Beige Color – Must-Known Facts and Color Combinations

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Many feel that color will help us to stand out or even to fit in. Yet, over the last few years, as we think about how the world has changed so drastically, sometimes less color can bring us back to our roots, sometimes a few shades of beige can settle our nerves, and perhaps that is the secret recipe to keep us going no matter what our turmoil may be. The beige-cream color is stable, and as we learn more about how to make beige and other colors that match beige, we hope tranquil feelings of peace will surround us.

What Color Is Beige?

America’s long love affair with all things gray is almost at an end, and with that being said, beige is set to make its reappearance back into the home, and it will bring warmth and soothing vibes with it. Significant events have upheaved the world over the last few years, and now that people are spending more time at home, the one thing that is uppermost in our minds is to make our homes a place of peace where we feel safe. That is precisely where the beige color comes in. Beige could become almost invisible sometimes, especially when paired with other bold colors, but it will never go out of fashion or style.

Beige has been referred to as the conservative color that should stay in the background, but in fact, it is a color that symbolizes simplicity. In many instances, it can be regarded as a color that resembles the workforce because it so effortlessly pairs up with other colors. It is a color that does not have to work hard to get noticed. Instead, it is a color that gets down to business and does what it is supposed to do. The Beige color palette, when paired with other colors such as blush pink, cherry red, and zinc gray works beautifully. The hue of brown undertone in beige makes it inherently warm and therefore, will match perfectly with other warm tones. Beige cream color has brown undertones and is interchangeable with taupe, stone, and even light khaki colors. Because of the timelessness of beige, the color is highly regarded as a classic color that will flatter almost any skin type. On a dark winter day, the beige color palette, when worn as an outfit or a beautiful jacket, will make you stand out in a crowd as a sophisticated person.

What Does Beige Symbolize?

Beige has many different shades, but it is often referred to as pale yellowish color. While beige does not carry the crispness of white, it is refreshing, soothing, and a much more conservative color than white. Beige is often used as the base color when it comes to interior design. Beige represents the working world, as most schools, hospitals, and office blocks have beige computers and equipment. The first computer to be designed used beige colors before launching it to market. Because of its earthy undertone, it is used extensively in interior design as it is a color that will work well with other bolder colors.

Colors that match beige are burnt orange, bright blue, bold red, and wicker tan.

Those who dream of beige-colored objects could be faced with negative or positive vibes. It is a confusing color in dreams because it indicates that you can see the truth about somebody, but you need to be intelligent enough to know the truth. In some Eastern and Asian cultures, beige is a color associated with mourning, and in Chinese horoscopes, beige represents the earth which is a symbol of being grounded. In Europe, the beige color was first associated with the poor and was considered a very unpopular color for many decades.

People who love the color are believed to be those who focus on the simple things in life and would much rather blend into a crowd than stand out. “Beige” personalities are calm and not impulsive, adapting quickly to changes around them. Those drawn to beige can be considered dependable people and don’t get flustered very easily. Beige personalities are those who will show a vulnerable side and usually take an interest in all aspects of the world and what is happening around them. They do like to plan and can show empathy to those that may be suffering around them. Judging from what we have just learned, it may be beneficial that we all find ourselves a “beige friend”.

How to Make Beige

Mixing your beige color is easy. It is just a combination of two colors, namely, brown and white. Once the two colors are mixed, you can make the hue appear a little lighter by adding more white to the mix. The golden-brown hue will represent the beige tone. Be careful that your brown color does not overpower the white, and we recommend adding the white to the brown rather than the other way around because you will have more control over the result. Beige is somewhere between yellow, gray, and white.

These will end up being beige after being mixed.

The Beige Color: A Brief History

The beige color palette carries neutral shades, often considered to be monotonous, but it is a beautiful relaxing color with many positive benefits. The color beige became an officially named color in 1887 and was described as being dreamlike. Prehistoric Lascaux Caves paintings can be seen where beige color combinations were used in France.

For these folk to be able to paint in beige paint colors, they would have had to mix brown, yellow, gray, and white pigments, which would have given them different shades of beige, which gives rise to the belief that beige colors were used before it was given its official name. A considerable number of pale and light brown colors were discovered, forming part of the beige category. Beige-cream color is a popular in-home décor design as it provides an excellent backdrop of calm and neutrality.

Paintings in Beige Colors

The famous painters from the Renaissance era used many earth-tone colors in their masterpieces. The Mona Lisa, painted by Leonardo da Vinci in 1519, depicts the beige-cream color that is used to showcase the skin tone of the model. The masters loved earthy brown and beige tones especially when painting with colors such as ochre yellow and burnt orange. There are hundreds, if not thousands of famous paintings that depict the beige color palette.

The most famous of all though would be the Mona Lisa.

Mona Lisa (1503 – 1519) by Leonardo da Vinci

Mona Lisa is arguably the most famous painting in the world. It is probably the best-known example of Sfumato, a painting technique that was used and is partly responsible for the enigmatic smile that you see in the Mona Lisa. Although the specific colors of the painting do not depict beige, the color is clearly seen in the skin tones of the model.

The Mona Lisa (1503-1519) by Leonardo da Vinci; Leonardo da Vinci, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Various Shades of Beige

Around the world, there are so many variations of the beige color palette. They all still belong to the beige family. We have listed the more popular variations that are widely used today. Which is your favorite shade of beige?

Mode Beige

Beige is available in many different tones including darker ones like Mode Beige. Mode Beige is a very dark hue of beige color and carries a very light olive-brown tint. It was officially named in 1928.

Buff

A tone of beige that is not well known is called buff. The buff colors have yellow and brown shades in them but belong to the beige family. The buff color got its name from the natural leather look before being dyed.

It was officially named in 1686.

Khaki

Many of us know of this popular beige shade. Khaki, just like the Ecru color, is a light brown and yellow hue and is used extensively in many armies worldwide because of its fantastic camouflage abilities.

Cream

A well-known shade of beige – cream. The cream color is a variation of the beige color and carries a very light pale yellow-brown hue. It is a color primarily associated with the color produced by cows and then processed into the cream.

Unbleached Silk

Did you know that unbleached silk is more than just a fabric? It is a traditional Japanese color that is one of the variations of beige. It was introduced to the world in 660 CE and is still an official color today.

Desert Sand

Desert Sand is a color that falls under the beige umbrella and is a much darker and deeper shade than the typical beige color. It has an orange-yellow hue.

The late 1960s was described as the shade of beige and is commonly known as the color of the desert.

French Beige

The most popular shade of beige would be the well-known French beige. The shade we call “French beige” is the one we know more simply as “beige”.  This is a natural color that you will find from freshly shorn wool.

Ecru

Yet another different tone of beige – the ecru color is also a variation of the beige color, where a gray-yellow color is used predominantly in fabrics such as silk. The word Ecru means unbleached or raw. Another name for this color is “sand”.

What Colors Go with Beige?

Beige is such a versatile neutral color that we shouldn’t be asking about the colors that match beige but rather it makes more sense to ask, “what colors don’t go with beige”? Beige is timeless and can be used in any setting. Let us explore some of the popular beige color combinations and various colors that match beige in both fashion and interior design.

Beige Color in Fashion

Because of its versatility, beige colors should win plenty of awards in their own right. It fits so well with monochromatic colors yet teams up perfectly with a pair of denim-blue jeans. The warmth of the beige color makes it one of the go-to colors in the warmer seasons.

Heavyweights in the fashion design industry, such as Bottega and Valentino, use beige in almost every season. You will often see beige on the runway by way of trench coats, handbags, and shoes. The beige color works well when paired with deep brown leather.

One of the decade’s most forward-thinking fashionistas is Kim Kardashian, who has a following of millions of people on social media.

Kim was responsible for bringing beige back into the limelight with her designs and colors for undergarments. Kim also revolutionized the interior designing world when she showcased her home’s very white and beige interior.

The skin tone of a woman who wants to wear beige is not a huge factor when going outdoors; however, it will flatter the woman with warmer skin tones. Designers love using this color as it is believed to be more inviting than a range of other colors, and somehow it feels more upbeat when displayed on the runway.

Clothing made from the beige color palette is worn by those who want to project a professional and responsible image. However, if you are looking to not stand out in a crowd, beige colors will be ideal. It is a color that is both conservative and understated and considered timeless in the fashion industry. The color has been used in classic and modern outfits across the fashion spectrum, especially when paired with ivory or black.

In fashion, beige carries no connotations of being boring, and it is a color that designers often state captures both style and personality when worn. It matches up beautifully with almost any other color, and because it is a neutral color, it is used best when pairing it with bold and loud colors.

Pairing beige with bright colors such as indigo or light sea green is always a good idea because it allows the accent colors to do all the work.

Beige Color in Interior Design

The versatility of the beige color code in interior design is highly regarded. The neutral shade of beige makes it a color that will work in any space. If you want to warm up a room that is maybe too stark or too white, adding beige-cream colors will make the room appear warmer, and at the same time, it can have the opposite effect, where loud colors are toned down just by adding the neutral color to it.

Sometimes the beige color code gets a bad rap. Not because the actual color is dull, but maybe pairing it up with the wrong colors is the thing that makes it boring. Pairing up beige colors with other beige colors does not make sense; however, you can pair up both warm colors like maroon and cool colors like navy blue.

It brings contrast to a room. If you picture yourself walking on the beach, you don’t only see the sand. You see the teal-blue water, the sky-blue sky, and perhaps even different colors of stones and flowers, shades like raw umber or olive green. Take that scene and see how well they pair up in your home. If it works in nature, then it will work in your home.

Beige is also often seen as a cop-out color or a safe color, and those who don’t know how to work well with color are often left with these assumptions, but they are just incorrect. Beige is a versatile color, and it pairs up beautifully with almost any other color on the color wheel. It can fit into a background, yet it can also make accent pieces stand out. In the interior design world, beige colors and shades of beige will never go out of fashion, not the fabric, not the paint, not the carpet, not the tile, and not the furniture. It will always be a color that is used extensively around the world.

Pairing various gray shades like charcoal and dim gray with beige is a beautiful option for the minimalist home.

Although beige is considered a safe color to incorporate into the home, knowing the positive and negative aspects of the color in more detail will help us in the long run. All colors work as a force in our lives, and how we react when around color and beige is no exception. Beige is made up of a mix of brown and yellows, and these two colors, on their own, create a sense of being reliable and having strength. The color transmits harmony and relieves anxiety, but on the other hand, using too much beige can also make you feel lonely and sad and perhaps isolated from the rest of the world. The darker shades of beige could make you feel tired and lack motivation. It is always important that in the design world, the words “less is more” are valid for every color and every object.

The world is not all beige, yet the beautiful warm beige color palette, although deemed to be dull and insignificant, does in fact carry warmth. Just the thought of arriving home after a hard day’s work and being able to shut all the noise out in a home filled with minimalistic beige colors and their contrasts sounds very appealing. It makes you wonder whether the world would be better if only there were more beige colors in it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Color Is Beige?

Different shades of beige color can be described as a pale fawn color or a gray color with yellow undertones. The French invented the word beige, which got its name from natural wool before it was bleached or dyed. Depending on how beige colors are mixed they can be regarded as either warm or cooler colors, and the undertones will determine what hue the beige color will take on.

What Is the Beige Hex Code?

Two questions may arise when we speak about the beige color, the first one being, what are the various beige color codes, and what is the beige hex code? The beige hex code is #F5FDC. The definition of the beige color is that it is a mix of red and white or yellow with a bit of blue. It is a cool color when mixed with blue or green tints and will be regarded as a warm color if combined with red and orange, but no matter what the undertone is, it is a beige color and will form part of the beige color palette.

Duncan van der Merwe( Color Theory Expert, Video Editor )

Duncan graduated with a diploma in Film and TV production from CityVarsity in 2018, after which he continued pursuing film while taking on a keen interest in writing along the way. Since having graduated, he began working as a freelance videographer, filming a variety of music videos, fashion and short films, adverts, weddings and more. Throughout this, he’s won a number of awards from various film festivals that are both locally and internationally recognized. However, Duncan still enjoys writing articles in between his filming ventures, appreciating the peace and clarity that comes with it.

His articles focus primarily around helping up-and-coming artists explore the basics of certain colors, how these colors can be paired with other shades, as well as what colors are created when you mix one with another. All while relating these shades to historically significant paintings that have incorporated them into their color palette. As a lover of the arts himself, he takes great interest in the Renaissance era of paintings, an era that has directly inspired many of his favorite films.

Learn more about Duncan van der Merwe and about us.