The Best Neutral Paint Colors

May 19, 2023

Looking for the best neutral paint colors for your home?

I have a few suggestions with my tried and true, my go-to, my best neutral paint colors that I’ve tried over and over and over again. Here’s a list of the best neutral paint colors on the planet.

I wanted to show them to you in the rooms so you can get an idea of what they look like in real life. These paint colors have never let me down yet.

Today is all about the paint.

Before we get started, I just want you to know that if you are sitting at your house drinking coffee and thinking about today and looking around and your room happens to mention in conversation that it might like a make-over…

…this is the post for you.

Truly.

The easiest, simplest way to change up a room is to change the paint color.

Please tell me you understand.

Please tell me you’ve stood in front of a blank wall with a paintbrush and painted that first coat of new paint…

…and sighed.

Oh, good. Me, too. Will you and your paint can please come sit by me?

If painting and refreshing and reworking a room is in your future for spring, I wrote a great post on how to pick a paint color.

If picking a paint color still seems overwhelming? No worries friend. You got this.

I’ve put together 10 of the best neutral paint colors.

And the best part?

I’ve already tried them all to make sure they are perfect.

Here’s my list.

Before we go any further, I want to clarify something.

Paint colors do NOT look the same on the computer screen.

Actually, paint colors don’t even look the same in different rooms. How many times have you been to someone’s home and found the perfect paint color on their wall and rushed to the store and bought it and brought it home and painted it on your wall and IT DIDN’T work? That’s because paint can change color slightly depending on the height of your ceilings and the amount of natural light in your space or the color of your floors.

That’s why these paint colors are so great. That’s why they are the best neutral paint colors.

I have used them in so many different rooms and spaces and places and cities and towns and houses at the end of country roads.

And they’ve delivered every time.

the best neutral paint colors

Here’s what the best neutral paint colors look like in my rooms:

Living Room: SW Extra White

It’s one of my favorite whites.

It’s hard to tell from the computer screen, but it literally is the perfect shade without any undertones.

I’ve used it in different lights and different rooms and we actually painted the entire outside of our house with SW Extra White.

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Here’s what it looks like on the outside of the back door.

When you paint it in a room, it just freshens everything up and makes it lighter and brighter and happier.

SW Extra White is also an awesome trim color, too. When I pick it for trim, I choose a semi-gloss finish which reflects light and whitens it even more.

Trust me.

It’s the color that you are looking for when you just can’t get the white right.

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Office: SW Pure White

If you were here for the before and office makeover, you’ve already seen this color.

It’s super similar to SW White, but it’s just a hint warmer.

Going with a neutral like this on the walls means you can go bold with the rest of the room like these navy and white patterns.

This is also my go-to white when the room doesn’t get a lot of natural light.

It’s sophisticated and classic and timeless and a zillion other adjectives that all mean amazing. SW Pure White adds that subtle warmth to a room that makes it feel just a little bit cozier making it one of the best choices for a neutral palette.

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Laundry Room: SW Agreeable Gray

SW Agreeable Gray is cousins with SW Repose Gray (that we’ll talk about a little later on).

It has a little bit more of a khaki undertone to it and plays well in the sandbox with all the other neutrals we’ve mentioned.

This is the laundry room that’s just off the kitchen pained SW Extra White.

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Family room: SW Mindful Gray

Ahhh. SW Mindful Gray. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

This is my first gray love from the farmhouse.

I met him 10 years ago and I still adore him just as much.

He’s the perfect mix of gray and greige and khaki.

One quick note—SW Mindful Gray can easily go lighter or darker depending on the natural light in the space.

This was the color I painted the family room several years ago. It’s also important to understand that our family room gets quite a bit of natural light, so it looks lighter in our family room.

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Office and entryway: SW Sandbar

This is probably my favorite khaki color ever. It looks incredible on the walls. This was the color that used to be on the office walls. Whenever anyone ever asks me for a good tan/khaki color, I recommend SW Sandbar.

I hadn’t met it until I moved into the new house and needed a neutral beige/khaki.

Meet SW Sandbar.

It is actually so much lighter than it appears on the paint chip. The color is truly perfection and looks amazing.

It’s truly the color of drop cloth.

I’ve painted the entire entry as well as the office with it.