Paint colors for your home, inside and out
19th-century French painting · art-to-room palette
This palette comes from Renoir's The Laundress, painted 1877-79 and held by The Art Institute of Chicago. It pairs deep blue-greens with a soft pale wall, an olive green and a warm earthy brown, and it suits a calm living room, a study or a bedroom.
Quick answer
Put the pale gray-green #D9DDD6 on the walls, and use the warm taupe #93806D for main pieces like a sofa, rug or curtains. Save the olive #7A8557 for an accent chair or pillows, and the brick red #9F584D for small textiles such as a throw. The two deep blues work as a feature wall, cabinet or door color.
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 Teal Green#527676 |
|
16 | Small accents, art, accessories |
Dark Slate Blue#365563 |
|
8 | Small accents, art, accessories |
Warm Putty Taupe#93806D |
|
23 | Bed, sofa, curtains |
Pale Gray Mist#D9DDD6 |
|
71 | Main walls |
Soft Olive Green#7A8557 |
|
22 | One bold piece |
Muted Brick Red#9F584D |
|
15 | 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.
The wall color shifted for the light it will live in. Check the version closest to your room before buying a sample.
#C3C9C9The pale wall color #D9DDD6 has an LRV of 71, so it bounces back plenty of light, but north light is cool and may push it toward a cooler, grayer look. Warm taupe and brick red accents help keep the room from feeling chilly.
#E1DFD1In strong south light, #D9DDD6 stays soft and clean because it has no clear undertone. Its high LRV of 71 means it can look bright at midday, so pair it with the deeper blues or olive to give the eye somewhere to rest.
#BCB098Warm bulbs will add a yellow cast to #D9DDD6 and make it feel softer and creamier. The deep blues (LRV 16 and 8) will look darker and moodier, while the taupe and brick red will glow.
Pick which painting color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and light follow your choices.
Wood takes a warm mid-brown and the rug border takes Muted Brick Red 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.
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You can, but with LRVs of 16 and 8 they absorb most of the light and read very dark. They work best in a small room, or on one wall or built-in cabinet, with the pale wall color elsewhere.
Use #D9DDD6 for walls. At LRV 71 it reads light, reflects light around the room and lets the darker colors work as furniture, trim or a feature wall.
Keep it small. The brick red #9F584D covers only 1.6% of the painting, so a few pillows, a throw or a small piece of art is enough. Its warm red-orange undertone stands out against the cool blues.
Image: The Art Institute of Chicago, 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.
