Paint colors for your home, inside and out
19th-century painting · art-to-room palette
This palette comes from Jozseph Rippl-Rónaï's 1894 oil painting "Slender Woman with Vase" at The Art Institute of Chicago. It pairs soft parchment and sand tones with near-black and a deep brown, and it suits living rooms, studies and bedrooms where you want a calm, warm backdrop with a few strong anchors.
Quick answer
Paint the walls in the very light cream (#EFE4C6) and use the pale sand (#CFC3A8) as the main color on larger furnishings or a second wall. Keep the deep brown (#4C2F24) for accents like a door or built-in shelving, and bring in the ochre (#B7813C) through textiles such as pillows or a throw.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
Soft Black Green#0D100F |
|
1 | Small accents, art, accessories |
Pale Parchment Sand#CFC3A8 |
|
55 | Bed, sofa, curtains |
Warm Taupe Sand#AF9F87 |
|
36 | Small accents, art, accessories |
Light Cream Wall#EFE4C6 |
|
78 | Main walls |
Deep Cocoa Brown#4C2F24 |
|
4 | One bold piece |
Muted Ochre Gold#B7813C |
|
26 | 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.
#D2CEBFNorth light is cool and flat, so the cream wall (LRV 78) will look a little grayer and quieter than the swatch. Its warm yellow undertone helps keep the room from feeling cold, and the high LRV bounces back what daylight there is.
#F3E4C4Strong south light will bring out the yellow in the cream wall, so it reads sunnier and brighter. With an LRV of 78 it can feel glowing on a large wall, so test it beside your trim and floor before committing.
#C9B48FWarm evening bulbs add more yellow to an already warm cream, so the wall will look softer and more golden. Pair it with bulbs that are not too orange if you want to keep it from tipping toward butter.
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 Ochre Gold 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.
You can, but with an LRV of 0 it absorbs nearly all light. It works best in a small room or on one wall, or as an accent on a door or cabinet, with the cream nearby to keep the space from feeling heavy.
Use it sparingly as an accent. At LRV 4 it is very dark with a warm red-orange undertone, so it suits a front door, a bookshelf interior or a single piece of furniture against the cream wall.
Keep it to textiles such as pillows, a throw or curtains. The ochre (LRV 26) is a small share of the painting, and a few touches in a room will have the same quiet effect against the lighter sand and cream tones.
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.
