Paint colors for your home, inside and out
Earthy · colors from 2 paintings
Earth tones are warm browns and tans that feel settled. Two deep browns lead this palette, and four companion colors from the same paintings add a sky blue, a clay pink and two soft tans.
Quick answer
Use the light tan #D7C4A7 on the walls, the rust brown #6D402F for the main furniture, #80705B for wood, and #A9CBDD for a cool textile.
A very dark brown at LRV 5 with a warm yellow undertone, from Claude Lorrain's Sunrise. Use it for a feature wall in a large room, or for trim and doors.
From Sunrise, Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée)
A deep red-orange brown at LRV 7, from Frans Hals's portrait of Anna van der Aar. It suits a leather sofa, a built-in or an accent wall.
From Anna van der Aar (born 1576/77, died after 1626), Frans Hals
A light wall color at LRV 57 with a warm yellow undertone, from Lorrain's Sunrise. It is the easiest wall in this palette and brightens an average room.
From Sunrise, Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée)
A deep warm taupe at LRV 17, from Hals's portrait of Anna van der Aar. Use it on wood furniture, floors or a cozy wall.
From Anna van der Aar (born 1576/77, died after 1626), Frans Hals
A light cool blue at LRV 56, from Lorrain's Sunrise. A small amount in curtains or a rug cools the browns and keeps them from feeling heavy.
From Sunrise, Claude Lorrain (Claude Gellée)
A mid-tone red-orange at LRV 39, from Hals's portrait of Anna van der Aar. It works as a bold piece such as a chair, a pillow or an accent door.
From Anna van der Aar (born 1576/77, died after 1626), Frans Hals
The same paint reads differently in cool north light, warm south sun and under evening lamps. Find the column closest to your room.
| Color | Neutral daylight | North light | South light | Evening lamps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Sand Tan | ||||
| Clear Sky Blue | ||||
| Warm Peach Clay |
Pick which color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and trim follow your choice.
The framed picture on the wall is Sunrise.
Sort the six colors by LRV. The sand tan #D7C4A7 at 57 and the sky blue #A9CBDD at 56 are the light ones. The peach clay #CC9E82 at 39 sits in the middle. The taupe #80705B at 17, the rust brown #6D402F at 7 and the umber #473E2E at 5 are the dark ones.
A room needs a mix of all three levels. A good split is mostly light, some mid-tone and a few dark pieces.
The two lead colors differ in undertone. The umber is yellow and the rust is red-orange. Choose the one that matches your floors. Yellow-brown wood suits the umber, and reddish wood suits the rust.
The suggested roles are walls in sand tan, main furniture in rust brown, wood in taupe, a bold piece in peach clay and a textile in sky blue.
Trim and ceiling should stay lighter than the walls. A warm white that leans slightly yellow suits sand tan, while a stark white will look cold beside it.
Flooring can carry the darker colors. Hardwood in the taupe or rust range ties the room together. If your floor is pale, use the umber in rugs or a large piece of furniture to add weight.
The sky blue is the one cool color here. A little goes a long way. Use it for curtains, a throw or one painted piece. Too much blue starts to fight the warm browns.
Metals look good in aged brass or black. Greenery and natural fibers such as linen, jute and wool work well with this palette.
Warm colors look warmest in warm light. Under evening bulbs, the sand tan #D7C4A7 turns golden, and the rust brown looks richer. In cool north light the same colors look flatter and grayer.
In a bright south room, sand tan can look pale and the sky blue can look almost white. In a dim room, the three dark browns will look nearly the same, so use them for texture and shape, not for subtle differences.
The LRV helps you plan. A wall at 57 reflects more than half the light, so it keeps a room open. A wall at 7 absorbs most of it, so it suits a room you use in the evening, or a small area where depth is wanted.
Look at the room at different hours before you commit.
Paint a sample at least two feet wide, or use a large painted board. Put it on the wall you plan to paint and a second one on a different wall, so you can see how the light changes it.
Check it in the morning, at noon and in the evening with your lamps on. Earth tones change more under artificial light than cool colors do.
Hold the sample next to your floor, sofa and curtains. A tan that looks neutral on a chip may look yellow beside gray flooring or pink beside red brick.
Leave samples up for a few days. If you are comparing the sand tan with the peach clay, put them next to each other to see how much pink each one carries.
This palette uses browns, tans and a clay pink, with one sky blue as a cool contrast. All the warm colors have yellow or red-orange undertones.
The light sand tan #D7C4A7 at LRV 57 is the easiest wall color here, because it keeps a room bright.
The umber and rust brown have an LRV of 5 and 7, so they absorb most light. Use them in small amounts or in rooms with plenty of daylight.
The sky blue #A9CBDD appears with the sand tan in the same painting, which is why it is on this page. It adds contrast without clashing.
Each color lists its closest measured match, such as Sherwin-Williams SW 6120 Believable Buff for the sand tan. Always test the paint on your own wall.
A card with every color on this page, its LRV and the paintings it comes from. Pin it, or take it to the paint store.
Painting images: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain (CC0). Colors measured by Light & Pigment. Paint names belong to their brands and matches are approximate. Colors look different on screen than on a wall, so always test a sample.
