the robins egg blue and brown dilemma

The robin's egg blue with brown is one of the hot combos of fashion, so how does one sensibly incorporate it into home decor? These examples come from Target's Fall 08 line-up, which are sadly no longer on sale, but the lessons from this post remain valid.
This is a very good way to incorporate this color scheme.

the patterns work well... large enough to be interesting, but simple enough to not be gaudy. the other benefit is that the pillows come separately, so you can have one color dominate, and the other accent, or throw in a neutral color to prevent either color from dominating.





This attempt doesn't work.

The problem is that you're locked into the amounts of blue and brown. were it a solid blue, it could provide a nice contrast, but the brown comes in this tacked-on element that doesn't really stay true to the lines of the piece. I also think the drawer pulls are too small compared with the rest of the piece. were they just a little bit larger, the look would come across better. I do like the way they break up the boxiness of the dresser.

One further reason to go the route of the pillows rather than the dresser is that color combos like these are notoriously short-lived: they've got a half-life like a radioactive particle. When trying to incorporate colors that are right of the moment, it's better to go with something that's easy to change. in 2 years' time, that dresser is going to be a two-tone anchor weighing the rest of your room down.
Pillows: Victoria Hagen for Target
Dresser: Dwellstudio for Target