Paint colors for your home, inside and out
Terracotta · colors from 5 paintings
Rust and terracotta paint sit in the warm red-orange family, and they range from soft clay tans to deep burnt reds. The six shades below run from LRV 23 down to LRV 10, and each was measured from a painting. Three companion colors from the same paintings cover trim, floors and accents.
Quick answer
Use #AF7650 or #B76A56 on living room and bedroom walls, #B15D32 for the closest true rust, and #94431E for a single bold wall or piece. Pair them with the warm cream #D7CBB8 on trim and ceilings.
A mid-tone at LRV 23 with a warm red-orange undertone, it suits main walls in rooms with decent daylight. It is the tannest shade here, measured from Virgin and Child by Hans Memling.
From Virgin and Child, Hans Memling
At LRV 21 this is the softest, pinkest terracotta of the group, good for walls or textiles like cushions and curtains. It comes from The Abduction of the Sabine Women by Nicolas Poussin.
From The Abduction of the Sabine Women, Nicolas Poussin
The most orange shade here and the closest to true rust, at LRV 17. Try it on one wall or on wood furniture; it comes from the portrait of Robert Rich, Second Earl of Warwick, by Anthony van Dyck.
From Robert Rich (1587–1658), Second Earl of Warwick, Anthony van Dyck
A deep, brown-leaning terracotta at LRV 15, good for a study, a hallway or a feature wall. It was measured from a second spot in Virgin and Child by Hans Memling.
From Virgin and Child, Hans Memling
At LRV 12 this is a dark brick shade with a warm red-orange undertone. It suits a small room or an accent wall, and it comes from The Two Sisters by Jean Honoré Fragonard.
From The Two Sisters, Jean Honoré Fragonard
The darkest and most saturated rust here, at LRV 10. Use it for a bold wall, a cabinet or a statement chair; it comes from Interior: A Sultana taking Coffee in the Harem by Giovanni Antonio Guardi.
From Interior: A Sultana taking Coffee in the Harem, Giovanni Antonio Guardi
A light, warm-yellow neutral at LRV 61, it bounces light and works on trim, ceilings or the main walls next to terracotta. It comes from the same Guardi interior as the deep rust red.
From Interior: A Sultana taking Coffee in the Harem, Giovanni Antonio Guardi
A deep brown at LRV 8 that grounds a rust scheme in a door, built-in shelving or a wood floor tone. It was measured from The Abduction of the Sabine Women by Nicolas Poussin.
From The Abduction of the Sabine Women, Nicolas Poussin
At LRV 2 this is almost black with a warm red-orange cast, best for small details like frames, lamps and window sashes. It comes from Virgin and Child by Hans Memling.
From Virgin and Child, Hans Memling
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 Virgin and Child.
Start with how much light the room should keep. The two lightest shades here are mid-tones: #AF7650 at LRV 23 and #B76A56 at LRV 21. They read as terracotta without closing the room in, so they work on all four walls of a living room, bedroom or dining room with decent daylight.
Then choose by undertone. #B76A56 is the softest and pinkest, like fired clay. #B15D32 is the most orange, and the closest to true rust. #AF7650 is the most tan, a good pick if you want warmth without much red.
The deeper shades, #946044 at LRV 15, #8F503E at LRV 12 and #94431E at LRV 10, take in most of the light that reaches them. Use them on one wall, in a small room or in a study where a cocooned feel is the goal. #B15D32 at LRV 17 sits between the two groups, so try it on a single wall first.
Keep the surroundings quiet. #D7CBB8, a warm stone cream at LRV 61, is a good partner for trim and ceilings. It reflects light back into the room and stays soft next to a red-orange wall. Pure bright white can look stark beside these colors.
For floors, wood in mid to dark tones suits terracotta well. #624A39, a dark brown at LRV 8, works for a door, a floor stain or a built-in. #36231F is almost black, so save it for small details such as a frame, a lamp or a window sash.
To build a whole room, try this: #D7CBB8 on the walls, a sofa or main piece in #AF7650, wood furniture in #B15D32, textiles in #B76A56 and one bold chair or cabinet in #94431E. Keep the ratio calm, with the cream doing most of the work and the reds acting as accents.
Red-orange colors shift with light more than grays do. In a north-facing room the light is cooler, which can make a tan like #AF7650 look flatter and browner. A color with more red or orange, such as #B76A56 or #B15D32, holds its warmth better there.
South-facing rooms get warm light for much of the day. Mid-tones glow, and deeper shades such as #8F503E and #94431E look rich rather than heavy. East-facing rooms look warmest in the morning, and west-facing rooms in the late afternoon.
Bulbs matter too. Warm bulbs push these colors toward orange, and cooler bulbs pull them toward brown. Pick the bulb color for the room before you judge a sample. Also remember that LRV measures how much light a color reflects, so the darker shades will always feel dimmer than the lighter ones, whichever way the windows face.
Paint a sample board at least two feet square, or use a large peel-and-stick sample, and leave a white border around it. Do not judge a color from a small chip. Place the sample on two walls, one near the window and one in the dimmest corner.
Look at it in the morning, at midday, in the evening and under lamps. Hold it next to your floor, trim and main furniture. Rust shades that look alike on a chip can split into orange or brown once they sit beside wood.
The paint matches on this page are the closest we measured to each painting color, marked near-identical, very close or close. Treat them as a starting point and compare the real sample on your own wall. Deep shades usually need two coats before you see their true color.
#B76A56 (LRV 21) and #AF7650 (LRV 23) are the easiest mid-tones for a whole living room. For a stronger rust on one wall, try #B15D32 at LRV 17.
Not quite. Burnt orange leans more orange, like #B15D32. Terracotta is usually softer and pinker or browner, like #B76A56 or #AF7650.
No. Every color here was measured from a painting and matched to the closest wall paints listed on the page. We do not cover Rust-Oleum product colors.
A warm cream such as #D7CBB8 (LRV 61) works well on trim and ceilings. It stays soft beside red-orange walls and keeps light moving through the room.
Shades at LRV 15 or below, such as #8F503E and #94431E, absorb a lot of light and can make a dim room feel tighter. Use them on one wall, or choose a mid-tone like #B76A56 for a whole room.
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, The Art Institute of Chicago, 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.
