Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

How and When to Decorate With Warm Colors, According to a Designer

How and When to Decorate With Warm Colors, According to a Designer

It's all in the undertones.

When it comes to choosing a color palette for your home, there is one frequently overlooked step that you just shouldn't skip: Considering where on the warm t0 cool spectrum your shades of paint lie. That's right, there's more to just picking a color-there are arm grays and cool grays, warmer blues and cooler...you get the idea. And while this might seem like a minor distinction, those details usually have the most transformative power in design. To help understand and brush up on those color theory basics, we tapped interior designer Michelle Gerson to learn all about warm colors-from expressive, experimental, and bold to soft, neutral, and traditional-what actually sets them apart from their cooler counterparts, when to use them, how to decorate with them, and more. Let's start with the basics...

Understanding Tones




While we're quick to associate fiery colors with warmth (like yellow and red) and other icier ones with coolness (blue and purple), most can actually have undertones of both or the opposite, especially neutrals. Let's take white, for example. "I consider white to be both a warm and a cool color-it just depends on which tone of white you pick," Gerson says. "One of my favorite warm whites to use is Wimborne White by Farrow & Ball. It has a warm creamy factor to it without being yellow. It’s also softer than a stark cooler white, like Benjamin Moore’s 'Super White,' which I also love to use," she explains. It really just depends on what vibe you're trying to generate, what your lighting is like, and ultimately, personal preference.

Spotting the Difference




So, how can the layperson tell if a neutral color is warm or cool? It's all about the undertones. "If it’s a cool color, it will come off more bluish-gray while warmer colors come off more peach and taupe," explains Gerson. It helps if you think about it seasonally, too: fall and summer climates lend themselves to naturally warmer tones while winter and spring conjure up cooler landscapes.

"Cooler colors are just crispier in feel when you look at them," says Gerson. Generally, warm neutrals won't necessarily make a space feel either larger or smaller. Surely, a darker tone can sometimes make a small space feel extra cozy, but that doesn't mean the tone will always change the perceived size of a space. "To me, color changes the mood not the size of a room," Gerson clarifies.

Bold Warm Colors




Think About Where You Are


One way to help you decide is by considering the way you'll be using a room and the mood you want to set. "In a bedroom, I would use a warm white like Benjamin Moore's Atrium White or Chantilly Lace," Gerson suggests. "Atrium White has a little bit of a peach tone, while Chantilly Lace has a much warmer tone, so it’s not a stark white." As such, it may be better in a room where you want to create a nice and calming, relaxing vibe, like a bedroom, or a formal powder room with dim lighting.

Meanwhile, she says, "in a home’s common spaces, I like to go with cooler whites such as Benjamin Moore's Super White or Decorator White, which has a gray tone to it." Moral of the story: Just because you're set on white doesn't mean you're finished. The next step is to think about the undertones, the items you'll be decorating with, your exposures, etc. "I just think it’s nicer to use a warmer tone in a colder place because it does create a feeling of coziness. Also, cooler whites look better in city apartments and beach houses because it’s so pure. It just feels clean and crisp. It brings the light up in the room."

Neutral Warm Colors




Contrasting Warm and Cool Tones


Just because you've settled on a warmer tone for the walls doesn't mean you can't decorate with cooler-toned decors, like off-white walls with black and gray decor. In fact, Gerson says that contrast is usually what creates such unique interiors. "To me, a contrast piques interest." That said, it's often wise to keep those contrasts between different color families (a cool white next to a warm white will make the warm one look dingy). Gerson's favorite warm neutral is Pink Ground by Farrow & Ball, a blush tone that can function as a neutral and lend its versatility to so many different types of environments and styles. "I used Pink Ground in my office with black carpeting with cool gray doors," she says (more on that color combo here).

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
×