Fall is the best time to bring natural accents into your events. The changing season highlights the distinctiveness of nature, and it’s a great opportunity to bring the outdoors inside. This fall, wood tones are a major trend in home and event decor.
“The natural beauty of wood creates a welcoming and calming environment for fall,” writes Jane at Home. “With the growing desire for lighter, airier spaces, wood adds a much-needed grounding effect.” One of the best features of using wood tones is that you can bring them in and still achieve a clean, modern look or aim for a rustic look.
In this article, we’re going to focus on incorporating natural woods into any fall event. We’ll look at how you can use a wood-toned piece like the Maxim Wet Bar and build a spellbinding fall decor around it.
Accent with pops of color
One of the caveats for working with wood is not to go overboard with it because too much wood can make your space look dated. The best way to avoid having too much wood in your event space is to break up the wood with pops of color. Bringing color into your event space against wood tones also gives you nearly endless possibilities for customizing the styling and design of the area.
“Incorporate colorful accessories to showcase your personality when decorating with wood furniture,” writes Better Homes and Gardens. One of the best ways to find the right accent colors to use, look at the undertones of the wood pieces to see which colors to highlight.
Looking at our example, in the Maxim Wet Bar, both warm and cool undertones in orange and gray are present. Bringing in accessories and other furniture pieces with orange tones — like the Valencia Chair — or gray accents — like the Round Bar Table with Orange Top or the Rustique Barstool — can highlight those undertones and bring bold color in.
Balance with different woods
Using multiple kinds of wood in a space creates visual interest and incorporating multiple wood tones combined with pops of color brings variety to the venue.
“The key to mixing wood tones is, to begin with, a strong foundation,” suggests Joss and Main. “To do this, identify the dominant wood tone or tones in the room. If you have wood floors, cabinetry, or built-ins, those will be the dominant tone. If not, the dominant tone will be the room's largest piece of wood furniture such as the dining set or coffee table.”
After you choose your foundational wood tone, you can either complement or contrast with undertone colors in other wood pieces and accents. It’s better to complement or contrast the wood tones rather than attempting to match them perfectly.
To look at our example of the Maxim Wet Bar: the Rustique Communal Bar Table, Jacob Wood Table, and Laguna Barstool have undertones that either complement or contrast the dominant wood tones in the Maxim Wet Bar.
Combine with other natural elements
Incorporating other natural elements “creates a sense of peace in the home by connecting you to nature and creating a sanctuary-type escape,” says designer Sam Tannehill. Like combining multiple wood tones and pops of color, bringing in additional natural elements add variety even as those items fit cohesively with your foundational wood.
Stone and greenery are obvious choices to add natural elements to the look that your wood tones bring in. If you want to add more natural looks in a subtle way, use patterns and textures inspired by nature.
“Town or country, period or modern, natural-inspired patterns look striking in any room and can be used to bring a color scheme or theme together,” notes Chiana Dickson at Homes & Gardens.
Pair your wood pieces like the Maxim Wet Bar with items like the Del Mar Tonal Rug in Earth Brown, Boxwood Hedge, or Wagner Chair to complement the wood tones with natural elements.
Modernize with whites
The ultimate in a modern, contemporary style is whites and neutrals. Offsetting wood furniture pieces and accessories with whites and bright neutrals will help you achieve a more modern look. The wood furniture will bring warmth and grounding to the space while the whites and neutrals provide a clean, modern aesthetic. As such, whites provide a perfect backdrop for natural wood.
Clean white spaces are currently in style — just witness any new house listing to see that at work — but natural wood elements liven up a space and bring a natural freshness. Combining white tones and wood elements creates a nice blend of modern and classic aesthetics.
At your fall event, you can bring pieces like the Maxim Wet Bar into your white space using items like the Winter White Sheer Drape. You can also do the opposite and build your space around wood elements like the Maxim Wet Bar. In that case, pair items like the Geo Cocktail Table with Gold Base and White Marble Top or the Brooklyn Meeting Chair with it for sleek, contemporary pops of white.
Ready to incorporate wood tones at your next event?
Wood tones bring warmth and grounding to a space, and you can make the most of wood elements to create a modern look at your fall event. Wood tones work well with pops of color that bring personality to the space, and they bring warmth to a clean aesthetic against whites and other neutral tones. Pair wood tones with other natural elements to connect to nature, and use complementing and contrasting wood styles for texture and drama in your space.
No matter how you choose to incorporate wood elements into your next event, CORT Events has the furniture rental options and planning tools to help you achieve the look and feel you want. You can even find the sparks for creative ideas you haven’t even thought of yet.
Whatever your specific needs are, CORT Events has what you need to make the most of your next event. Whether you’re in the preliminary stages of event planning or your event is happening soon, CORT can help you every step of the way.
