Greens

 Burnt orange mingles with rich, verdant greens to create an energetic room. These colors compliment each other so well, looking especially stunning when used in saturated shades. Think terracotta and jungle or olive green.

You May Also Like: How To Create A Cozy Organic Modern Interior

3. Greys & Blacks

Why not add some terracotta to spice up the greys and blacks in a room? These colors present a backdrop upon which to decorate and inject warmth with terracotta.

Choose warming shades of grey with warm terracota colors; and deeper shades of grey of deeper terracotta accents.

4. Browns

Terracotta and brown are both earthly shades that blend well together to create a harmonious interior. These saturated colors are perfect to create a cozy bedroom, especially when terracotta is used to slightly brighten the walls.

5. Yellow Shades

These analogous warm colors, when combined, transform an apartment into a warm and inviting space. Add yellow throw pillows to a terracotta sofa and the combination emanates joy and energy when applied as a color scheme for your interiors!

Now that you have some tips to decorate your home with rich colors, let’s help you decorate your home with terracotta:

How to Decorate your Home with Terracotta

Oranges, unlike red, which can be overwhelming in a room, can have a variety of personalities. Some are vibrant and exciting, while others, like terracotta, are more subdued and neutral.

Using terracotta, you can create unusual combinations using different terracotta shades in your interiors! Think sunset color, untreated clay, carrot, brick, sienna, and pumpkin among others.

Try these tips next time and curate such stylish interiors:

1. Terracotta Color Palettes For Furniture

Furniture improves the functionality of any space, thus, a core in interior design. Use furniture in terracotta color to not only add a pleasing sense of order in your home but also to act as a focal point or an accent to your space.

While neutral furniture is a popular choice, a bod sofa, or bed in terracotta color can be stylish and attractive. Just remember to choose furniture that complement the other decor items within the space so the whole room is tied together.

In this case, add accessories like poufs or blankets and other textured prints in the same color as the terracotta item–think the sofa– to spread the color around the room and create balance.

To use terracotta as accent furniture, choose a sofa or bed in the color These large pieces of furniture anchor the space whilst standing out.

However, if your floor color is dark and you’ve choosen a darker terracotta sofa or bed, for instance, create a clear visual space between the floor and furniture item so it does not seem to appear into the room.

A darker terracotta bed or sofa with metal or light wood legs can help achieve this. You can also use a patterned, lighter or bolder rug under the front area of your sofa to separate the dark colors and make the sofa color pop.

You May Also Like: Rug Placement Ideas Around Your Home

It is prudent to choose your furniture first before proceeding to pick a paint color, especially if you’re gravitating towards really strong, bright colors like terracotta for your chairs, sofas, and beds. That way, neutral wall color is easy to style against.

However, you might opt for brighter wall colors (like those shared above) as long as they complement your terracotta furniture well. The trick is to pick lighter or muted shades of your bright color.

You May Also Like: 15 Ways To Decorate Your Walls- No Painting Needed!

2. Terracotta For Walls

If you want to paint your house white, go ahead and do it. However, if you want to be more daring with color and choose terracotta, a feature wall is a great place to start!

The amount of light your room gets will determine how bright or muted your terracotta walls appear.

South-facing rooms tend to be consistently bright throughout the day with warm yellow, golden tones from the good natural sunlight all day long.

In such rooms, you have the opportunity to try muted tones of terracotta as the sun will complement the walls’ intensity and turn up their vibrancy. This will ensure the rooms don’t look too warm and tacky when the sun hits them.

If you don’t have many windows, like in north-facing rooms, go warm to help brighten your room. Choose brighter shades of terracotta as a truly bold color won’t make the space seem even darker.

What Color Curtains go with Terracotta Walls?

When choosing curtains for your terracotta walls, look around your room and pick our a dominant color you’d want to tie to. Whether it’s your rug, or other accents within the room, pick a color that will create a perfect contrast or blend well.

The key is to not use terracotta in your curtains again, when your walls are painted in terracotta color.

You May Also Like: How To Create The Ultimate Feature Wall

Decor Tip…

Terracotta shades always inject warmth to your interiors. Thus, when choosing a color palette for the interior, avoid too harsh, cold and stark colors like brilliant whites. as they create a harsh contrast that is not appealing.

3. Accent With Terracotta

Another way to decorate with terracotta is to use terracotta-colored accessories. This is a subtle way to use the color, especially if you just want a hint of the color in your decor.

For starters, introduce terracotta into your home through fabric. Throw pillows, blankets and rugs in terracotta can add a pop of colour, warmth and depth without the brashness of a brighter shade. 

You can also use other decor accents in fewer additions. Create a collection of terracotta vases on your table surfaces or if you’re a plant lover, rehome your favourite plant in terracotta pots by the balcony.

You May Also Like: 20+ Houseplant Decor Ideas To Inject Life Into Your Home

Lighting fixtures in terracotta are another good option, as are statement wall art pieces in a striking terracotta shade.

You May Also Like: Top 7 Mistakes To Avoid In Maximalist Design For Your Home

Would you decorate your home with terracotta too?