A Perfect Finish

Marcia Sherrill

Brown wood—remember that? In an age when sentimentality went out the door in the name of cutting-edge style, and our grandmother’s Chippendale chairs got a coat of high-gloss lacquer in pimento red for the sake of being chic, brown wood are two words we haven’t seen the likes of in a while. But we have finally come full circle to an appreciation of things with an actual patina that our so-called modern thinking had rejected. It’s back to the furniture of our childhood, our ancestors, our heritage. Brown wood is fine, brown wood is natural, brown wood is suddenly chic. Yes, chic!

While we have raced around looking for hammered steel torchieres, Lucite chairs and tufted leather headboards to fill our ranches, cottages and condos, we have forgotten that no matter what style we are going for, there is always room for brown furniture. It’s true. Even in the city’s new high-rise aeries in the sky, a burled walnut linen press can still enjoy pride of place amid all-white rooms and modern art.

You can still admire the work of the great mid-century masters, but don’t be afraid to mix a Dutch marquetry commode with collectibles by Mies van der Rohe or Saarinen. Brown wood works; it really, really works.

The key to pulling it off is in the mix. That show-stopping modern table you just bought for the dining room? Bring out the Sheraton chairs and deck out the seats in a cool crimson patent leather. The point is there are no hard and fast rules. Brown wood furniture is having a renaissance, so drag it out of the basement and turn it into the focal point that your rooms are longing for.

Brown wood, in all its incarnations and iterations, is about heritage, and a home without a past surely has no future.

All pieces available at William Word Fine Antiques through 1stdibs.com.

Empire Fauteuil de Bureau in walnut with gilt accents, c. 1830

Petite Empire Period Table in walnut and marble, c. 1820

George III period chest-on-chest in mahogany, c. 1790