The New Neutrals: 9 Colors You Can Trust for Today's Home

Beiges, whites, and taupes will always have their place in home decor, but more recently, a spectrum of less-expected hues have been drafted for use as neutral wall colors. These paint choices manage to provide an understated backdrop for a room while adding more than a hint of style. Ready to venture beyond biscuit? Here are 9 colors to consider.

By Debra Immergut | Updated Dec 07, 2020 06:12 PM

A Whisper of Pink

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Farrow and Ball Pink Ground

Farrow and Ball’s Pink Ground, glowing like the inside of a seashell, is flattering to skin tones and art work, and looks quietly fresh in a living room.


Related:  Living Room Paint Colors - 9 Top Picks from the Pros

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Southwestern Classic

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Southwestern Colors

The pale reddish-brown color of adobe walls is the original American neutral, employed for centuries in homes in the Southwest. A useful updated version is Valspar’s La Fonda Midora.


Related:  Set the Tone - 8 Colors for an Inviting Dining Room

Zillow Digs home in Seattle, WA

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Finest Silver

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Gray Room

Benjamin Moore’s Perspective is an very light fog-gray, with just a shimmer of silver. It provides a muted, elegant backdrop for upholstered furnishings and colorful rugs.


Related:  7 Classic Colors We Love to Live With

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Garden Fresh

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Green Paint

For a breath of spring, consider using a cool, pale green as a neutral. Behr’s Parsnip suggests the color of light reflected off of grass and leaves and would be a soothing choice for a bedroom.


Related:  Trending Now - Emerald Green

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Ocean Light

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Ralph Lauren Paint Colors

A hint of azure, as in Ralph Lauren’s Ephemera, brings with it a feeling of open sea and sky, and looks wonderfully calming with bright colors or whites.


Related:  9 Calming Colors for a Serene Home

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Graceful Gray

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Charcoal Room

The newest neutral might just be a charcoal such as Sherwin Williams’ Cityscape. Poised between black and white, it’s both on-trend and timeless.


Related:  21 "Expert Picks" for Fail-Safe Colors

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Dusky Violet

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Farrow and Ball Brassica

With its look of English heather on a misty day, Farrow & Ball’s Brassica is another darker shade that works beautifully as a backdrop for paintings and fabric.


Related:  Color Made Easy - 9 Designer Tips for Working with Color

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The Softest Moss

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Olive Green Paint

Bringing nature indoors, a hushed olive green mixed with a touch of gray, such as Juniper Breeze by Valspar, is pretty and welcoming in an entryway while relaxing enough for a bedroom.


Related:  10 Color Picks to Set Any Mood in Your Bedroom

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Warm Straw

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Benjamin Moore Barley

A soft gold, Benjamin Moore’s Barley evokes sunshine and baking bread, and offers a lively—but still neutral—upgrade from beige.


Related:  The Best Colors for Low-Light Rooms

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Believe it or not, even with the vast number of paint color options available, a select handful of hues surpass all the others in popularity. We spoke with industry experts to uncover their best sellers. Click to view now!