Are Dark Woods Making a Comeback?
Of the seemingly infinite home design and improvement topic rabbit holes to fall into, handling millwork is a profound one. Opinions about wood hues, tones, and colors are intense. Add to this mix concerns related to historic integrity and architectural authenticity, and feelings can run hot. After the post-aughts reign of light and bright, however, what’s old is new again, and dark woods have begun making their triumphant return in 2025.
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“People are looking for warm and comforting interiors these days, and that includes consideration of darker woods and stains,” observes designer Steven Johanknecht of AD100 firm Commune Design. Designer Karen Spector of Los Angeles–based Lovers Unite sees reciprocal inspirations between private and public spaces as a factor that’s helping turn the tide. During the past decade-plus, pale white oak “was huge for residential interiors, and it made the jump to commercial spaces,” Spector says. “It was associated with coffee shops and became so ubiquitous.” Now, light-colored timber’s dominance is giving way to deeper, soulful wood surfaces at home for ceilings, floors, and everything in between.
Some homeowners and their designers are going big on the sumptuous dark honey hues of the 1960s and ’70s, such as AD100 talent Andre Mellone’s fresh reinterpretation of an alpine getaway for Lauren Santo Domingo and family. Others are using wood stains in context-sensitive, expressive, and nuanced ways that still would have won over the likes of finicky traditionalists like Charles Rennie Mackintosh. In the 2025 San Francisco Decorator Showcase, designer Geoffrey De Sousa’s paneled living room is currently making a strong argument for dark woods’ return.
Johanknecht and studio partner Roman Alonso’s non-purist approach reflects a shift in how designers consider wood treatment. Whether in a ground-up project or an intensive renovation, “We are not afraid to mix woods in an interior,” Alonso says. “It comes down to tonality and grain in order to keep things harmonious.” As seen in AD100 designer Neal Beckstedt’s historic Sag Harbor home, tonality is a spectrum—there’s dark and then there’s darker than prevailing trends.
A general through line of neutral earthiness has a certain appeal nearly anywhere in a residential interior. Paul Kropp, founder of US cabinetry maker Bakes & Kropp, registers a shift away from “gray stains on everything. For 2025 we are seeing this evolve even further into classic tones of tan, nut brown, and dark brown,” he says. Arrie Oliver, general manager of Copper Sky Design and Remodel, which specializes in historic homes in the Atlanta area, helps clients find an aesthetically flexible sweet spot. “Mid-tone stains often feel more timeless and are suitable for any style of decor, which is attractive to clients who like to make easy swaps to keep up with the ever-shrinking timeline of the trend cycle,” he says.
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