What Color Paint Goes With Brown Carpet? (Find Out Now!)

Jessica Stone
by Jessica Stone
Pairing paint with any color of carpet is tricky, but that is especially true when it comes to brown carpet. Brown is a fairly uncommon carpet color which makes it hard to pair with paint, but colors like tan, cream, and blue go well with brown carpeting. Follow along as we explore every paint color from pink to grey that goes well with brown carpet.

In rooms with brown carpeting, the lush neutral appearance often seems to limit your options to an earthy, warm color scheme. Of course, nature-inspired palettes are cozy and inviting, but you might be surprised to find how versatile of a color brown is. You don’t have to limit yourself to drawing inspiration from the outdoors. Each shade of brown consists of all three primary colors – blue, yellow, and red. This allows the natural color to match well with a wide array of tones.

Although brown may not be the most common choice for carpeting, it is still a neutral color. As a neutral shade, there are many different wall paint color options that can work well in your space. For best results, pair your brown carpet with tan, cream, white, green, blue, grey, or even pink walls. Try to stick with light shades and avoid anything too dark, as this will make the whole space appear too dim in comparison.

Coordinating the color of your carpet and your wall paint can make or break a room’s visual appeal and ambiance. If you’re looking for the perfect wall color for your brown carpeting, we’re here to help! This guide will ensure that you find a safe option.

Brown Basics

Brown paint is made by combining all three primary colors. Varying the ratios of red, yellow, and blue yields different shades of brown. Browns that contain more blue have a cooler tone, while hues with more prominent yellow or red notes offer a warmer look. Before you establish a color scheme that works with your carpeting, you’ll want to determine the exact shade of brown you’re working with.

You can figure out the exact shade of brown by comparing a paint chip deck or sample cards from your local hardware store with your carpet color. This will ensure that you choose a wall color that matches and looks visually appealing in your space.

Is Brown a Good Carpeting Color?

Most homeowners opt for white, beige, or other lighter neutral shades to make the space look brighter and feel more spacious. While brown isn’t the most popular color used for carpeting, it can be a great option depending on the room you install it in. Brown carpet can either make a room seem “boxed in” or warm and cozy, depending on its size.

For larger rooms, brown carpeting can lend a nice comfortable touch to the space, while brown carpet in a small room can make it feel restricted and will do little to help it appear larger.

Arguably, the greatest advantage to choosing brown carpeting is its ability to hide dirt and stains. After all, certain carpet colors are better at concealing filth and thus reducing how often they have to be cleaned. With that said, brown carpets are an excellent choice for those with kids or children.

However, you should avoid exceptionally dark brown carpeting in areas that see significant foot traffic, as it will lighten the color of the carpet over time. Not to mention, very dark carpets will start to show where the dirt gets absorbed if they aren’t cleaned regularly.

Therefore, the question of whether brown is a good carpeting color ultimately comes down to how you use it. When used in a large room that sees moderate foot traffic and is cleaned regularly, brown carpets will make a bold, cozy statement. The color you choose for your walls is another important consideration to make when you decide to install brown carpeting, as paint color can make or break the overall look.

How To Choose Paint And Carpet Colors That Coordinate

What Are the Best Wall Paint Colors for Brown Carpet?

Being such a dark and unconventional color for carpet, brown can sometimes be difficult to match. Fortunately, it’s still a neutral color so there are a number of foolproof wall paint color options to choose from that will complement your space. Let’s explore some of the most popular options for wall paint that pairs with brown carpet:

White

White is a universal color that will work with almost any carpet color. It’s arguably the safest option when you’re looking for a wall paint color to match brown carpeting. Opt for white walls if you want your brown carpet to be the focal point of your space or to make a small room appear larger. The white color will help the brown stand out, while also lending a brighter, more vibrant look to the room.

Cream

Another safe choice, cream is a warm, neutral color that will fit just about every room and carpet color. When compared to white, cream has a slightly earthier appearance while still offering the benefits of opening up the space. Cream is soft, inviting, and has both yellow and beige undertones that will pair well with brown. It also keeps the palette of the room in the same color family to create a monochromatic scheme, without making it seem too muddy.

Tan

Tan is another neutral shade that will keep your walls and your carpet in the same color family. Sticking with a gradient color palette may seem like a very basic approach, but an all-brown space can look too muddy if it’s done improperly. Having too many shades of cool and warm browns in a room will cause the colors to compete and reflect off of each other, which can make them look like a completely different hue.

For best results, locate your carpet’s exact hue on a gradient color chart. Then, fill the space with both darker and lighter versions of that color.

Green

Consider pairing green walls that have a slight blue undertone with your brown carpeting. This will help to balance out the warmth in the brown carpet and also lighten up the space. Add in some other hues in the same brown family like tans, beiges, and creams to create a warm, nature-inspired look. Also, some bright, white touches throughout the room can help to mitigate the explosion of greens and browns.

Blue

Blue is a versatile color that will pair well with virtually any shade of brown. This cool color comes in shades like steel blue and ice blue that can balance out the red tones in brown. Whereas, warmer hues like robin’s egg and teal will help emphasize cooler brown shades.

Consider going bold by painting your walls a rich, royal blue. Then, fill the space with luxurious furnishings and accents in a more neutral color to create contrast.

Grey

Grey is clean, crisp, and contemporary, always serving as a neutral option to enhance the elegance of a space. So long as you opt for a true grey paint color without any colored undertones, grey can serve as a neutral color. In recent years, grey has become incredibly popular to create sophisticated and trendy looks in interior design.

If you want your space to have a more masculine or gender-neutral vibe, grey walls may be the perfect pairing for your brown carpet. While there are many different grey hues to choose from, opt for a lighter color to avoid the room becoming too dark and dim.

Pink

Give your masculine brown carpeting a feminine touch by pairing it with pink walls. This color choice can look exceptionally well in a nursery or young child’s bedroom. While some hues like hot pink and cotton candy may be too childish for an adult space, there are a number of grown-up variations to choose from. For example, consider painting your walls a champagne pink to accent cool, lighter brown carpeting.

What Wall Colors Should be Avoided with Brown Carpet?

As a neutral color, brown will match almost any color you pair it with. There are a number of color combinations that can create different atmospheres and themes in your space. With that said, there aren’t any colors that need to be avoided when dealing with brown carpet. So long as the paint color is your taste, it will not clash with the brown or look unattractive in the room.


Related Questions

Should your carpet be darker or lighter than your walls?

For optimal visual interest, you should select a carpet that is two shades lighter or darker than your walls. However, a neutral color carpet is still an excellent choice regardless of the color of your walls. Since it’s easier to change your wall color than your carpet, it’s recommended to choose the carpeting first and then match your wall afterward.


Why does my carpet look darker after installation?

If your carpet appears lighter or darker after it has been installed, this probably isn’t a cause for concern. In most cases, carpeting looks lighter than the sample swatch because of your room’s lighting, along with the texture and color of the carpet. If the space has a lot of natural lighting or light-colored wall treatments, the carpet is going to naturally look lighter. Whereas, when the light in the room is dim or if it’s darker outside, the carpet will seem darker than the initial swatch.


What carpet color hides dirt the best?

The best color carpet for concealing dirt is dark brown. However, darker shades of blue and green will also perform well at successfully hiding dirt. Light brown, light green, and also pink carpets work moderately well when it comes to camouflaging dirt. While bright-colored carpets aren’t recommended, if you have to use them, colorful patterns will help conceal dirt and stains better.


What color carpet is best for staging a home to sell?

In most cases, light-colored neutral carpets work best when you’re trying to sell a home as they make rooms appear more spacious. However, you may want to avoid white. Many homeowners express concern about how to keep white carpets clean.

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Jessica Stone
Jessica Stone

Jessica considers herself a home improvement and design enthusiast. She grew up surrounded by constant home improvement projects and owes most of what she knows to helping her dad renovate her childhood home. Being a Los Angeles resident, Jessica spends a lot of her time looking for her next DIY project and sharing her love for home design.

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