Earthy Tone Bedroom Colors, Measured From Paintings

How do I choose between the earthy browns?

Start with how dark you want the room to feel. The three browns step down in light reflectance value (LRV), where 0 is black and 100 is white. #8D6F4E sits at LRV 18, #615238 at 9 and #494132 at 5. All three have a warm yellow undertone, so they sit together without clashing.

Use #8D6F4E when you want a deep earthy color that still has some warmth in it. It suits a bed wall, a dresser or an upholstered chair. Choose #615238 for a headboard wall or a bold piece, such as a bench or armoire. Save #494132 for small areas or a room you mainly use at night, because below about LRV 20 a color reads very dark and soaks up light.

If the room is small or gets little daylight, keep the walls light and bring the browns in through furniture and one feature wall. The honey yellow #F4D27A at LRV 67 does the wall work.

What goes with earthy bedroom colors: trim, ceiling and floors?

Pair the browns with the light companions from the same paintings. A practical split: #F4D27A on the walls, #8D6F4E on the main furniture, #793C30 on wood pieces, #615238 on one bold piece and #D7CAB2 on textiles.

For trim, #D7CAB2 at LRV 60 is a soft, warm choice that frames the walls without the sharp edge of a stark white. It shares the yellow undertone of the browns. If you want trim to fade into the wall, paint it the wall color.

For the ceiling, stay light and warm. A cool, bluish white can look gray next to yellow undertones, so hold your white sample against the wall before you commit.

For flooring, mid-tone wood works with all of these. Keep the floor clearly lighter or darker than your largest furniture piece so the bed and dresser do not blend into it. The red-orange of #793C30 is strong, so use it for wood tones and small accents, not every surface.

How do earthy colors look in different bedroom light?

Light changes earthy colors more than most. In a north-facing bedroom, daylight is cooler and the browns can look flatter and a little grayer. Lean on the warm yellow #F4D27A or #D7CAB2 for the walls there, and keep the dark browns to furniture. In a south- or west-facing room, warm light makes the browns richer and can make the honey yellow feel strong at midday.

LRV tells you how much light each color sends back. #F4D27A at 67 and #D7CAB2 at 60 bounce light and read light. #8D6F4E at 18 holds more light in. #615238 at 9, #793C30 at 8 and #494132 at 5 sit at the dark end and absorb most of it.

At night, warm bulbs deepen all of these colors. A wall in #615238 will feel enclosed under a bedside lamp, so plan at least two light sources in a bedroom with dark walls, including one you can read by.

How do I test earthy paint samples?

Test before you buy gallons. Paint a sample at least two feet square on two different walls, one near the window and one in a darker corner. You can also paint a board and move it around the room. Leave a white border so you judge the color, not the old wall.

Look at the samples in the morning, the afternoon and the evening, and again with your lamps on. Hold your bedding, curtains and a piece of flooring next to them.

The paint matches on this page are the closest ones measured to each painting color. Some are near-identical and some are only close. Valspar 6009-2 Harvest Brown and Valspar 6010-3 Olive Suede, for example, are listed as close, not exact. A paint chip in your hand tells you more than a screen.

Dark colors such as #494132 often need two coats for even coverage. Test with the number of coats you plan to use, and let the sample dry fully, since wet paint looks darker.