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yanghuaca

Need help to choose colour: benjamin moore shaker beige HC45

8 years ago

I am thinking about repaint living room, family room, small Dan, hall way and Kitchen. Can I use benjamin moore shaker beige HC45 in all rooms as an overall colour? What is the best accent colour to match shaker beige? Thank you.

Comments (18)

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Do you have photos of your rooms you can share? I have shaker beige in my house and it works well if you have pink undertones. I do think it's a fairly safe color to use.

    I think an even safer color is BM Manchester Tan. I also have this color in my house. There is the slightest green undertone but hard to detect and very neutral.

    I would pull accent color from your furnishings. I would stay away from yellow and orange accents if you use Shaker because they clash with the pink undertone.

    yanghuaca thanked User
  • 8 years ago

    I am another one who has shaker beige - in my kitchen and family room. I love it ( after many trials of varying beiges) and happen to have lots of blue accents and blue upholstery. I think it looks awesome and now reading the color expert (thank you Lori) I see this is supported in theory. Yay! Blue works very nicely with shaker beige in my house.

    yanghuaca thanked User
  • 8 years ago

    Thank you very much Sheeisback, Lori A. Sawaya, and sheilaaus122 for all your comments. This is really helpful. :O)

    I have a big living room facing west with two big windows in the west side and north side (with lots of natural lights in the afternoon), a medium size family room facing east with two small windows (little natural light in the morning), a small hall way, a small kitchen and a small den/office.

    For the living room, I am thinking about painting Lenox Tan ( HC-44) which is a little bit darker than Shaker Beige. For all other rooms, I will use Shaker Beige. Yeah! The reason I want to use Lenox Tan in the living room is I am not sure if Sharker Beige looks too light with lots of natural lights. Any experience or suggestions?

    My local paint store suggested Tyler Taupe (HC-43) as Accent colour for all rooms. Will this work?

    I have attached a few photos to show the colour of my hardwood floor, fireplace and cabinets. My family room is attached to the stairs with an open to above area. I am not planning to paint second floor and the wall near the stairs (on the way to the second floor). I am planning to paint the lower half of the "open to above" area with Shaker Beige (the wall between my family room and the plant and window) to have a transition area. Any suggestions?

    Thank you very much.

  • 8 years ago

    Do you have any furniture you will be using? I think you need to take your cue from the colors in your upholstery/drapes/artwork, etc.

    yanghuaca thanked Saypoint zone 6 CT
  • 8 years ago

    Sharker Beige looks too light with lots of natural lights. Any experience or suggestions?

    I don't feel Shaker Beige is too light with lots of natural light.

    And if a room is lacking light, painting it something very pale will make it look dingy. Shaker Beige is a good medium color.

    Your kitchen backsplash looks to have a pink undertone so I think the Shaker would be a good choice. That or a pale blue color.

    I think pretty much any blues look good with it. Creams and reds also look nice. I wouldn't jump the gun with what the paint store suggested. Figure out what rug, pillows, curtains, etc. will be in the room and take your accent colors from there. Really you should make sure these things relate/coordinate with the Shaker Beige too.

    What colors are in the stair runner?


    When you narrow down some color choices definitely buy a few paint samples and test it out on posterboard first. Cut a large piece of poasterboard in half and paint two coats leaving a 1" boarder around the edges. Use painters tape on the back to move the sample around in different lighting and look at it for a few days to see if it works in your house.

    yanghuaca thanked User
  • 8 years ago

    Hi- when I mentioned blue accents I was talking about decor items ( and upholstery). Sorry for the confusion- I did not paint any blue. My backsplash is similar to yours and looks good with the shaker beige.

    yanghuaca thanked User
  • 8 years ago

    In my house it read with quite a pink undertone


    yanghuaca thanked dancingqueengw
  • 8 years ago

    Where is the Bonaparte going? Where is the Gloucester Sage/Hampshire Gray going? And where is the Tyler Taupe going? Because that's three accent colors/accent wall colors you've mentioned (plus two primary wall colors in the Lenox Tan and Shaker Beige), and I'm having a really hard time understanding how that's all going to fit together.

    I'm not constitutionally opposed to accent walls, but I think it is going to be hard to make the Bonaparte work. It's a very bold color that you are trying to shoehorn into a beige house, and my experience is that that doesn't work well. It's like you are trying to do two competing things--on the one hand you want your house to be soothing, neutral, and cohesive by choosing beige throughout, on the other hand you want your house to be bold and vibrant. It can't be both at the same time (at least in the same room).

    yanghuaca thanked cawaps
  • 8 years ago

    cawaps: Thank you for you advise. If I use Shaker Beige as overall colour in all my rooms and Hapshire gray (HC-101) as accent wall colour in all my rooms, will it work? Maybe I should not do accent wall for my small office. I am also wondering if Shaker Beige is a too dark for my hall way.

    This is the first time I am trying to paint my home. I found it is really hard to find the right colour. :O)

  • 8 years ago

    Do you feel that you need accent walls? if you do, You don't need them in every room. I don't use them at all.

    yanghuaca thanked Saypoint zone 6 CT
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    saypoint: I don't need accent walls. I am just wondering if only one color (Shaker Baige) for all rooms will be a little boring. Maybe I should pick one color for each room.

  • 8 years ago

    A lot of people do Shaker Beige (or another neutral) throughout because they have an open floor plan, which makes it difficult to transition colors in the home's public spaces. If your rooms are separate, as is common in older homes, then you definitely have the flexibility to vary the color from room to room. If you are concerned about all beige being boring, I would definitely think about varying the color from room to room over accent walls.

    When varying the color from room to room, you need to think about flow and sight lines. For example, my living room opens to the dining room with a 6 foot trimmed opening. All my trim is white throughout the house for continuity. My living room is a muted mid-tone blue and my dining room is chocolate brown. The living room has some brown wood furniture and the dining room has blue curtains, and both rooms have green accents, so even though they are painted different colors, they coordinate. The view into the DR works with the living room decor, and vice versa.

    If the rooms in question are separated by a hallway, or there is no line of sight, you can get away with colors that don't coordinate as well.



    yanghuaca thanked cawaps
  • 8 years ago

    Yang, I had ALL my rooms painted a warm tan when I built my house 9 years ago and have never tired of it. I can't tell you the color because it's a brand(Kwal)made in Tx, and not sold in stores. I don't really use color, just black, ivory, and a deep mustard gold, and the tan is a nice backdrop, which IMO walls are meant to be. Color can be used in furnishings and accessories. As for accent walls, I did that in the last house and feel it may have seen it's day, but if that's what you want, by all means do it!

    yanghuaca thanked patty_cakes42
  • 8 years ago

    beautiful hall way with shaker baige. thanks everyone for your advice.

  • 8 years ago

    looks beautiful! Said a major fan of shaker beige.:)


  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    finished all rooms with shaker baige. love it. :O)

  • 4 years ago

    We have many large windows facing east,planning to paint all walls shaker beige( we now have chocolate mouse) we plan to do 2 feature wallsArroyo red, will this be ok? We have burgundy leather furniture .