Would you say the above wall is painted taupe or greige? What about the one below:
The first photo is painted griege. The second photo is taupe. Doesn’t the greige and taupe look like the same color? They are both beautiful neutrals aren’t they? Taupe:
MiMi Read
Wait- what about this one?:
House Beautiful
It is griege! Now they are looking different because of all the gray. Confused?? Well I was too. Greige:
Let’s investigate! The definition of taupe according to Wikipedia is: taupe is a vague, unscientific color term which may be used to refer to almost any grayish-brown, brownish-gray, or warm gray color. The definition of griege is not found in the dictionary (recent word) but designers explain the color as a color between grey and beige. Well, that does not help much. Let’s look at the undertones:
Taupe Undertones: Red(pink) & Green
Greige Undertones: Gray & Beige
Ok, starting to make a little sense now why sometimes a greige color can look gray. Isn’t it interesting that taupe is described as a grayish color, but there are no undertones of gray? Gray and beige undertones:
Gray Undertones: Green, Blue & Mauve
Beige Undertones: Green, yellow, red(pink) & orange.
So the greige and taupe colors can look similar because of the undertones of beige in the greige which are similar to the taupe undertones. Are you still with me? And they are different because again the undertones are not the same.
Taupe:
Patricai Helling & Daniel Barsanti
Greige:
Sherwin-Williams.com
1) So both taupe and griege are gorgeous neutrals.
2) Taupe and greige can be warm or they can be cool. Warm greige has a yellow undertone (from the beige). Warm taupe gets its warmth from the red undertones. Similarly, cool greige has blue undertones (from the gray) and a cool taupe comes from their green undertones.
In conclusion, greige and taupe are not the same color. They can look similar but because of the undertones they are not. I now see that a lot of designers actually are not seeing the difference and calling a color greige when it is actually a taupe.
Aren’t you happy I clarified that for you? 
I have to tell you that since I came back from Maria’s training, I have been undertone obsessed!
Let’s take a test! Taupe or Greige:
via decorpad
via decorpad
Amoroso Design
via decorpad
Photo’s #1 and #4 are taupe. #2 and #3 are griege.
What are some great taupe’s? Ben Moore Cedar Key 982, Smokey Taupe 983 and Stone Hearth 984.
Designer greige favorites: Ben Moore Revere Pewter HC-172, Grant Beige HC-83 and Bennington Gray HC-82.
Well, what are you thinking? Agree or disagree? Do you understand a little better now? Or more confused?
If you need help selecting colors, contact me today!
Other similar posts you may be interested in:
What I Learned at Color School
Finding the Undertones in Gray Stone
Understanding Beige Undertones
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Kelly Bernier Designs
Pretty smart Sherry! Sounds beautiful- griege and white look great together.
I bought a can of latex eggshell white and it was just too yellow for me. I added just a dab from an old can of grey and unknowingst to me I created greige! I love it! Trimmed in white white it looks very elegant.
If I have a gray couch what would be a good color for the walls in the family room? I’m look for warm colors
Hi Ann,
What would do I do with a pinky beige floor I had to work with? I try to ignore it as much as possible! The first color that pops to mind to work with your sofa and carpet- blue! Blue and green are so beautiful together! Then accessorize with different shades of blue. I would also get a blue area rug (to lay on top of pink carpet). Then your pinky beige carpet is much less noticeable.
If you need help choosing a wall color let me know. There are so many shades of blue out there. LOL- I hope you like blue! If not, there are other options, I just think the blue would be beautiful.
Hope this helps!
Wooo… I am in a pickle. A dill pickle ( a little paint humour there–)House bought with pinky-beige carpeting that I must keep *for now*. Then I bought a sofa which is between an avocado and an apple green. The wood floors throughout the rest of the house are a deep walnut. What color do I paint the walls in the room with the green sofa and the pinky beige carpet? What, if any, accent colors should I choose for pillows, art, etc? Ach! Going nuts here. All the samples look horrid!
Hi!
The principles for mixing the different undertones in a room is the same when creating a color flow room to room. If the rooms are very open together, I would keep all undertones the same. If the rooms are enclosed and off of the hallway, I will not worry about the undertones in each room, except the colors have to work with the hallway color to some degree. For example, I would paint a living room shaker beige(red) and be able to use monroe bisque (yellow) down the hall in the bedroom. For hallways I try to stay away from beiges and use blues or gray blues, some taupes or even whites. Did this answer your question?
I guess what I’m trying to ask: Is there a rule of thumb about mixing pinky/green/yellow undertones between rooms?
I see so much online about how to mix colors IN a room. There’s very little about how to pull a cohesive color scheme through an entire house. What counts as clashing, what doesn’t?
I would love love you if you blogged about that. I bet many others would love, love it too!
Best explanation I’ve read so far. And yet, some questions:
1. I’ve read in several places that taupe doesn’t mix with yellow. That would only apply to taupe with pink UT? Taupe with green UT would work?
2.
Mixing these neutrals, taupe and greige, successfully is all about using the same undertones, correct?
But can you mix them when creating a color scheme for an entire house (where color-harmony is the goal)?
For example, I plan to use mostly cool grays (blue undertones, like slate), cool blues and white. A cool taupe would mix well, yes?
Yet, when it comes to LR I think warm Greige will mix best with beige couch, artwork with beige and red and a red accent piece (cool red). But won’t the Cool taupe from one part of house clash with warm (yellowy) greige of LR?
I’m not surprised plenty of designers don’t have this right
why dont people use real color on their walls…I LOVE RED….WHY IS EVEERYONE AFRAID OF COLOR
This is the clearest explanation I’ve read on them. I have to admit, however, that after spending the last few weeks looking at real estate, I’m burned out on both taupe and greige. A little bit of a good thing is a good thing; a lot of a good thing can quickly become far too much. I think every builder on the west coast has decided taupe/greige is the only paint available.
Thank you Nann!
Great info…good job!