Beige Done Right: Stylish Ways to Use This Classic Hue

How often have you heard the term, it’s just too beige?  You may as well say, something is just too boring.  It is a travesty that poor beige has been relegated to the bottom of the pile when it comes to colour.  It gets such a poor rap, but I am going to show you beige done right: stylish ways to use this classic hue.

How do you like the sound of Putnam Ivory, Jute, Cinnamon Sugar, Sandbar, Parchment or Oak Buff?  Doesn’t this conjure up some fabulous ideas?  They’re all beige, from mainstream paint companies, they just sound more exciting.  Beige, unfortunately, has just never incited passion.  It is however, a perfect foundation hue, just sitting quietly in the background, letting other colours shine.  Think of the party goer with her sensible, sober friend, always ready to drive her to the next soiree.  This is beige.  Not the life the party, but absolutely needed.

The trouble with beige is that when it is used solely in a colour scheme in just different tonal levels, the effect can be extremely bland.  It’s the colour you want to use when you don’t want to offend anyone.  However, when you use it as a neutral with the addition of lots of white and other uplifting colours, it becomes a rich and gorgeous background hue, happy to let the others shine.

If you do want to just use beige and white, then as with any neutral scheme, ensure that you use lots of different texture as this will provide the interest to the space.

Partnering beige with black

Adding a touch of black to a beige scheme brings nice definition to the colour palette.  The strong neutral tonal contrast adds a touch of sophistication to the look.  I really like this combination.  It is still very neutral, but adds some great style.

Beige with a natural colour palette

Adding dark green and copper to a beige palette works really well.  This gives you a very organic, natural colour palette which is earthy and grounding.

Beige with brass accents

Using beige for kitchen cabinets gives you a lovely warm colour palette which works perfectly with brass hardware as the base colour is the same for both.

Beige and Greige together

Have you heard about Greige?  It’s the blending of beige and grey together.  A gorgeous neutral that takes the best from each colour.  There comes a point though when greige is either too grey or too beige, however these gorgeous neutrals still go together perfectly as it becomes a related colour palette.

This elegant living room has a soft beige on the walls with a deep beige trim and light beige curtains.  However the sofa is a definite greige.  This works so well as you get some contrast.  This living room is the perfect example of layers of neutrals done well.  Notice that there is lots of texture in the finishes too.  This really helps a neutral scheme come together.

Related: What is Greige? Find out how to use it in your home

Beige and White palettes

One of my favourite ways to use beige is as an accessory with white.  This brings a freshness to the scheme and provides good tonal contrast which is always important for a room to work well.

You must ensure that you use a warm white with a soft yellow undertone.  You don’t need to see the yellow, but when you put the sample next to other whites, you should be able to see some warmth and creaminess in the colour.

I particularly like to use beige for bathrooms as this is a room that you really want to feel comfortable in.  This is really important if you live in a cooler climate.  Natural warm travertine or limestone is the perfect stone to use for a bathroom.  Combined with a rich beige on the walls and and off white trim, the look is very welcoming.  The freestanding white bath and the gilt mirror provide some great contrast to make the scheme work well.

Exotic beige colour palette

This gorgeous image shows exactly how beautiful beige can be.  You don’t associate this neutral with a Moroccan scheme, but in fact it is used a lot in their decorating.  With the rich black and gold tiles, the look is stunning.

Related: My Guide to Moroccan Style

My favourite beige paint colours

I have been through all my fan decks and below are some of the beige tones that I regularly use.  Resene are great for all neutrals and they do have a really good range of beige tones from eighth through to double or triple strength.  This can be very useful as the eighth strength of the colour could be the perfect off white for a beige scheme.

Haymes also has a range of neutrals in six different strengths and their Oak Buff in this collection is a gorgeous beige.

Benjamin Moore has some lovely elegant beige tones and I have included standards from Dulux and Taubmans.  If you would love to give beige a go, I hope that this helps.

I wrote about beige back in 2020 when it was just starting to become popular again.  You can read this article below if you would like more inspiration.

Related: Decorating with the new beige

I would love to hear your comments below – have you used beige recently?