A Detailed Guide to Muted Paint Colours

In the modern world of interior design, one versatile group of shades has found itself as a go-to choice for those decorating their homes and interior designers alike, we are talking about muted paint colours.

Muted tones can be found in all colour families from delicate calming blues to soft mood-enhancing yellows, and everything in between. Their subtle nature allows them to blend in seamlessly with virtually all design trends making them a popular choice for both modern and classically styled interiors.

Today, we will be taking a look at what neutral paint colours are, the advantages decorating with these soft hues offers, and take you through a meticulously curated list of muted colours from our expansive colour directory.

Ready to dive in and learn about how exactly you can enrich your interior with muted paint colours? Let's get started.

What is a Muted Paint Colour?

Muted paint colours are shades that are softened or toned down often with a touch of grey, brown, or black. This gives the shade a far more subdued, dusty, or smokey appearance.

Since these shades are defined by their more delicate edge than being a particular colour you can find these shades across virtually all main colour families.

Why Should You Use Muted Colours?

Unsure why you should consider a muted paint colour in your next decorating project?

Here are a few of our top reasons for including one of these subtle colours.

Muted Paint Colours Can Influence Mood

While personal preferences or current design trends can influence your choices of paint colour there is actually a good reason to take a minute to think about what you want for your space before settling on specific shades.

The paint colours we choose are actually capable of influencing our moods and creating a wide range of vibes in a space. From serene and calming to cosy and inviting, or even energetic and motivating. Quite a powerful tool to help those decorating their homes to create a space optimised towards its function.

We will be talking in quite a bit of depth about the emotions different paint colours can bring out later on, so we will not dwell on it too heavily here. Certainly, a key concept to keep in mind when decorating though.

Muted Shades are an Excellent Backdrop

As these shades tend to be fairly close to neutral paint colours in many regards they do make a strong base to build the rest of your colour scheme. Though they do bring the added benefit of being available in a far broader range of options than neutral tones but do share the trait these hues have of not drawing too much attention.

This enables muted tones to become the main colour you use in a room and allows you to experiment and decorate with more vibrant hues without much risk of overwhelming the space with too much colour.

So, if you are looking to create a sense of visual balance or bring focus to a specific area or feature, muted tones are your best friend.

These Shades Reflect Light Very Well

If you are decorating a space that is struggling for natural light or feels a little cramped pale muted colours are going to be an excellent choice. Lighter muted shades tend to be very effective at reflecting natural light around a room and project an overall spacious and airy vibe.

This doesn't only work on smaller spaces that feel quite constricted, but can also work well in larger rooms. In fact, in these cases, you also have the option of experimenting with darker muted hues to create a little depth. The options are truly endless.

Easy to Coordinate with Other Colours

How well a colour works with other shades and in a variety of colour schemes has to be one of the key ways to measure how much of an effective choice that colour is. Thankfully, muted hues are incredibly versatile working in a wide range of colour schemes with ease.

There are a few key reasons that make this an important consideration when planning your colour palette.

As muted colours are seen across all colour families and tones we can all but guarantee that there will be one to fit in with your current decor or with the rest of your colour palette if you have already selected a few shades you would like to work with.

Also, if you have chosen a muted paint colour as a main shade in your colour scheme you'll be able to able use it as a future base for your future redecorating projects. This means you will only have to play with accent tones or other features such as furniture, artwork, or other decorative aspects to bring a fresh renewed appeal.

Our Favourite Muted Paint Colours

By this point, you will be very well versed in the reasons you should choose a muted paint colour.

But what options do you have when it comes to selecting one? Let us take the guesswork out and we will take you through the vast array of Tikkurila shades available.

Muted Greens

If you are looking to create a soothing and nature-inspired vibe in your home muted greens are a very effective choice.

Muted greens can range over quite a large number of shades from understated and soft to deep and earthy. All of this enables you to give your space a wide range of vibes and a touch of tranquillity as you will see with our featured muted green colours below.

Our first muted green paint colour is Arbour S451, a soft khaki green with a soft muted appeal. Arbour also has slight red and yellow undertones, making it quite a complex shade.

This hue can work well in spaces where you may want to create a nature-focused earthy vibe and project a cosy appeal. Think of living rooms, dining spaces, or even on your kitchen walls or cabinets.

When it comes to using Arbour S451 in a colour scheme lean on soft neutrals, or beige shades to really double down on that natural vibe.

Next up we have Muse G385, a far paler example of a muted green shade. Featuring soft cream-like tones and bursting with a sense of spring, an excellent example of what you can expect from our range of greens.

You can use this shade quite liberally given how pale it is. It makes for a great base shade for a colour scheme. A light shade such as Muse G385 tends to perform well in any space large or small.

And it is quite easy to find colours to work with this shade. We would recommend taking a look at earthy browns or deep blue paint colours when creating a palette.

Another soft, muted green in the Tikkurila colour directory is the effortlessly calming Nile V386. Bringing a touch of this soft green shade into your home will undoubtedly contribute to creating a tranquil retreat in any space it is used.

When using Nile V386 we recommend pairing it with other lighter shades to amplify the space-creating properties it has. We like neutral colours such as Kaolin H497 or Canvas G485 as companions for this delicate green shade.

Where do Muted Greens Work Best?

Muted green shades can work incredibly well in a wide range of spaces due to their soothing and versatile nature. It can be hard to go wrong with these beautiful hues.

That said, there are places where muted greens tend to excel. For example, living rooms are a great place to decorate with these shades the calming effect they have can help you relax after a long day. The same here applied to studies, your kitchen, or even your hallway allowing you to be welcomed home and instantly feel de-stressed.

Muted Blues

Are the greens above not quite doing it for you? Let's see if we can tempt you with a touch of muted blue.

Muted blue paint colours are another popular choice for those looking to experiment with soft, under-spoken shades. Blue paint colours in this category extrude a calming and peaceful vibe that makes them a natural choice for bedrooms, bathrooms, or living rooms.

They also tend to work harmoniously with other colours and can vary quite largely from subtle pale hues to bolder statement-making shades. No matter the feeling you are trying to create in your home, there is a very good chance that a muted blue could help.

Let's explore a few of the muted blues in our colour directory to get your creative juices flowing.

Prince G490 is our first soft blue hue to discuss. Reminiscent of a baby blue but very toned down with a touch of grey giving it a muted appearance.

The good thing about this soft blue is that it brings a calming appeal while being light enough to reflect quite a bit of any natural light coming into a space. Being a cooler shade it would be a smart play to try to incorporate this colour into a south-facing room that takes the brunt of the sunlight during the day. This would balance the room out a little and create a cooler vibe.

As for complementary colours we tend to lean on pale neutrals or off-white shades for a visually attractive colour palette.

Featuring a subtle blend of green and blue hues, Rain J490 is a wonderful shade to consider for your next decorating project. Projecting a calming and sophisticated vibe, this colour is perfect for anyone looking for a way to bring a chilled-out appeal to their home.

It is perfect for living rooms, bedrooms, and home offices. Unless your space gets a lot of natural light you may want to avoid coating every wall in this slightly darker hue. Choose instead to paint a single wall with Rain J490 to give the room a little depth.

Taking a further step towards deeper and darker muted blue options we have Tide L491. More of a classic sea green hue with a delicate creamy undertone. This shade will undoubtedly bring a touch of elegance to your space.

If you are looking to find a colour scheme to work with this muted blue try leaning on soft neutrals such as our Damask F485. It really is hard to go wrong when decorating with this stunning shade.

Where do Muted Blues Work Best?

Given their cooling, calming vibe muted blue paint colours are ideal for any space where you are looking to escape the stresses of daily life. Consider using this shade in your living room, bedroom, or entranceway are all great places that this shade will excel in.

Also, as these shades are on the cooler side of the colour scale they do soften the brightness of south-facing rooms.

Muted Yellows

Looking for a soft sunny tone to bring a little happiness to your interior?

Muted yellow paint colours are going to be a strong match.

Painting with muted yellows brings softness and warmth to your home. This is partly thanks to these colours tending to be a desaturated version of yellow that doesn't bring quite as much vibrancy or intensity as standard yellows or other bright colours.

These shades also project calmness and evoke feelings of tranquillity and relaxation. Something that we often search for when planning a decorating project.

A colour described as muted yellow can cover a wide range of hues across lighter and darker tones. Each with its own vibe. This does enable this group of yellows to create a wide range of vibes from promoting productivity to encouraging relaxation. A very powerful and diverse colour group.

It is also very easy to pair with other shades. This is quite handy when trying to find a shade to work with existing styling or planning a colour palette.

Our first muted orange is Papyrus Y392. A soft and delicate muted yellow that extrudes a feeling of sunshine. This makes it an ideal colour for darker rooms which struggle with natural light, or north-facing spaces which feel a little lacklustre and don't receive as much sunlight. Papyrus Y392 is a brilliant substitute for this.

Being quite a versatile shade, Papyrus Y392 will work very effectively in all rooms in both modern and traditional spaces and seamlessly blend into the majority of existing decors effortlessly.

Boasting a slight pastel appeal, Sorbet F306 is our next muted yellow shade to talk about. This colour has a touch of warmth about it that will be capable of brightening even the dimmest space.

We would recommend adding a touch of Sorbet F306 to any space that would benefit from a sunny touch. Consider hallways, kitchens, or living rooms here.

In terms of colour pairings, you will want to look at off-white paint colours or even a darker shade for a strong contrast such as earthy browns or even a deep blue if you are feeling bold and want to create a sense of depth.

Gardenia F309 is one of the palest muted yellows in our colour directory, so much so that it could even be easily mistaken as an off-white paint colour. Needless to say, this shade offers a light and airy yellow option for your interior.

Being such a light colour you do get a lot of freedom as to where you can use it. It will work equally well in large open spaces or more confined areas that struggle to not feel cramped.

Also, colour pairings are quite straightforward as it works with a wide range of shades. Some of our favourites to pair it with include greys, darker neutrals, or foresty browns.

Muted Pinks

Give your space a gentle appeal with a muted pink paint colour. Extruding a delicate vibe muted pinks are an easy way to soften your decor and add a sophisticated touch.

Aside from this, there are other reasons you would want to include this slightly feminine shade when planning which colours you will include in your colour scheme. Notable traits include muted pink's ability to add a touch of femininity or romanticism to space, bring a soft elegance, or even offer a more vintage look, depending on the shade you choose.

To give you a more visual idea of the muted pinks available here are our top shades.

Starting our muted pinks off we have Pavillion X417, an elegant and trend-enduring shade that is more than capable of bringing a bright and airy appeal to your home.

This shade is perfect for a kid's bedroom, nursery, or for an accent wall in a living room. While those places would greatly benefit from a drop of Pavillion X417.

For colour combinations grab tester pots of earthy chocolate shades to give your space a bit of personality and amplify visual interest.

Next, we will be talking about the soft and playful Sunday H480. Sitting pretty much as the halfway point between pink and beige this paint colour adds a refined muted appeal thanks to the faint grey undertone it boasts.

There is not really anywhere you could use this paint colour that would not give a space a very relaxing vibe and turn it into somewhere you go to escape and unwind after a long day.

Try to pair this with other softer shades to really double down on the refined vibe Sunday H480 offers.

Empress X477 is another muted pink which can work beautifully as part of any modern colour scheme bringing a visually appealing and attractive edge. This hue does have a slightly clay-like appearance and is quite possibly the warmest colour featured on our list making it ideal for those decorating a south-facing room.

In terms of colour pairings, we tend to combine Empress X477 with pale neutral paint colours to feed into the gentle warmth this shade radiates.