Is my neutral beige really neutral?

This past week I had a couple of consultations that involved the discussion of neutral beige.  My clients were either looking at a new 'neutral ' carpet or were looking at wall colour to go with their existing beige carpet.When I carry out a consultation, I try my best to educate my clients along the way.  In both instances, the discussion of neutral beige came up.  When looking at beige, it is so important to know what the undertone is.  What is an undertone?  In a paint colour,  if the colour formula has a little more green in it, then it will have a green undertone.  If the formula has more red in it, the paint will have a pink undertone.   Here is my little lesson on 'neutral beige'.

Is my neutral beige really neutral?

Every beige has an undertone to it so while you may think it is 'neutral', there will be an underlying tone to it.  The 3 most common neutral beige I see are the following:

• pink beige
• yellow beige
• green beige

There are some other undertones that I don't run in to very often but there are also:

• gold beige (I have never specified a gold beige interior or exterior colour)
• orange beige (I have only specified one orange beige interior colour and that was due to the bathroom tile that was staying in the space).

Neutral Beige: Pink Beige

This is the most common beige I see in older homes and it is the one beige that is the hardest to work around.  Why is it so hard to work around?  Here's why: the only colours that really go with pink are:

• purple
• green
• blue
• red
• taupes
• and some greys.

I see pink beige most commonly in carpet and in furniture.  It's funny, my clients don't typically see the pink beige until I point it out to them.  Here are 2 pink beige paint colours: 

Neutral Beige: Yellow Beige

The next undertone that I see a lot in beige is yellow.  Yellow beige is very common (so it seems) in homes that have been decorated in the brown Tuscan trend. 

Neutral Beige: Green Beige

This is a beige with a slight green undertone.

Neutral Beige: Your Test

It's really hard to tell what a colour is unless you have something to compare it to.  Can you see the different undertones in these  'neutral' colours? Knowing there are undertones to 'neutral beige', I encourage you to take a look at what is in your home.  Knowing the undertones you need to work around (like carpet and tile) will help you choose your new colours!

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