Paint colors for your home, inside and out
18th-century Scandinavian painting · art-to-room palette
This palette comes from Martin van Meytens the Younger's oil painting "Count Giacomo Durazzo (1717–1794) and Ernestine Aloisia Ungnad von Weissenwolff (1732–1794)," probably early 1760s, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is built on deep and muted greens, with a pale green, rust and ochre as supporting colors.
Quick answer
Use the pale green #DAEBCA on the walls and the mid-tone sage #7E8366 on large furniture or a paneled section. Add the very dark green as an accent on a door or built-in, and bring in the rust and ochre through textiles and wood.
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 spruce green#304532 |
|
5 | One bold piece |
Muted sage green#7E8366 |
|
22 | Bed, sofa, curtains |
Near-black forest green#122A16 |
|
2 | Small accents, art, accessories |
Pale celadon green#DAEBCA |
|
79 | Main walls |
Burnt rust red#8E4D31 |
|
11 | One small textile |
Antique ochre gold#87723D |
|
18 | Wood and frames |
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.
#C4D3C1North light is cool and soft, so the pale green (LRV 79) can read slightly grayer and quieter. Its green undertone will stay gentle. Keep the wall as the lightest surface in the room so it does not look flat.
#E2EAC8Strong south light makes the pale green brighter and more luminous, and it may look lighter than the swatch. Bounce from the wall will be strong, so check a large test patch at midday before committing.
#BDB891Warm evening bulbs push the pale green toward a creamy yellow tone. The rust and ochre will look warmer and richer, and the deep greens will look more brown. Compare the colors under your own bulbs before you paint.
Pick which painting color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and light follow your choices.
Wood takes Antique ochre gold and the rug border takes Burnt rust 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.
Use the pale green #DAEBCA, which measures LRV 79. It is the lightest color in the palette and it bounces the most light, so it suits walls in rooms that need brightness.
Use it in small amounts, such as a door, trim or a single built-in, rather than on all the walls. The color measures LRV 5, so it will make a small room feel closed in if it covers too much.
Use the burnt rust #8E4D31 and antique ochre #87723D in textiles, pillows, rugs or wood furniture. They warm the greens and balance the cool undertones of the pale green wall.
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.
