How to Choose the Best Warm Neutral Paint Colors For Your Home

Here are three things to consider when selecting warm neutral paint colors for living rooms, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, and offices in your home.

Light reflectance value

The light reflectance value, or LRV, of a paint, lets you know how bright it is and how much light it will reflect. The scale is from 0 to 100, with 0 being absolute black and 100 being the brightest white. The higher the LRV value of a paint, the more light it will reflect.

The warm neutrals we're discussing here with LRVs in the 60s and 70s are light, but are richer and offer a more cozy feel than white paints that have a higher LRV.

Undertone

All colors have an undertone and they're most noticeable in light colors. Those that look warmer will have yellow, beige, or pink undertones.

Those with a cooler look will have blue, green, or violet undertones.

A good way to identify a paint's undertone is to compare it against a very bright white. You'll notice they look much deeper than soft white paint colors, and you can see how pairing them with white trim offers a nice contrast.

Some great trim colors to get this effect are Benjamin Moore's Chantilly Lace, one of the brightest whites available, or Sherwin-Williams Pure White, which is less bright and gives a more subtle but still very effective contrast.

There are many warm neutrals that have a wide range of undertones, but the ones we're talking about here will focus on the delicate balance between warm and cool.

These colors are light enough to have a soft, almost imperceptible undertone of mostly violet or pink, and how they're perceived will be affected by both natural and artificial light.

Light

Light, both natural and artificial, plays a big role in how color is perceived. The direction your natural light is coming from will have a big effect as will the color temperature of your light bulbs, which lean toward the warmer side.

Light colors with an LRV of 50 or above will reflect light and are the most affected by light and colors in their surroundings.

• Cool light from North-facing windows will enhance cool tones and make the space look more gray or blue.
• Warm light from South-facing windows will enhance warm tones and make the space look more yellow.
• East-facing windows provide a warmer light in the morning and a cooler light in the afternoon.
• West-facing windows do the opposite by providing cooler light in the morning and warm bright light in the afternoon.

1. Sherwin-Williams Heron Plume

The lightest of our Sherwin-Williams warm neutral paint colors with an LRV of 75 is Sherwin-Williams Heron Plume. On its own, it looks like a soft white but when compared to a brighter white, you can see it reads a warm gray. It offers a great balance of warmth and coolness with its subtle violet-pink undertones and creates a soft warm vibe.

2. Sherwin-Williams Aesthetic White

Sherwin-Williams Aesthetic White also looks like a soft white, but it's actually a light grayed-down beige with an LRV of 73 and a subtle touch of violet undertone, which keeps it from skewing to yellow. It reads softly warm against white trim, so it's great for when you want to keep things light and airy but want a bit more depth in color than a soft white.

3. Benjamin Moore's Pale Oak

Benjamin Moore's Pale Oak with an LRV of 69 is a beautiful neutral taupe. With its pink to slightly yellow undertone, this color is a chameleon, reading warm in direct sunlight and soft, warm gray in less direct light. If you don't mind its changeability, pale oak is a great choice to bring in a balance of warm and cool.

4. Benjamin Moore's Balboa Mist

Benjamin Moore's Balboa Mist is a pale warm gray with an LRV of 66. With its subtle violet undertones, this color is also a bit of a chameleon, looking more gray in morning light versus much warmer in afternoon light.