Rise of Monochromatic Themes in Office Spaces

A contemporary color trend that’s on the rise is the use of monochromatic design in the office. Monochromatic designs create a clean, cohesive look that’s elegant yet approachable, polished yet casual. This design trend is especially effective in smaller spaces, where using too many colors at once can make a room feel small and discordant. A calming monochromatic space can be an antidote to stress.

What Is Monochromatic Design?

Monochromatic design is the practice of designing a space (or a website or artwork) using variations of a single color or hue. It’s the process of composing a design using one main color as your unifying theme and layering the space with a variety of color values — lighter and darker shades — based on the central theme.

Put another way, to design in monochrome is to create a harmonious theme based on a single-color scheme. The concept comes from the Greek mono (meaning alone, single, one) and chroma (meaning color).

How to Apply Monochromatic Design to Your Office

• Choose a base color. If you approach composing a monochromatic office space as you would painting a landscape, you’ll start by choosing a base color for your canvas. This could be the shade of the rugs or the color of the fabrics and other surface materials used in your dominant furniture pieces. Think, for example, in terms of blues, grays, neutrals, greens or yellows.
• Layer on lighter and darker shades. Build onto your base color by adding fabrics and furnishings like office seating in lighter tints and darker tones of the main hue. This is the time to introduce appealing patterns and textures — tactile layers that will warm up and enrich the space, giving it depth and dimension.
• Consider accents. Finally, consider the role of accents in your monochromatic space. Maybe a few green plants are the only additions you need. But perhaps your design vision calls for a pop of color to set off the monochromatic palette, like the red office bench in the gray-toned lounge shown above. There’s no right answer. Let your intuition be your guide.

Like this topic? Find more ideas on trending office colors and designing with color and pattern.

The Sistema Lounge System in shades of teal.