Paint colors for your home, inside and out
Pastel · colors from 2 paintings
A pastel color palette for home needs partners that keep it from looking sweet. These two soft shades and four companions share a canvas in museum paintings.
Quick answer
Use the pale yellow #E5DBB8 on walls, the blush #DBC2AB on main furniture, and the tan #A39374 or gold #816139 for a bold piece or wood.
A very light warm yellow with an LRV of 71, suited to walls in a bedroom or kitchen. It comes from Gustave Courbet's The Fishing Boat, 1865.
From The Fishing Boat, Gustave Courbet
A light warm blush with an LRV of 57, good for a sofa, curtains or a feature wall. It comes from David Teniers the Younger's Peasants Dancing and Feasting, ca. 1660.
From Peasants Dancing and Feasting, David Teniers the Younger
A mid-tone warm khaki with an LRV of 30, useful on a rug, a chair or lower cabinets. It comes from Gustave Courbet's The Fishing Boat, 1865.
From The Fishing Boat, Gustave Courbet
A very dark warm brown with an LRV of 3, suited to a table, picture frames or a door. It comes from David Teniers the Younger's Peasants Dancing and Feasting, ca. 1660.
From Peasants Dancing and Feasting, David Teniers the Younger
A neutral black with an LRV of 0, best for thin details such as window frames and lamp bases. It comes from Gustave Courbet's The Fishing Boat, 1865.
From The Fishing Boat, Gustave Courbet
A deep warm gold with an LRV of 14, good for wood tones, a leather chair or brass-toned details. It comes from David Teniers the Younger's Peasants Dancing and Feasting, ca. 1660.
From Peasants Dancing and Feasting, David Teniers the Younger
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Paddy Pastel | ||||
| Playa Blush Sand | ||||
| San Antonio Khaki |
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 The Fishing Boat.
The answer is in the companions. Pastels look best when something darker and earthier sits beside them. In these paintings the pale yellow #E5DBB8 and the blush #DBC2AB are joined by a khaki, a gold and two near-blacks.
Use the pastels for the large surfaces: walls, curtains and a sofa. Use the khaki #A39374 for a middle layer, such as a rug or a chair. Then add the gold #816139 and the dark brown #3E2917 in wood, frames and small objects.
This proportion matters. A room that is mostly pastel with no dark anchor can look flat. A room with a few dark details, even at a tenth of the surface, looks more finished. The black #000000 has an LRV of 0, so a thin line of it, such as a window frame, is enough to give the soft colors an edge.
For the ceiling, use the pale yellow #E5DBB8 or a slightly lighter version of it. Its LRV of 71 reflects light and its warm undertone keeps the room from looking bleached. A bright white ceiling over soft walls can make the walls look dull.
For trim, either match the walls in a satin finish or use the blush #DBC2AB for a soft contrast. Avoid very dark trim in a small pastel room.
For flooring, the suggested wood tone is the mossy gold #816139. Mid-tone oak, honey pine or a warm rug in that range suits both pastels. Dark brown floors in the French roast #3E2917 work with the blush, though they make a small room feel heavier. The khaki #A39374 is a good rug color if you want to soften the step from floor to wall.
Pastels show the light more than deeper colors do. In a north-facing room the pale yellow #E5DBB8 can look cooler and slightly green, and the blush #DBC2AB can lose its warmth. Use warm bulbs and keep the trim in a warm tone.
In a south-facing room, both pastels look brighter and cleaner. The blush, with an LRV of 57, can look pink in direct sun, so test it before you paint a large wall.
Under warm evening bulbs both colors deepen. The pale yellow becomes creamier and the blush becomes closer to a soft peach. This is useful in a bedroom, where most use happens in the evening. If you want the pastels to hold their color at night, avoid yellow-tinted bulbs and choose a neutral warm white.
Pastels are easy to misjudge on a small chip, because they look stronger once they cover a whole wall. Paint a sample at least two feet square with two coats.
Tape it next to your curtains, your sofa and your floor. Look at it in the morning, at noon and in the evening. Pay attention to whether the pale yellow turns green or the blush turns pink. If it does, move to the next closest match from the list of paints.
The matches shown with each color were measured as near-identical or very close, so they are a good place to start. Buy a sample pot of two options and compare them side by side. Choose a matte or eggshell finish for the walls, which keeps the soft look and hides small flaws better than a gloss.
Earthy khaki, gold and dark brown, as in these paintings. They anchor the soft shades so the room does not feel flat.
Pale yellow #E5DBB8 with blush #DBC2AB is a soft pair, and the khaki #A39374 makes a good third color.
Yes, because they reflect light. The pale yellow has an LRV of 71 and the blush 57, so both make a small room feel open.
In small amounts. The black #000000 appears in Courbet's painting, and it suits window frames, lamp bases and thin details.
The blush #DBC2AB is warm and calm, especially under evening bulbs. The pale yellow #E5DBB8 is brighter and suits a room with little light.
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.
