17 best greige paint colors (2023 update)
Light and airy, greige is the marriage of gray and beige paint, yielding to quite possibly the best neutral paint color for virtually any space.
Greige paint colors arrived on the scene after homeowners and designers alike were frustrated with the cool undertones of gray and the underwhelmed with the blahs of beige.
The versatility of the perfect greige paint color is unmatched and serves as an easy backdrop for most furnishings and decor.
Find out which greige paint color is right for you with my full guide!
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Best greige paint colors
While Revere Pewter and Accessible Beige were among the first greige paint colors to rise to popularity, there’s quite a few newcomers designers are welcoming into homes this year.
Of course, you can’t go wrong with the classic greige paint colors, but don’t be afraid to explore the latest greige paint colors for 2022.
You’ll notice some of the up and coming greige color picks are darker, and have an earthier tone to them.
Take note of the Light Reflective Value (LRV) of each paint color mentioned. The LRV of a color means how much light a color reflects or absorbs.
The scale is 0-100 with colors that have a LRV between 0-50 absorbing more light than they reflect, and colors 50-100 reflecting more light.
Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray
Perhaps one of the most popular greige paint colors has always been Sherwin Williams Agreeable Gray. Agreeable Gray is fairly neutral in the world of greiges, but it isn’t for everyone, as it has a green undertone to it.
Grays and beiges with green undertones tend to be the most neutral of grays, but just because you now know that info doesn’t mean you can pair it with everything!
As a rule, these types of colors definitely don’t look great with warmer undertones like carpeting or tile with pink undertones or items with more earthy tones to them.
You also might notice the green undertone to Agreeable Gray if you use this color in a room with a lot of cooler tones like blues and purples.
The LRV of Agreeable Gray is 60
Sherwin Williams Repose Gray
I’ve included Repose Gray on this list of greige colors because every time I see a list of greige paint choices this popular color is on the list, but you know what? Repose Gray isn’t actually a greige!
Repose Gray is way too cold to be considered a greige, and in fact it’s just a plain old gray. To add insult to injury, Repose Gray has a blue undertone to it, too, so if you were really after a warmer hue and you landed on Repose Gray, you’d be fairly upset!
Now, Repose Gray certainly has its place in home interiors, as it makes a great backdrop for living rooms, kitchens and bedrooms with blue undertones, it just doesn’t belong on all of these lists of greige colors.
The LRV of Repose Gray is 58
Need help selecting the perfect paint color for your space? Hire Me! As a virtual paint color consultant I can recommend the best color to fit your room.
Benjamin Moore Balboa Mist
Balboa Mist is another popular greige color recommendation and unlike Repose Gray, it actually belongs on this list! If you’re looking for a muted greige hue with a soft violet undertone, Balboa Mist is a stunning color.
This tone pairs best with fixed elements and/or furnishings that have a purple undertone to them.
Side note: A lot of people think they need a violet gray when they in fact need a taupe. If this what you’ve been running into, make sure you check out my post on taupe colors and sample both taupes and grays with violet undertones before making your decision.
The LRV of Balboa Mist is 67
Benjamin Moore Classic Gray
Note: in the above photo, Classic Gray is used on the ceiling, trim and doors.
Another popular warm gray/greige color, Classic Gray is one of the lightest colors on this list, making it a fairly popular option for living spaces now as most homeowners want fairly pale colors for rooms like living rooms and kitchens.
Classic Gray has a green undertone to it, so the same rules that I specified above with Agreeable Gray apply. Watch out for pairing this with pink or earthy undertones and remember, if you put this color in a room with a lot of cooler tones, you will definitely notice that green undertone.
Classic Gray has an LRV of 75
Did you know you can order peel and stick paint samples of any of these colors? This is the only way I sample colors and recommend to all of my clients, as you can easily compare multiple colors at once!
Sherwin Williams Mindful Gray
Mindful Gray is a beautiful greige color with green undertones.
Mindful Gray is definitely a medium-depth paint color, with much more saturation than colors like Classic Gray or even Repose Gray, so I can’t say that Mindful Gray is heavily used on walls in a living room, as most people today are gravitating towards very, very light colors in their living spaces.
Now, of course, it’s your home, so do what you wish! If you do like this color but think it’s too dark for the main living space, perhaps consider it for cabinetry or built ins.
The LRV of Mindful Gray is 48
Related: 9 farmhouse paint colors to try in 2023
Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter
Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore was one of the first greige colors to become super popular, and it’s still a highly requested choice today.
A good mix of beige and gray, Revere Pewter does have hints of a green undertone, which becomes very evident when paired with elements that have a pink/redish undertone to them.
If you really want to capitalize on the light and airy look of the warm greige color Revere Pewter reflects, use Revere Pewter in spaces that have ample light.
The LRV of Revere Pewter is 55.51
Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
Another popular pale color, Edgecomb Gray is a greige with a green undertone. When sampling Edgecomb Gray, I always see Edgecomb Gray leaning significantly more to the beige side than gray.
The LRV of Edgecomb Gray is 63
Benjamin Moore Gray Mist
This pale gray color has a light reflectance value of 74, making it a very light paint color, even though it’s still technically a greige.
A barely-there greige with a green undertone, Gray Mist almost looks like an off-white tone.
Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige
Despite the name, Accessible Beige by Sherwin Williams is actually a greige paint color. Accessible Beige is a very neutral color and tends to warm any space.
Although Accessible Beige has been around for a while now, Sherwin Williams recently named it as one of 40 colors for its best of the best color palette for 2022.
Just like Revere Pewter, Accessible Beige has a green undertone, so be careful about using this color around fixed elements that have pink or red undertones, as it makes the paint color come off as having a green tint to it.
Additionally, when using Accessible Beige, keep in mind that rooms with a lot of natural light will look more grey, while rooms with less light tend to look more beige.
The LRV of Accessible Beige is 58
Related reading: Our DIY shiplap fireplace
Benjamin Moore Wish
The LRV of Wish is 59.7
Wish is another one of Benjamin Moore’s favorite paint colors for 2020, and I’m still including it in this round up for 2022, as it’s timeless, in my opinion. This greige color is on the lighter side, especially when compared to Thunder.
There are some yellow undertones present in Wish, giving off a more light beige tone in a room with ample light, and a darker beige tone in a north facing room.
Benjamin Moore Pale Oak
Pale Oak is a fairly popular color but unfortunately many people use this color without really knowing that it’s actually a taupe! Now, technically speaking Pale Oak is a taupe greige, but it’s still a taupe.
A lot of people really like taupes because they are warmer than grays but cooler than beiges, making it a really good in-between. However, just because it’s a good in between color, doesn’t mean you need to choose it.
You need a taupe when your fixed elements (carpet, flooring, countertops, etc.) have a pink or violet undertone.
Now you might be wondering which fixed elements would have pink/purple undertones, but you’d be surprised how many do, which is why it’s always best to have a lot of options first when sampling colors to see how they relate to the items in your home.
The LRV of Pale Oak is 70.
Sherwin Williams Perfect Greige
Perfect Greige is a darker greige than most on this list, but is still a beautiful blend of gray and beige. Because it’s on the darker side, Perfect Greige works best for open spaces with lots of natural light.
There is a slight pink undertone to this color that will be more noticeable in darker lit spaces. If you’ve got an open concept room with ample light and are looking for a warm greige, Perfect Greige is a great choice!
The LRV of Perfect Greige is 42
Sherwin Williams Worldly Gray
Another rich greige paint color is Worldly Gray by Sherwin Williams.
Like some other greige colors on this list, Worldy Gray has a hint of a green undertone, so make sure to sample Worldly Gray against your furnishing and fixed elements like flooring and countertops to see if the green undertone shows, if that’s something you want to avoid.
The LRV of Worldly Gray is 58
Need help deciding which paint color works for your space? Here’s my full guide on how to pick paint colors.
Sherwin Williams Oyster White
A very pale greige with green undertones, Oyster White is a pretty option to sample if you’re looking for a lighter toned greige.
Because this color is so pale, the contrast between Oyster White and a very soft off-white won’t be huge, so make sure you take that into consideration if you’re thinking of this type of color for walls in a kitchen with off-white cabinets.
The LRV of Oyster White is 72.
Sherwin Williams Eider White
Here’s an extremely pale greige that almost looks white by itself. When compared to off whites, you can easily see it’s not in the same category, but is still pale, nonetheless. Technically speaking, Eider White is a greige with a violet undertone.
The LRV of Eider White is 73
Sherwin Williams Panda White
A barely-there greige, Panda White is actually a taupe greige. Many people are scared of taupe but then realize it’s a really good in between color for something warmer than gray but not quite at beige.
Taupe has a pink/violet undertone, which is actually more common than you think with fabrics and countertops, so make sure your fixed elements can support this if you go with this type of tone.
The LRV of Panda White is 76
Benjamin Moore Silver Satin
A very pale gray with purple undertones, Silver Satin is a pretty greige tone. Don’t let purple/violet undertones scare you, they aren’t jumping out at you, but they are there. If you have a lot of pinks/purples in your fixed elements, this is a color to sample. This is a great color in a bedroom with purple/violet decor!
The LRV of Silver Satin is 75
How do I determine if a greige is right for my space?
This is perhaps the most important piece of this entire post. You likely are reading about greige because you told someone you think gray is too cold but you’re not a fan of beige and so now you’ve stumbled upon greige. That’s all well and good, but the question is: Does greige work for your space?
All greige colors are different. If you pay attention to each color I highlighted above you’ll see that yes, they are a blend of gray and beige, but they all have undertones.
When you’re working with neutral paint colors like greiges, undertones will come back to bite you in the butt if you’re not careful.
Take for example, Accessible Beige. This light hue is a hugely popular greige, but just because you want something warmer than grey but not quite beige, doesn’t mean you should just decide this paint color is right for you.
Accessible Beige has a green undertone. This won’t work everywhere. It may be too beige/warm for your space.
You need to evaluate your fixed elements and your furnishings and determine what type of undertone they have and match that to the undertone of the greige paint color you’re considering.
Beyond matching the undertone to your home’s most demanding items, you also need to evaluate how light or dark the color is. Some of these popular greige colors are far too dark to be used as a whole house color.
Is greige still popular in 2023?
Not only is greige paint still hugely popular now, but interior design experts also predict that greige will be big for a while.
I have noticed a bit of a departure from griege tones that lean more toward grays than beiges, as designers are now favoring warmer, earthier tones. So if you’re worried that greige is going to go out of style, don’t be!
What is the lightest greige color?
Very light greige paint colors include paint colors like Swiss Coffee, Silver Satin, Balboa Mist, Gray Mist and Pale Oak.
Is greige more gray or beige?
Greige has a blend of gray and beige, and as you’ll see when you sample these colors in your home, some of these colors lean closer to gray and others lean closer to beige.
That’s why it’s so important to see how the colors look in your home first rather than just seeking out a “greige” because you think it’s the right color for you.
What’s the best greige with no undertones?
Unfortunately, all neutral colors have undertones, greige paint colors included. The greige colors in this list have taupe, green or purple undertones. You won’t notice these undertones if you correctly identify the neutral undertones in your fixed elements and furnishings and then choose a greige that works for your space.
You’ll notice there aren’t any greige colors on this list with blue or even blue/green undertones; that’s because you’re no longer in the greige territory with those types of undertones.
If you need a gray with either blue or blue/green undertones don’t consider greige colors.
Instead check out my post on blue or even a gray with blue/green undertones then you need to look at my post on gray paint colors.
What is a good accent color for greige?
One of the best aspects of going with a greige is that it’s such a neutral paint color choice that it goes with virtually anything– from blacks to turquoise and everything in between–provided you consider the undertones of the color you want to pair with the greige color.
For example, take your greige color in question, identify the undertones and then compare those with the color you want to pair it with.
To blend well, colors need to have undertones that complement each other. Take pairing a greige with a trim color– if the greige color has a warm undertone, make sure you choose a trim color with a warm undertone.
If drama is what you’re going for, lighter greige colors like accessible beige work beautifully with a black paint color.
Revere Pewter works wonderfully paired alongside a navy paint color or even turquoise.
Greige paint colors also pair well with the grey green paint color family, and look really pretty with the more muted farmhouse paint colors, like sea salt, waterloo, blushing and pewter green.
Greige paint colors are classic choices that will stand the test of time in your home. Have a question about a greige paint color? Let me know! In the meantime, if after reading this post, you’re still wondering, “What color should I paint my room?” be sure to read my helpful guide.
Trying out Greige paint color samples
Rather than heading out to the store to grab multiple paint samples, try Sampilize! This is seriously one of the coolest inventions ever. You can order paint samples online on sheets of 12×12 peel and stick paper.
Simply peel and stick the paint samples right on your wall to help you decide what paint color is right for your space.
I have used Sampilize many times when I want to compare multiple paint colors to see how they work on walls in my home and I love this process so much more than going to the paint store.
Other paint colors to check out
Accessible beige by Sherwin Williams
Revere Pewter by Sherwin Williams
White Dove by Benjamin Moore
The best black paint colors
