How To Use Taupe Color And Why You Need It Now
Taupe is a neutral, warm-toned color that sits between gray and brown.
Taupe offers a range of versatile shades, from deep and grounding dark taupe to soft and airy light taupe. Whether you prefer the warmth of mauve taupe, the modern edge of gray taupe, or the earthy richness of rose taupe, there’s a perfect tone for every style.
Variation of Color Taupe
Taupe offers a versatile spectrum of hues, from warm and earthy to cool and sophisticated. Below are the key taupe shades along with their RGB, CMYK, HEX codes, mood descriptions, and best color pairings.
1. Dark Taupe (#483c32)
- RGB: 72, 60, 50
- CMYK: 0, 17, 31, 72
- Mood: Rich, grounding, and sophisticated
- Best for: Cozy interiors, classic elegance, accent walls
- Pairs well with: Crisp white, beige, muted gold, deep navy
Dark taupe is one of the earliest recorded taupe shades (early 1900s). Its deep, neutral tone adds warmth to modern and classic interiors while preventing stark white spaces from feeling too sterile.
2. Light Taupe (#b38b6d)
- RGB: 179, 139, 109
- CMYK: 0, 22, 39, 30
- Mood: Soft, inviting, and timeless
- Best for: Scandinavian designs, neutral palettes, open spaces
- Pairs well with: Soft white, warm gray, dusty rose, olive green
Light taupe has a dark tan undertone and is often associated with Crayola’s “Taupe” pencil. It is lighter and more welcoming than dark taupe, making it perfect for neutral-themed homes and airy spaces.
3. Mauve Taupe (#915f6d)
- RGB: 145, 95, 109
- CMYK: 0, 34, 25, 43
- Mood: Romantic, vintage, and sophisticated
- Best for: Traditional interiors, soft feminine spaces, vintage decor
- Pairs well with: Blush pink, dusty blue, ivory, soft metallics
First identified in the 1920s, mauve taupe combines warm taupe with a soft reddish-gray tint, creating an elegant vintage appeal. It’s often used in romantic interiors and classic-style furnishings.
4. Gray Taupe (#8b8589)
- RGB: 139, 133, 137
- CMYK: 0, 4, 1, 45
- Mood: Cool, modern, and versatile
- Best for: Minimalist spaces, modern interiors, urban lofts
- Pairs well with: Charcoal gray, soft white, mustard yellow, olive green
Gray taupe leans toward gray rather than brown and has subtle pink undertones. It works well in modern interiors, often used with warm color contrasts like muted yellow or olive.
5. Rose Taupe (#905d5d)
- RGB: 144, 93, 93
- CMYK: 0, 35, 35, 44
- Mood: Warm, earthy, and elegant
- Best for: Rustic spaces, boho-chic designs, warm accents
- Pairs well with: Teal, warm beige, terracotta, deep green
Rose taupe is a desaturated dark red shade with taupe undertones. It provides a warm, earthy elegance and works beautifully in rustic, Mediterranean, or bohemian-style spaces.
6. Purple Taupe (#50404d)
- RGB: 80, 64, 77
- CMYK: 0, 20, 4, 69
- Mood: Mysterious, bold, and moody
- Best for: Dramatic interiors, luxury decor, accent pieces
- Pairs well with: Deep forest green, silver, soft lavender, charcoal gray
Purple taupe adds depth and drama with its grayish-magenta base. It works well in luxurious interiors, often paired with deep greens or muted purples for a striking contrast.
Top 6 Benjamin Moore Taupe Paint Colors
- Driftwood 2107-40
- Weimaraner AF-155
- Indian River 985
- Smokey Taupe 983
- Brandon Beige 977
- Shaker Beige HC-45
Taupe Color Ideas For Interior Living Spaces
Here are the latest examples of how the taupe color can turn your next interior design makeover into a stunning environment.
Plush Taupe Curtains
This luscious room is highlighted beautifully by full, plush taupe curtains. A beautiful display of taupe, this is a great example of one of the most feminine ways to play it. Unlike other dark curtain colors, taupe curtains won’t drown out a room, and will instead help to make a bedroom feel more light and airy.
These taupe curtains make a luxurious yet stylish addition to any room and you can add a few other accents in the same shade to your bed and furniture.
Silky Taupe Paint Walls
These taupe walls offset the golden cream neutrals found throughout this bedroom with bold power. It’s a beautiful compliment but that’s still very relaxing.
This darker shade of taupe is ideal for a bedroom, and then the light curtains and headboard help to brighten up the space a bit. As you can see, shades of taupe vary dramatically, so it’s all about finding one that works to create your desired atmosphere and looking for a room.
Romantic Sofas Taupe Upholstered
These taupe sofas and throw pillows adorning the accent chairs add a mysterious, romantic element to this living room. We also love this neutral shade paired with the lighter and brighter cream tone.
Taupe is the perfect color to add to a large living room, and it works in both traditional and contemporary homes. Taupe looks great on soft furniture, such as these sofas, and creates a warm and cozy look that will invite anyone to sit down in your living room.
Contrasting Finishes
This ivory room is perfected and framed in taupe finished including the accent outline of the 3-D wall and the corner chair. We love the neutral, cool ethos surrounding this space.
Taupe With Plum
You’d be surprised how great of a pair of taupe can be to a plum counterpart. Accenting this living room, taupe becomes a beautiful addition to this sultry space. Try to find a shade of taupe with a purple undertone, which will make it easier to pair with this color in your home.
Taupe can be used as a base in almost any home. If you are planning to redecorate, you won’t have to get rid of your current furniture and can return it to its previous home after painting the walls in any shade of taupe.
Victorian Essence Bedroom Decor
This entire bedroom was constructed with a Victorian theme in mind – and they did that by using a combination of taupe, gray, and cream tones. The layered shades are the main attraction in this space. You can see a difference in taupe and gray.
Taupe Shades
Now here’s a bedroom that shows off the varying degrees of the right taupe shades. From light to deep and rich, this romantic and modern space has it all.
Taupe is one of those colors which isn’t too overwhelming to redecorate a whole room with, as you can see from this taupe bedroom.
The different shades all look like completely different colors, so you’ll find it adds more texture to any space in your home. {found on kellyhoppen}.
Posh Nursery Decor
Who knew you could create such a stylish and modern nursery with such a neutral tone. It’s quite interesting when styled right. It’s also a strong tone to play with gender ideas. This sophisticated nursery will allow you to adjust the style as your child grows, and then you can easily transform the room into a bedroom when they grow out of their current furniture.
From there, you’ll be able to add their favorite color to this neutral background with fun decorations and pieces of colorful furniture.
Orange Blast Decor
Taupe can also create a good playground for a blast of bold prints and colors. Mango not the windows and stripes on the floor mix well with this subtle, soft shade. If this mango color is a little too much for you, you can always go for a different color or a more muted shade of orange.
There are very few colors that taupe won’t work with, so try out a few different ideas before settling for the one you like best for your living room.
Slight Furniture
Take a good look at this sofa. It’s covered in a slight shade of taupe and mixes well with the rest of this golden, mustard room. It’s bright and asks as a solid, richening point to the room.
Taupe Luxurious Bathroom
Highlighted by a crystal chandelier, this feminine, and luxurious bathroom is full of taupe. Although the color’s name gets a bad rep for being boring. Taupe makes for the ideal base for a bathroom and creates a calming and sophisticated environment. It’s easy to pair with white bathroom fixtures and towels and offers a clean space for getting ready every morning and evening.
This bathroom would look great when it’s set off from a taupe master bedroom, which would provide a cohesive and relaxing atmosphere throughout this area of your home.
Creative Place
Taupe can set the scene in a more interesting way than a bright white or natural gray. It can even provide interest to a home office made for inspiring. So many people today are still working from home, and taupe can help to create a more relaxing working environment than a sterile black and white office may do.
You’ll feel like you have a space to be creative and focus on your work, where you’ll enjoy spending every day during your working hours. As you can see, you can easily add pink or other colored accents to the room, to give a little more character to the space.
We think colorful flowers would brighten up any taupe room, and thanks to its plain base, you’ll be able to add flowers of any type or color.
Taupe Undertone
Just like the creator of this living room expressed, here’s a room that has a gray feel with a strong taupe undertone in the paint. This is where you can see how much taupe befriends a great gray. {found on 12thandwhite}.
Color Bursts
Take a look around at this popping living room. Filled with taupe and cream nuances and sprinkles of brilliant yellows, it’s such a happy spot to spend your time at home in.
Bucolic Comfort
Check out this plush and completely comfortable, beautiful bedroom. And we love the hidden taupe accents from the footstool to the pillows. {found on adoreyourplace}.
Taupe Accents
Taupe, of course, works in more traditional settings as well from bedrooms or living rooms. Although, we realize there’s an eclectic ethos surrounding this particular space.
Framed Light
Here we see some more billowing, bohemian curtains that surround this reading nook and office with romance and femininity. We adore the contrast and warmth.
Ultra Contemporary
Now we have another bathroom to drool over and gain inspiration from. Contrasted with white walls, the taupe finishes give a hipster feel.
Subtle Foundation
These taupe walls create a subtle, warm foundation for this eclectically-styled living room. It’s not too bright, it’s not too dark; instead, it’s a perfectly constructed neutral for a variety of colors to bounce off.
Rustic Taupe Bedroom
In this example, the planked wall works well with the taupe textiles. Taupe is a versatile color that can be used to create almost any type of style you like to match with your current home décor. This would a fine choice for a teenager’s bedroom or for your guest bedroom.
The great thing about taupe is you can add other accessories to the room without worrying about colors clashing. This is because the neutral shade forms the base of the room.