What are neutral colors? Why do we like using them?

Aug 9

We’ve all heard the term “neutral colors”, but it can be hard to figure out exactly what that term means. Does it include browns and tans, or just colors on the black and white spectrum? What about earth tones? What makes a neutral, neutral? And why do people seem to like them so much?

Neutral paint swatches in soft cream and beige tones sit in a marble bowl beside a textured woven placemat. — *Image: Pexels/Eva Bronzini*

Neutral, Defined

A neutral is defined as a color without any underlying hue tones. The only “pure” neutrals are white, brown, black, and gray, which are made by combining two complementary colors.

All other tones, like tans, greiges, eggshells, or ivories, have very slight hue undertones and are considered “near-neutrals”. For the purposes of home design, this is really a moot point, and a neutral can be defined as a color with very little hue undertones.

Image: One of our kitchen renovations

Why People Like Them

So, why do we like neutral colors so much, especially in home design? The biggest reason seems to be that they give the eyes a break and tend to act as a background, giving room for other things to stand out.

A hyper cluttered, hyper colorful doesn't ever give your eye a place to skim over, leaving you feeling slightly overwhelmed. Using a neutral color as a base allows you to direct people’s focus to specific pieces in your home that you want to be accented.

They also allow your mind to rest, giving the room a more peaceful atmosphere.

Paring a neutral with another color also makes it look more saturated by contrast. It also contrasts easily with most textures and patterns, allowing you to appreciate them more easily.

Neutrals tend to be more timeless, which makes it easier to like your style choices for a long time. Because of that timelessness, neutral colors increase home resale value, both on the outside and the inside.

Neutrals also work well with any decor style. If you like regularly mixing up how your style, consider using neutrals as your base. It gives you much more room to play with other textures, patterns, and accent colors. Our home renovation services blend creative design with expert craftsmanship, using soothing neutral tones to create warm, inviting spaces you’ll love living in every day.

An elevated view of a theme park plaza with lampposts and utility fixtures outlined in red to illustrate Disney’s go-away green paint technique. — *Image: Duchess of Disneyland/Go away green*

Leave it to Disney

It can also have the added benefit of distracting the eye away from things you don’t want people to see. Disney uses this trick in their theme parks to “keep the magic alive”. They blended their own paint color called go-away green that they use for this.

Anything they don’t want parkgoers to focus on gets painted that color: utility boxes, trash cans, staff entrances, or any part of the park that isn’t on theme. The color is a combination of the surrounding greenery along with a blend of neutrals that your eyes tend to ignore. With the magic of neutrals, the “unseemly” parts of the park seem to disappear. Check it out next time you make a visit!

Downsides

Of course, there are downsides to using neutrals. When overused, they can make rooms look bland, boring, or sterile. They lack personality and can make a home look more “cookie-cutter”.

However, when used rightly, they can be a great base to layer on your own style, personality, and taste.

How We Use Neutrals

The way we use neutrals varies depending on the client. After all, their home reflects their personal style, not ours! However, we do tend to have some connecting themes in our work:

‍ ‍1. Neutrals as a base, accent with color:

Neutrals often work very well as a wall color, which is why you see so many white and cream rooms. We tend to use a lot of off-whites, and then accent with color elsewhere. Kitchen cabinets are great for this, with colors like cobalt, sage, emerald, or navy pairing phenomenally. Here are a few examples:

A modern kitchen features a navy blue island with white quartz countertops, white cabinetry, and white bar stools.

A modern kitchen features a large white-topped island, light wood cabinetry, and brown leather bar stools beneath spherical pendant lights.

A two-tone kitchen combines stainless steel appliances, under-cabinet lighting, white quartz countertops, and warm hardwood flooring.

‍ ‍2. Employ contrast:

Neutrals are great because their lack of hue makes it really easy to contrast with them, while not making a room look busy or overwhelming. Neutrals can contrast with a pattern, a texture, a bright color, or even another neutral with a different light value.

A modern linear fireplace with glowing flames sits beneath a wall-mounted television on a minimalist light gray accent wall.

While these two photos are almost entirely comprised of neutrals, their difference in brightness and texture creates a gorgeous high-contrast room.

Rustic bedroom featuring a vaulted timber ceiling, exposed dark wood beams, floor-to-ceiling windows, and natural daylight.

3. Texture work/accent with other natural tones

A bright white kitchen features shaker-style cabinets, brass hardware, rich hardwood floors, and a long central island.

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This kitchen, while being mostly neutral, works well because of its high contrast and texture like the throw rug, brick fireplace, metal, and multiple wood types.

A luxury indoor kitchen bar features a dark stone countertop, stone accent wall, cream leather bar stools, and modern pendant lights.

While also being rather neutral, the multiple stone textures sprinkled throughout keep the kitchen layout visually interesting.

A modern farmhouse kitchen features dark lower cabinets, white quartz countertops, and a large white apron-front sink beneath three black-framed windows.

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Light walls, countertops, and upper cabinets contrast beautifully with the dark flooring and black lower cabinets, even without much additional color.

Are you looking for a contractor to renovate or add on to your home? Get a quote from us to jumpstart your process!

Morgan Heitland