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Neutral paint for zero natural light

last month

I’m redoing our guest bathroom that is full size. Dark walnut wood floor. White lightly veined vanity top with navy blue vanity. I really want a neutral paint that’s not white but nothing with tan, bright it yellow undertones. Something that will brighten up the room when the light is turned in too.

Comments (15)

  • last month

    What color do you have the hallway outside the bathroom painted?

  • last month

    Sadly it’s a beige color. The whole house is this color and has an open floor plan in several areas. That’s a much bigger paint job to tackle, so doing one room at a time. Right now I’m testing Ben Moore White Dove.

  • last month

    A solar tube would be fabulous, but the bathroom has a loft above it.

  • PRO
    last month

    These paints are neutral. Select from one of the brighter colors.


  • last month

    Thank you!

  • last month

    I have BM White Dove I’m sampling now!

  • PRO
    last month

    Bring in an electrician. White walls do not glow in the dark. You need more actual physical light if the bath is dark.

  • last month
    last modified: last month

    For most people design is a journey. Few can afford to renovate the entire home and get all new everything at one time, but having a plan where you are heading toward an end goal is imperative to having a great end result.

    BTW - beige is not the enemy - sometimes it is the perfect answer, sometimes not.

    I like to help people find their color palette, and I never start with the neutral.

    Our walls are simply the backdrop for all the beautiful things we own. The attention should be on the art and decor.

    I am going to sound sexist here - but my experience has taught me that women enjoy feeling like a 10. We tend to lean toward colors that make us look good. If I google "best colors and neutrals for women with dark red brown hair and dark brown eyes and very fair pink toned skin." you will get this result:

    Best Colors to Wear

    • Deep Cools: Emerald green, navy blue, cobalt, and deep teal create a striking contrast.
    • Berries & Purples: Plum, magenta, burgundy, and amethyst complement both the red tones in the hair and the pink in the skin.
    • Softer Tones: Soft white, dusty pink, or rose-toned shades enhance the skin's natural, healthy glow.
    • Avoid: Bright yellow, orange, and yellowish greens, as these can clash with pink undertones and make skin appear sallow, note users in a Reddit discussion. Reddit +4

    Best Neutrals

    • Cool Neutrals: Charcoal gray, navy, and true crisp white are ideal for creating a crisp, clean look.
    • Soft Neutrals: Taupe, cocoa brown, and soft mushroom colors work well without being too warm. YouTube +2

    I love deep berry and wine reds, purples that lean red vs blue and teal greens and my neutral is taupe.

    This is evident throughout my home and wardrobe. I want to feel like a 10 when I sit on my sofa or lay in my bed or when applying makeup. I surround myself with art and decor that look good on the taupe walls and complement my coloring. I didn't do this on purpose, I found that the colors that make my heart sing are those colors that also happen to make me look good. The art and decor, bedspreads and towels that I selected had the reds, purples and teals.

    My sister has medium brown hair, brown eyes and lighter olive toned skin that tans as soon as she walks outside (unlike me who burns and never tans). She picks more earthy, fall colors. Moss greens, deep orange reds, golds. Her neutral is greige (beige/gray that has green undertones) and beige.

    My sister in law is one of those beautiful blonds with big blue eyes. She picks a lot of blues, soft greens, cream and soft pastels.



    What are the colors that make your heart sing? How do you see these colors in your home?

    If you know where you are going the road to that final goal is so much easier to map.

    Beige may not be the perfect backdrop, but someday you will repaint. When you do repaint you want the choices you made for other rooms to work with the color you will choose.

    Often using color we can find colors that work with the neutral that is there and the neutral we are moving toward.

  • last month

    I love SW Alabaster, works in sunshine or shade.

  • last month

    People often think of low natural light and pick cleaner and or more saturated colors for those spaces, but bathrooms and basements that have no natural light are not trying to be pretty when the lights are not turned on. Low light rooms that need to function well without lights turned on during the day can easily get weighed down or dreary, but how often do you go into a bathroom with no window and not turn on the lights? It only needs to look good with the lights on since that is how people will view the space.

  • last month

    Agreed. We always turn the light on. During the day a little light seeps in from under the door but not much. Funny because I didn’t think about it until now.

  • 29 days ago

    I have a full bath on the interior of the house with zero natural light. The overhead lighting is sufficient, and I painted it SW Alabaster, which is a soft warm white.

  • 29 days ago

    Thanks everyone! I appreciate the helpful advice!

  • 29 days ago

    I have an interior bath with no natural light. I just went through this same quest. I narrowed chips down to four contenders and purchased large Samplize swatches of them. Before taping the samplize swatches to the wall, I placed poster board on the wall. It really biases your eye to compare the current color to the potential new color. Or one potential new color to the other. Placing poster board (or even a few sheets of white computer paper) on the wall and then the sample on top of that removes the bias. I ended up with simply white.


    I have read that painters hate Chantilly Lace, that for some reason it often takes many coats to cover.