Beige paint colors you need to know about
These aren’t your mama’s builder beige colors–today’s beige tones are rich, warm and refreshing. Working to soften any space without making the space seem too drab, today I want to highlight 8 beige colors that work well with today’s decor trends.
What are the most popular beige colors?
Trends have been shifting away from darker neutrals, as everyone wants light and bright interior walls. And to that end, I’ve been recommending the paler, more easily to live with beige paint colors that you’ll read about below, quite a bit lately.
Is beige paint out of style?
I don’t see too many homeowners opting for a darker beige that graced new builds in the 90s, but lighter beige colors like the ones I recommended above are still very much in style. And of course if you’ve followed me for a while or read my other paint color reviews, you know that I firmly believe no paint choice is out of style if perfectly complements your interior.
8 Beige paint colors to try in your home
All neutral colors have undertones and beige is no exception. I can’t tell you how many times someone has asked me for a beige with no undertones or a gray with no undertones but unfortunately, it doesn’t exist.
When you’re in the world of beige paint colors, you’re dealing with pink, orange, yellow and green. Green is the easiest undertone to work with and pink and yellow are downright hard. We’ll get into why you might select a beige with each undertone below after I’ve give you my top beige paint colors.
Benjamin Moore beige paint colors
Benjamin Moore Maritime White
If you’re searching for a barely-there beige, Maritime White might before you. Don’t let the name fool you, this Maritime White, isn’t so white, it’s actually a beige with a soft pink undertone. Paint colors that have pink undertones don’t pay well with items that have yellow undertones, so be extra cautious to evaluate the other items in your home first when choosing a color like this.
Benjamin Moore Muslin
I really like Benjamin Moore Muslin because it’s so very pale and really works when you have a large item in your room that demands this type of beige. Muslin is a beige with a pink undertone. Remember, just like with Maritime White, you don’t want to pair this color with items that have yellow undertones.
Benjamin Moore Feather Down
A very pale beige, Feather Down is a soft beige with a green undertone. Colors with green undertones are notoriously easier to work with, and Feather Down is no exception.
Benjamin Moore Manchester Tan
Just like Feather Down, Manchester Tan is also a beige with a green undertone, but it’s significantly darker than Feather Down. If you discover you need a beige with a green undertone (the most neutral of all beige undertones) and Feather Down is just too pale, bordering on cream, Manchester Tan should do the trick.
Sherwin Williams beige paint colors
Sherwin Williams Navajo White
Another paint color with white in the name to totally throw you off–Sherwin Williams Navajo White is a barely-there beige with a yellow undertone. Remember, yellow and pink undertones don’t mix, so you’ll need to ensure you don’t have any pink elements (found in carpet and tile a lot of times, and pale fabrics, just to name a few of the examples)
Sherwin Williams Shoji White
Sherwin Williams Shoji White has been a very popular paint color for years, but just like a lot of the paint colors on this list that have white in their name, Shoji White isn’t a white paint color at all. Shoji White is a very, very pale beige with a green undertone.
Sherwin Williams Canvas Tan
Like Shoji White, Canvas Tan is a beige paint color with a green undertone. However, it’s got significantly more depth than Shoji White, so if you sampled Shoji White and thought it was too pale, Canvas Tan should work better in your space.
Sherwin Williams Crossiant
If you need a beige with a good bit of saturation to bring a home with warmer earth tones up-to-date, Crossiant might be for you. Crossiant has an orange undertone in it and doesn’t play well with items that have pink undertones, so make sure you evaluate your fixed elements before selecting this one.
How do I know if beige works in my home?
When choosing neutral wall colors, you need to look at your fixed elements and furnishings and evaluate them for their undertones. Anything that can’t be easily replaced or moved should be considered.
Side note: If you don’t know what type of neutral color you need for your room, make sure you check out my guide on taupe colors, gray colors, and white colors, too.
Say you ordered a couch from Pottery Barn, and now that it’s finally in your living room you can repaint. You know that the couch is beige, but you’re not sure which beige. What you’ll need to do at this point is to order or make your own paint samples in each of the beige undertones to determine what you’re dealing with.
Once you get your samples in, compare them to your couch. Which one relates to the couch the most? If you’ve decided you’re working with a beige couch with a pink undertone, you know you need to stick with beige paint colors that have a pink undertone.
I’m a huge fan of the large paint samples that you can get online to help determine which paint color is right, or of course you can make your own.
Take a look at this photo below. This couch is beige. It’s impossible for me to tell from this picture, but it either looks like a gold beige or a pink beige undertone. They chose to use a gray paint color that had a strong blue undertone, which just made the whole room feel off. In this case, the whole room has a lot of beige, so in choosing a neutral, beige should have been selected, rather than gray.
What is the lightest beige by Sherwin Williams?
If you want to go with the palest beige in the Sherwin Williams line, you’re looking at colors like Navajo White (be careful because Benjamin Moore also has a Navajo White) Shoji White and Divine White, just to name a few.
What is the lightest beige by Benjamin Moore?
Many light beiges by Benjamin Moore were named on this list–Maritime White and Feather Down are options and you can also look at the very popular Wheat Sheaf, too.
Hi, I am trying to update my 90’s house and pick a wall color for my family room /kitchen open area and dining room. I have red oak flooring from my foyer area going into the kitchen with white cabinets (looks like a pure white) and a reddish brown corian countertop with specks of black and white. My family room has high slanted ceiling with orange oak built in cabinets and stair railing, caramel sofa, and other earthy colors of brown, green, orange, and tan accents, and beige carpeting. Dining room set is a Black Cherry wood. Do I look at colors such as SW Moderate White, Natural Linen, BM Muslin with a pink/ orange undertone or SW Canvas Tan, Neutral Ground and stay away from the pink. Those 3 rooms get morning eastern light, foyer and living room western light. I can’t make a decision. Any suggestions?
Thank you
It sounds like orange is the dominating undertones in your space. Try Ben Moore Navajo White, Indian White or Papaya. Get some samples and see what looks best!
Hi, I am updating my home that we built 10 yrs ago. I have sherwin Williams Navajo White on my trim. What color should I paint my walls. I’ve been told to us the same color as the trim but I don’t want yellow. I have creamish white sofa and black in my piano room and having wood floors sanded to white oak. Very opened plan. Any suggestions on a color for my main walls? And kitchen. I have a black island and dark wood cabinets.
Hi Lisa,
Two options here…you could repaint all of your trim and then start from ground zero. Or go with a yellow-beige in a deeper hue for your walls. Yellow beige trim is limiting and honestly I never recommend it for trim as it’s too creamy and often leaves trim looking dirty. A good yellow beige for your walls to try is Sherwin Williams Chopsticks or Sundew. You have to really stay in the yellow beige family for walls so that your trim won’t clash with your walls. If I were you, I would consider the undertones of my countertops and cabinets, and repaint my trim to work with whatever wall color my home demands based on my fixed elements. I have a blog on choosing paint colors (you can search for) that might help too!
Hi Ashley,
I have a tiny bathroom where the walls are painted SW REPOSE GRAY and the vanity SW DOVETAIL, while the other half of the room is decorated with beige wall tile.
I don’t think the SW REPOSE GRAY really looks that good with the beige wall tiles, even though I read somewhere that it’s okay to use gray with beige in the bathroom.
I was thinking of just painting the bathroom walls SW PURE WHITE and getting rid of the SW REPOSE GRAY altogether. Do you think white is the way to go for beige tile in the bathroom?
Thank you,
Carla
Hi Carla,
I would not go with stark white. I would identify the undertone in your beige floor tile and then go with the a very light cream with the same undertone for the wall. You want to stick to one neutral in a space for the most part. Repose Gray has a blue/purple undertone, fyi!