Member-only story
Neutral colors: What are they? Why use them?
What makes a color neutral? Why should you use neutral colors?
A neutral color is a perfect and silent background color. It lifts up the rest of the colors. Neutral color does not fight for space.
From time to time we tend to choose neutral colors when we do not know which colors to use. It is important to understand this is not the purpose of neutral colors. Properly chosen neutral colors create powerful effects in interior design, design, painting, decoration, and so on.
Today you are going to learn what are neutral colors and why they are more important than you think. You are also going to take a look at the psychology of neutral colors.
Neutral Colors—What Are They
Colors are always subjective. Everyone sees them in a unique way. This makes classifying colors tricky.
When somebody talks about a neutral color, they usually refer to a hue that lacks color—a silent background color that doesn’t compete with others.
The pure neutral colors are black, brown, grey, and white. These colors are created by mixing two complementary colors. The purity comes from the fact that they don’t have hue undertones.
The rest of the neutral colors are referred to as near-neutrals. This is because they behave like pure neutral colors, but they are not pure because of the hue undertone.
Near-neutral colors have low saturation. They are created by mixing a primary color with a neutral color. This tones down the color so that it appears to lack color. But because of the hue undertones, the color is not a pure neutral.
Examples of near-neutrals are tan, ivory, and eggshell.
Why Use Neutral Colors
A neutral color blends into the background so well that one might not even pay attention…
