The Top 6 Warm Neutrals for Any Room
Are you blah’ed out by beiges and not-so-nutty about neutrals? Well, don’t be! There are some fan-tan-stic tans out there that act not only as backdrops to the features of your home, but also help neutralize or camouflage unwanted elements.
1. BENJAMIN MOORE GRANT BEIGE HC 83
Grant Beige is a tan paint colour that isn’t too light or too dark thanks to its moderate LRV of 56.65 (learn more about LRV here). And regardless of what its name says, Grant Beige is pretty darned ‘tan’ as it doesn’t have that typical golden beige look. In fact, in a north-facing room, Grant Beige can even lean slightly greige.
In the above photo, notice how natural light can make it appear lighter and brighter, while below, it has a slightly deeper look on a more shaded wall, as shown in this staircase and hallway…
MORE ABOUT GRANT BEIGE
- The LRV of Grant Beige is 56.65, putting it on the LOWER, slightly darker side of the light range. It’s certainly not a heavy, dense colour, but it’s not fresh and bright.
- While it can suit many rooms, it can be a bit heavy for dark hallways, in which case, check out Manchester Tan.
FULL Paint Colour Review of Benjamin Moore Grant Beige
The Ultimate Guide to LRV and Picking Paint Colours
2. BENJAMIN MOORE BENNINGTON GRAY HC 82
Bennington Gray has more meat on its bones than a typical beige or tan paint colour, but it sure as heck isn’t gray like its name suggests. You’ll also find Bennington Gray looking slightly warmer than Grant Beige without being too golden/yellow toned.
MORE ABOUT BENNINGTON GRAY
- Even though it has gray in its name, it’s NOT remotely close to gray.
- It’s a great way to get a warm look without being golden, for those of you with an aversion to yellow/orange.
- With an LRV of 46, it has good visual weight to it, so it will cosy up your room, rather than lightening it.
- Bennington Gray CAN grab a subtle green undertone, so be careful what you partner it with.
3. BENJAMIN MOORE MANCHESTER TAN HC 81
Manchester Tan is one of the lighter, but not washed-out beige/tan colours with the flexibility to humour those who prefer a more neutral tan as well as those who love the warmer end of things.
The above photo shows Manchester Tan lightened by 25% in a space with different types of natural light.
Paint Colour Review of Benjamin Moore Manchester Tan
MORE ABOUT MANCHESTER TAN
- It will generally look like a neutral, light tan paint colour.
- With an LRV of 64, it’s in a great range for the average room/lighting situation.
- It has a vague yellow undertone and can nod towards green just a wink, although rarely does unless partnered with a finish with opposite (pinkish) undertones
Let’s take a quick break to talk about paint samples…
Undoubtedly, you’ll be heading out in the near future to grab paint samples – stop right there! I want you to check out SAMPLIZE. Samplize offers peel and stick paint samples that are more AFFORDABLE, EASIER and more ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY than traditional paint pots. Here are just a FEW reasons why I recommend Samplize to my clients…
- samples arrive ON YOUR DOORSTEP in 1-3 business days, depending on location
- they’re more affordable than the samples pots/rollers/foam boards that are needed for traditional paint sampling
- if you keep the samples on their white paper, you can move them around the room
Visit the SAMPLIZE website HERE
4. BENJAMIN MOORE STONE HOUSE 1039
Stone House is a beige paint colour and sits quite neutral on the walls with an awesome blend of warm undertones. It has a more dense, slightly heavier feeling than the above colours due to its lower LRV of 49.61.
Paint Colour Review of Benjamin Moore Stone House
Is Beige Back? Is beige…dare I say, TRENDY?
MORE ABOUT STONE HOUSE
- Stone House has beautiful undertones that are centered on orange but can flex slightly towards red (pink).
- It handles itself well in any exposure – north, east, south, west.
Click HERE or on the above image to see affordable and fun package options!
5. BENJAMIN MOORE LENOX TAN HC 44
Lenox Tan is a beige paint colour with an orange-yellow undertone and is undoubtedly the warmest colour on this page. If you aren’t a fan of orange undertones you’ll want to stay away from this one, however, if you want a slightly warm neutral without a strong yellow, then this could be your best shade!
MORE ABOUT LENOX TAN
- Compare it to Grant Beige to see the warmth that rises up.
- The LRV of Lenox Tan is 43, making it a slightly richer choice.
- Once in a while, it picks up a wink of green but it’s INCREDIBLY passive.
FULL Paint Colour Review of Benjamin Moore Lenox Tan
The Best Tan Paint Colours from Sherwin Williams & Benjamin Moore
6. BENJAMIN MOORE SHAKER BEIGE HC-45
Shaker Beige is a gorgeous warm beige paint colour with undertones that focus on orange (slightly orange-pink). This particular blend makes Shaker Beige a popular choice for many homes built in the late 90s and early 2000s as many products from those years have similar undertones.
MORE ABOUT SHAKER BEIGE
- Its depth creates a softer look compared to the slightly richer Lenox Tan, but it still has decent body to it.
- It has an LRV of 54, so it’s light-ish, but won’t do as well in a room that’s dark.
- It’s a soft warm neutral, not overly golden, but not grayed-out either.
READ MORE
The 12 MOST POPULAR Beige and Tan Paint Colours
The 8 Best WHOLE HOME Warm Neutral Paint Colours
The 5 Best TAN Paint Colours: Benjamin and Sherwin
Is Beige Back? Is beige…dare I say, TRENDY?
Still not sure which is the best colour for you?
Check out my Online Colour Consulting Packages!
Chat soon,
Originally written in 2014, updated in 2021
Comments 40
I have cherry cabinets and furniture all over my house. It’s been very difficult tochoose a color for my north facing 2 story family room. Someone suggested Roasted Sesame seed from BM but I think it may be to bright and yellow. Any suggestion?
Hi Mary, you are sooo right in thinking that Roasted Sesame seed is too bright and yellow. While the warmth would be nice in a north facing room, it can get a bit ‘colourful’ when put with cherry cabinets!
Here’s a few thoughts for you….
1. Acorn Yellow – warm and rich but well grounded. You just might find it a touch ‘heavy’, so keep in mind that you can always have it lightened by 1/4 to take the edge off of it!
2. Cable Knit – along the same lines as Roasted Sesame Seed but considerably lighter. This colour varies in undertone throughout the day which is nice as it flexes from an orange to a yellow undertone. It’s also very versatile as it looks great with a lot of other colours.
3. Sandy Brown – definitely the most neutral of the bunch, which makes it pretty versatile, but if you’re looking for something with ‘some’ colour you may find it a bit flat – depends on your tastes!
4. Now I don’t know your tastes/layout in particular, but you could consider doing the walls something like Muslin and then choosing a feature wall colour like Dusty Ranch Brown or Gaucho Brown – which can both be quite striking with Cherry cabinets as they too have a bit of a cherryish undertone (Gaucho just being a more brown version…)
I hope that helps!
~Kylie
KylieM Will any one of these beige paint colors pair well with White Dove ?
Would love to know the answer to this as well! 🙂
Hi, I love your website & have been reading & rereading your posts. I’m stuck on what color to paint my foyer. We just painted the joining living room Thunder (Ben.m). The kitchen is a green color. We have a fireplace with orangy/yellow brick in this area too. I cannot make up my mind! Should I use a beige neutral color, something like templeton, Chelsea gray? So stuck!!! Our house is a multi level, so the foyer is one level & the kitchen/ living room are up a few steps. Thanks for any ideas!
Thank you Kelly, I love to hear that!!!!
Okay, so you have to be careful with the orangey/yellowy bricks that you don’t go too tan/gray/neutral around it or else you risk it just not ‘visually connecting’ with your fireplace. I also LOVE Templeton but it could be too blue – really depends on your home and it’s accents. I love Chelsea Gray and as long as your entryway isn’t a dungeon it can be amazing! You can also consider having it lightened by 1/4 to take the edge off. You’ll find that it should tie in really nicely with your grout and won’t clash at all with your other colours as it really is quite a lovely neutral. I hope that helps you Kelly!!
~Kylie
Hi Kylie, you have a wonderful website! I am having a difficult time picking the BM color for my basement , We have medium light gray wood-like tiles with a little green in it. It is a big open space with some (but not a lot) natural light . I am looking for some neutral cosy color ( I do not like green on the walls) and also we need to put a kitchen and 7 wood doors there . I am not sure what color of the wood to pick. I am assuming that kitchen and doors do not have to be the same color.
I am going to Really appreciate your respond!
Irena
Hi Irena, you have a tricky one. ‘Generally’ as soon as you put green with warm colours (yellow/orange) it can look outdated, so you have to be sooo careful. Neutral and Cozy, hmmm, I’m thinking. Okay, so my best advice to you is to stick with neutral. While it won’t be ‘warm’ you can add rich and deep colours to the space through furniture/toss cushions/drapes/etc…that will help to make things feel cozy – does that make sense?
That being said, I’m going to try to just ‘toe the line’ between Neutral and ‘almost warm’ (as generally warm colours are the cozy ones)
1. Bennington Gray – it’s neutral, but not so light that it looks dirty – this is especially important in a basement where the light tends to be lower quality
2. Chelsea Gray – Okay, you’ll look at this and be like ‘WHAT’. Okay, so while cool colours aren’t generally ‘cozy’, as soon as they become dark enough, the become cozy again! I have Chelsea Gray in my Master bedroom which has completely pathetic natural light and it feels very cozy and lovely
3. If you liked green on the walls, then I would show you Sandy Hook Gray (which is truly and amazing colour) It’s basically a gray with a slight green undertone and it’s so restful and beautiful. However, if you truly don’t want green on your walls then you’ll want to avoid it!
I would LOVE to send you more colours, but sometimes your room dictates where you can go. With staying away from the greens and the ‘warm’ colours (like I said, they can look funky in a bad way with your grays/greens), I think these might be a great place for you to start!
Let me know what you think, I don’t want to leave you hanging if none of those work for you!
~Kylie
Hi again! I wrote before asking for recommendations on a color for our foyer. I took forever to decide and finally chose Copley Gray. It looks soooo green. Ugh. Do you think there is a color we could have added to the rest of the gallon to make it more gray or brown and then just paint another layer? We have more than half of the gallon left. Our kitchen is currently a green color and I want to get rid of that too!!!
Our living room meeting the foyer in a corner by the front door is painted thunder and we have a large brick wall, sort of a yellow/orange. We have all oak (orangey trim and cabinets). Thanks so much for any ideas for us! 🙂
Or…maybe I won’t mind the Copley (green tone) if we paint the kitchen a color other than green. The cupboards, floor, trim are all looking so orange.
Hi Kylie! Your website is fantastic, thanks for all the great advice! Love the photos, especially the living room with the huge modern stone fireplace, wood floors, and BM gentle cream walls….my ideal living space!
I’m looking to paint a small portion of a staircase (i.e. essentially the landing at the top of the basement stairs, which is also the entrance from our garage). It’s a tiny tiny little spot, about the size of a long powder room and is currently just a bright white. Our basement leading up the stairs is BM Sandy Brown and our mainfloor is a mixture of warm beiges and white. The carpet on the stairs is a light beige berber and our tiles on the landing are a cream colour.
I’m stumped on what paint colour to choose. To be honest, I originally LOVED the sandy brown because the previous owner had all cool blues down there, including the carpet. So I went with sandy brown walls, cloud white trim, chocolate brown and tan sofas, and beige carpet. But now it’s starting to feel too brown/gold so I’m not wanting to enhance yellow or gold tones in the landing. I think it would be nice to do a bold accent colour like chocolate fondue or carolina gull. Any idea how those colours would look versus sandy brown? I also love edgecomb gray and in general would like to take our home into more grays tones as time goes on (except it would have to pair well with yellow-beige undertones as our existing Permanent features are those colours). Any suggestions?
Thanks so much!
Jen from Canada 🙂
Hi Jen, sorry for the delayed reply!
These days I try to refer questions to my Online Consulting as I’m so busy with my biz, but sometimes I simply ‘like’ a question and want to answer it because…well, because I want to – so here we go!!!
Okay, so I love that you want to go brave with your colour choice. Sometimes when you have a lot of warm neutrals in a space it’s nice to add some Balance – meaning a cool colour. Carolina Gull is a great way to do that. Some of the earth toned green/blues can go too gray in a lowlight space or in the evening, however Carolina Gull retains it’s ‘colour’ – which means it’s awesome! I had it in my stairwell for a while and loooved it, but as usual, I got bored!
Edgecomb Gray is a great colour but PLLLLLEEEEEEASE don’t put it with you current palette. It’s a gray, but it just barely slightly leans towards the soft end of things, meaning pink. Now I don’t mean it will look at all pink, but compared to some of the more neutral grays (like Gray Owl and Revere Pewter) it just leans that way. And it will lean that way if it’s paired with warm/yellow undertone colours as the undertone will clash for sure!
If you would like to add more grays to your palette, while keeping colours like Sandy Brown, you’ll want them to be dark enough that they aren’t typical ‘light grays’ – like Edgecomb, as they can just look dirty. You might want to lean into grays that have a wee bit of undertone (which means that they will shift colour throughout the day which is a cool thing).
If you took colours like Gray Horse and Sea Haze and had them darkened by 1/4, they would be nice partners with Sandy Brown and definitely lean towards the gray end of things. And Sandy Hook Gray…oh my goodness, Sandy Hook Gray is amazing and would look soooooo good with Sandy Brown. It’s kind of like a gray with a brown/green undertone….I love it….
Okay, so I hope that helps you out!!!
~Kylie
Hi Kylie, I just realized that I never said thank you! so, belatedly, thank you very much! in the end we went with Carolina gull for the landing. then we went on to repaint a lot of the beige walls on our main floor revere pewter! looks fantastic.
You are more than welcome Jen, I’m glad it worked out – I do loooove Revere Pewter!!!
Great post! I’m wondering what you think about SHAKER BEIGE? There is so much info online about Shaker Beige being the go to neutral. Since I didn’t see it on your site, I wondered what your opinion is.
Hello, we have a multi coloured pink brick home and need a beige colour to paint the garage doors which stick out front, and the shutters. Front door is a pewter type colour. Right now everything is a horrible dark brown, including soffits. What colour beige from Benjamin Moore would you suggest?
Hi Susie, on this home here we did a combo of Moccasin (on the garage doors) and Bluffs on the body of the house. The house has quite a pinkish brick and it turned out really well! https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/exterior-paint-colour-schemes-2-homes-in-nanaimo/
Hope that helps!
Hello we are planning on professional spraying painting our kicthen cabinets, replacing our countertop we absolutely love the kitchen above with the decorative words live and laugh. Could you please confirm the cabinet, wall colours. is the trim painted white around the window and what is the countertop made of and what is the colour. We would love to replicate this exact kicthen.
Abolsulety stunning hope to hear back soon as we want to start the renovations
Adam and Susan Kirk
Hi Susan, we’ve chatted via email and I hope your creating the kitchen of your dreams!
~Kylie
hi
I have just found your website .I really appreciated your work here.
Actually I am stuck .I had done(painted) my hall way and living room with invigorating green color from Behr. could you suggest me color for kitchen which has medium brown cabinet and beige brown cabinet and family room which is beside the kitchen as my house has open kitchen concept.
Thanks in advance
Hi Saloni! I’ve been quite swamped lately with my day-to-day decorating and Online Consulting and have been referring most questions to my Online Consulting as an affordable way for my readers to get answers to their questions. I hope to deal with all questions at some point, but have to give priority to my Online Consulting clients at this time. Thank you for asking and hope to hear from you! https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-consultation/
~Kylie
I’ve studied countless sites, have learned so much from you, but I’m stuck.
Upstairs has dark brown walnut floors…downstairs has cherry wood.
Downstairs living room has grand reddish-grey brick fireplace. House is a white and black colonial type. Lots of light downstairs. Big windows. Darker hall upstairs.
I want a light neutral hallway paint with either greige or creamy undertones. I’m torn. Upstairs I want greige undertones in my light paint and downstairs I want creamy warm undertones.
Problem- downstairs to upstairs is continuous…staircase, tall ceilings at entrance. I’m so stuck. What works for one floors doesn’t work for the other.
Is there any hope for a good paint colour? I’ve agonized for months. Paint samples, 100s of paint cards all over the house, detailed study of undertones….still stuck.
Is white my only option?
Sincerely,
Living in fear of white
Hi Shawna, you absolutely aren’t limited to white at all! I used to answer a lot of questions online but I get pretty inundated with questions. I do have affordable online consulting where you can actually send me photos of your space/rooms so that I can give you some pretty precise colour ideas. If you are interested your consult would be $60 and I would give you 2-3 colour options with full explanations (so you can understand why one colour works and another doesn’t.) Hope to hear from you!
~Kylie https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
I saw a picture of some of your work on Pinterest. It was an entry way with dark furniture and cream color walls. There was an oversized metal clock with numbers (rather than Roman numerals) placed on the wall. Can you tell me where I might purchase the clock?
Thank you,
Helen Thomas
Hi Helen, that beauty is from Urban Barn! If you are local (Nanaimo) I can get you 15% off. Regular price was $169 I think.
Thanks for asking!
~Kylie
Hi!
My living room is painted gray owl, which I love! What would be a good color to paint the adjacent dining room that will look good next to it? I want to stay neutral but not have another gray that is too alike. I was thinking copling gray. Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Hi Angela, thank you for asking! I usually refer these type of questions to my Online Consulting so that I can get some photos and ask some questions – this way I can lead you toward some great solutions! If that interest you at all, here is the link. https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
Thank you for visiting my site!
~Kylie
Hi Kylie,
I’ve really enjoyed looking over your site, very helpful. I’m needing help with paint color. I have stone lion in my living room by Sherwin Williams ( that i feel is too dark for the space). The only natural light I have in the living room is coming from the back of my house which is south facing, as the front of the house is north facing. In my foyer (north facing) I have 50% stone lion ( not much nat. light there either). My living room connects to my dining area that is connected to my kitchen, so pretty much open floor plan. In my dining area I have believable buff, which looks like a soft yellow. I really love it BUT im willing to change it as I want to paint the living room and foyer a lighter color and want it to flow into the dining and kitchen, all one color. I feel the different colors I currently have are too busy on the eye. My color pallet that Im leaning toward is the creams/tans/brown earth tone colors. I love the living room photos that i see on the internet with the cream on creams in various shades. I have bright white trim and wainscoting throughout. The problem I’m having is mainly with my kitchen cabinets. I want a color that will work throughout PLUS compliment my kitchen cabinets. My cabinets are base cream/ distressed/ glazed. With the glazed cabinets im having a hard time finding a color to compliment instead of clashing. My back splash is crema marfil with a medallion of brown/tans/creams. My granite is a Giallo ( I cant recall the exact color, maybe the Verona). I have looked at Accessible beige ( pretty but i feel its too dark in certain light), Ive considered edgecomb gray but looks a little too gray at times. I think the colors look better in homes with taller ceilings and more nat. lighting. If you can sheare some ideas, Id greatly appreciate it. I have tried soooo many samples and they either have too much yellow, too much pink or too much gray undetones.
Thanks!
Author
Hi Melissa! When it comes to questions that are more detailed like yours, it’s really hard for me to give you great ideas without photos, this way I can spend some proper time with you and your home. I try to give as much complimentary info as I can on my blog and if that doesn’t help, then e-design just might! It’s affordable and it’s fun and I can give you some good answers, rather than just guessing at what you’ve explained. If that interest you, the link is here and i do hope to hear from you – I can help! https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
`Kylie
Kylie, love love your blog! First time commenter, long time reader. I wanted to paint my house (we just moved) Gray Owl, the kitchen cabinets are wood (kind of sand colour) the tiles around the cabinets are also a sand type colour with some yellow-ish tones. Not a colour I would have picked but it’s not in the budget to replace it right now. Any recommendations? Is Gray Owl a no-no? Thank you!
Author
Hi Ciara, I’m glad you wrote! So, without knowing the sand colour it’s hard to say, but my INSTINCTS say no, that Gray Owl will be too cold and you might need something more along the lines of REvere Pewter perhaps…
If that doesn’t feel good, I do have an E-design service (it’s affordable and fun) and then I can look at your photos/personal tastes and come up with some on-point thoughts for you 🙂 https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
~Kylie
Hi Kylie,
I’ve been reading you blogs for months and they are super helpful! I painted most of my house BM Revere Pewter thanks to your advice! Just a quick question – will Benjamin Moore Grant Beige work as an accent wall with BM Edgecomb Gray? I think they are both in the greige family with a greenish undertone, right?
Thanks so much!
Mel
Author
Hi Mel, I probably wouldn’t – Grant Beige should come up TOO beige for Edgecomb! You might want to try BM Pashmina… 🙂
Hi Kylie, thanks so much for responding. I should have explained my dilemma further. I’m looking for a neutral warmish beige colour to paint our north-facing living room. We have mid-tone reddish hardwood floor and a light gray/beigish stone fireplace. We have a chocolate brown couch. I want a slightly darker colour to accent the fireplace wall. Also we have Revere Pewter in the adjoining hallway so I didn’t want anything that would clash with that. Hoping you can suggest 2 colours for me! Thanks again!
Ugh! I just got done painting my family room in SW Accessible Beige (based upon your description of the color and its undertones) and I am seeing a light celery green – not the look I was going for at all! The room has an east facing patio door, a west facing window, golden oak wood trim and “Chicago old” brick fireplace that dominates the room. I’m ready to try a different neutral.Any suggestions? Home Depot mixed the color for me in PPG eggshell, would that account for the green that I am seeing?
Author
Ahhhh yes, colour matching CAN work, but not always. I had THE EXACT same thing happen to another client! You can also get some green if you have a lot of grass/trees reflecting in from outside.
Hi Kylie
I just purchased a pewter leather sofa with a tan accent chair and I was wondering what colour would look best in my living room facing South? I have glass tables with brass accents as well as lights. Oh Ya also oak trim unfortunately. I was swinging toward grant beige as I like paint with Lrv around 50. If you have a better suggestion I would love to hear.
Thanks
Author
Hi Cyndy! thank you for your note! I actually have an E-design service just for this! I try to give as much complimentary as I can on my website, but if that doesn’t work you may enjoy sending me photos and getting me to spend some time with your home! https://www.kylieminteriors.ca/online-decorating-design-services/
~Kylie
Hi Kylie!
After finding your website to guide us on colors to paint our townhome for sale, I’ve peen been pouring over your articles to learn as much as I can about colors for our new home! For our Master Bedroom, we have a mostly white bedding with small hints of beige (accent pillow, a throw) because the room has pretty good lighting. I’m trying to decide between Worldy Grey and Berkshire beige for our wall color? Anyt thoughts on which one would work best? Of course, if you have any other suggestions for a calming color, I would be open to looking into it.
Thank you so much!
Cee.
HI Kylie
I love your posts and have learned soooo much from you.
During this pandemic-stay- home-not vworking- time I’m painting through my house, one room at a time. Its been my sanity here in upstate NY. Sometimes Ive mixed paints together to get just the right color. So far, so good!.
. We recently bought a 1840s era home , Im stumped about choosing my living room with south facing windows. Oatmeal colored furniture and a area rug with cream and some soft blues. I would say furniture is a warm tone. The flooring is carpeted for now…oatmeal…but beneath are old plank floors which I hope to refinish. I waa starting to paint Manchester Tan…. but Im not loving it. Its a bit too warm I think… need a bit more grey /greige’ but too much grey woukd clash with my furniture. Any ideas for me? The LVR is perfectvin this range as i I like my woodwoork (Chantilly Lace) to stand out.
I woukd love your suggestions. I’d like to stay with Ben Moore paint. There is a store nearby and love the coverage on my walls.
Thank you!