How to Make Pinky-Beige Work

We all know of it, we all have seen it, we all try to avoid it. 

What is it? 

It's pinky-beige!

I've written about beiges before but it's such a huge color concern that I'm writing about it again. I recently had a client who's entire home, from cabinets to flooring, was a mixture of yellow AND pink undertones (thank you very much whoever built that home) so I'm going to write about it one more time.

There are a few tricks that you can use if you're trying to work with pinky beige in your home. There's really so much to consider when working with this hue so I'm going to show you how you can tie it in.

The photograph above is actually my dining room so if I thought “pinky beige” or the dreaded “band-aid” color wasn't going to work, I certainly wouldn't use it. However, if you're going to use a pinky beige, there are so many things to keep in mind before you can make this color scheme work. 

Here's a few steps to follow so pinky beige will work in your home.

Wood.

Using a “red based” wood (or tile/carpet with a pink undertone) is a must to help tie in a pink beige wall color. Look at the dining room table, the floor and the china hutch. They all have a red undertone. I have a better color swatch of the flooring because it didn't photograph well and actually looks like oak (yes, lighting is another element that will play havoc on your color scheme).

Gunstock wood flooring works well.

Look at the flooring in the dining room. It's really important to have this color wood on the floor as well when trying to tie in those red/pink undertones of the wall color. The trouble starts when the flooring, or other woods, start getting “yellow” such as this oak wood. I'm not saying it can't be done it just gets changeling.

Oak flooring.

I know you're laughing at that lamp, I did too when I bought it! It thought it was so ugly I HAD to buy it because who else would? Besides, I bought it on a tremendous sale - originally $140 down to $30.

This is the themed room (Bordello), which is a parlor directly across from the dining room. Funny red and gold sofa right? That sofa is so crazy looking I just had to get it and it's probably one of the most comfortable sofa's I've ever sat on. Anyway, one of the reasons I choose this sofa is because of the red and gold in it. Not only is the style typical of what I needed for this room but the gold motif in the sofa will tie in the very gold walls I have in the rest of the house and the red ties in with the pinky beige walls directly across from it.

The cork flooring -  which is my favorite type of flooring - really ties in the rest of the home as well. It clearly has yellow/gold in it, looks great with red and red ties in with the pinky beige walls. Tired yet?

Wall Color

The other part of my dining room incorporates a deep burgundy. I have “Burnished Burgundy” on six columns. Four of the columns can be seen in the dining room and the other two are in the family room. This is an important design element to balance color in your home. Don't just use a dominant color in one room but show it in other parts of your home as well. This is how you tie in a color scheme.

Metals

Meaning the hardware finish on your chandeliers, door knobs, curtain hardware and the knobs on your kitchen cabinets. Brushed nickel works well with pinky beige but depending on the other colors that are in your room, the warmer metallics may work as well. Get samples of different metallics and hold them against your wall color to see which ones look best.

Drapery

Of course you have to consider the colors in your drapery too. It's really hard to see my sheers in the dining room - they just didn't photograph well. They are a light champagne color and eggshell. They are soft yet add a little muted color to tie it all in.

Art

If you look at the mural I painted on the dining room wall you'll see some golds and greens being introduced. This is so very important because the other rooms in my home (open floor plan) are gold and green. I started introducing these colors so that the overall color palette would make sense. In most cases, mixing these two palettes is very difficult or challenging to say the least and I really don't recommend doing it unless you really know what you're doing.

This is a lot to digest at once and these are some very crucial points when working with pinky beige. It can be a challenge if you have pinky beige in one room and warm colors in the rest of your home. The main thing is to try to incorporate both yellow and pink undertones when working with pinky beige. This way, it'll be easier to transition into the yellow undertones in the rest of your home. Sound easy? Believe me, it's not but with these few design tips, you should be able to pull it off nicely.

Read it over, think about it and let me know if you have any questions about how to combine pinky beige with the rest of the colors in your home. My name is Donna and I'm a Color Specialist in Charlotte who's been working with these pretty hues for a very long time! We can make it work in your home too.