Paint colors for your home, inside and out
18th-century French painting · art-to-room palette
This palette is built from François Boucher's 1765 painting Virgin and Child with the Young Saint John the Baptist and Angels, held at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It mixes deep olive, slate blue, warm ochre, and dusty rose with a large share of near-black, so it suits rooms that want depth and a soft, old-world warmth.
Quick answer
Paint the walls in the light blush #EFD1CA, which is a lightened version of the painting's palest tone. Use slate blue #798A99 for large furniture or upholstery, deep midnight blue #2E475E for textiles, ochre brown #846F52 for wood, and deep olive #545347 on trim or a door as an accent.
Measured from the image and ordered by how much of the canvas they cover. LRV is how much light a color reflects, from 0 for black to 100 for white.
Left, every pixel of the canvas snapped to its nearest palette color. Right, the detail where each color is strongest.
The nearest color from each brand. “Near-identical” and “Very close” are hard to tell apart on a wall; with “Similar”, compare a sample with the painting. Brands with nothing close are left out.
| Painting color | Closest paints | LRV | Use it for |
|---|---|---|---|
Deep olive gray#545347 |
|
9 | One bold piece |
Pure near-black#000000 |
|
0 | Small accents, art, accessories |
Slate blue gray#798A99 |
|
25 | Bed, sofa, curtains |
Warm ochre brown#846F52 |
|
17 | Wood and frames |
Dusty warm rose#D0ADA5 |
|
46 | Main walls |
Deep midnight blue#2E475E |
|
6 | One small textile |
Paint names belong to their brands. Matches are measured from screen colors and are approximate; Light & Pigment is not affiliated with any paint brand.
This painting has no light tone, so the wall color above is a lightened version of its palest color (#EFD1CA).
The wall color shifted for the light it will live in. Check the version closest to your room before buying a sample.
#D2C1C1North light is cool and soft, so the blush wall will look cooler and a little grayer than it does on a sample card. The slate blue and olive will look more muted. Test the wall on the shadiest wall before you commit.
#F3D6C8Strong south light warms and brightens the blush wall, so it can look lighter and more peach than in the north. The deep blues and olive will keep their depth and show more contrast against the wall.
#C9A991Under warm evening bulbs the blush wall turns richer and more rose-toned. The ochre and brown wood pick up a glow, and the midnight blue textiles read deeper and quieter.
Pick which painting color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and light follow your choices.
Wood takes Warm ochre brown and the rug border takes Deep midnight blue in every combination.
Details from the painting next to the colors and materials that carry them into a room.
A card with the painting, all 6 colors and a room scheme. Pin it, or take it to the paint store.
The painting has no light tone, so the wall color #EFD1CA was made by lightening its palest color. It is meant to act as a backdrop for the deeper colors in the scheme.
The painting uses near-black across about a fifth of its surface, but a room needs far less. Use it in small doses, such as picture frames, lamp bases, or thin lines of trim, so it adds contrast without making the room feel closed in.
Pair the blush wall with slate blue bedding or a throw and ochre brown wood furniture. Add a midnight blue textile for weight at the foot of the bed, and keep the olive gray for a door or trim detail.
Image: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public domain (CC0). Palette, posterized image, details and room views generated by Light & Pigment from that image. Colors look different on screen than on a wall, so always test a sample.
