Smokey Taupe by Benjamin Moore: Paint Color Review

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If you’re considering using Smokey Taupe by Benjamin Moore in your home, I have good news! You’ve landed in the right place to learn all about this taupe paint color! I’m Kaite, a certified color expert, professional color consultant and I’ve used Benjamin Moore Smokey Taupe in my own home!

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Today’s paint color review will include loads of details about this subtle neutral paint color, including undertones, coordinating colors and white paints for trim, LRV and more! Read on to find out if this popular taupe paint is the right color to use in your space.

Why I Love Benjamin Moore Smokey Taupe

If I could go back in time, I would have painted our main foyer and upper hallway in Smokey Taupe instead of painting Collingwood. Our attached apartment was the last area in the house to be painted when we bought our Farmhouse fixer upper. For the color scheme, I wanted to decorate with chocolate browns, greens, cream and taupe. So I used Smokey Taupe on the trim in the living room with creamy off white walls and then reversed the scheme and painted the apartment bedroom walls Smokey Taupe with the white trim.

Once I discovered how gorgeous this taupe paint looks on the walls (and trim) I wanted a time machine to use it in the main house, which we had just painted a few months before! Here are a few reasons I love it and recommend it to color consulting clients.

• It is the perfect low chroma warm neutral with minimal undertones to use for accented neutral color schemes.
• The lack of undertones makes it perfect for someone looking for a minimalist paint color or folks who don’t want to add a colorful hue to their walls- but they do want a bit of warmth.
• I just love the way it adds dimension to our interior design and a touch of warmth without looking dated. Plus it doesn’t lean too pink like so many beige paint colors.
• It goes great with gray! So if you have leftover furniture and decor from the gray trend that you’re trying to meld into today’s warmer neutrals, taupe is your friend! I found a rug for the bedroom that has gray, taupe and cream in it to tie our existing grayish nightstands in with the warmer browns and cream.

Undertone Of Smokey Taupe

The reason I love this color so much is that it barely has any undertone at all. BM Smokey Taupe 983 has the faintest amount of hue and is almost gray. That said, its parent hue is orange, which you can see in the image below, and where it falls in its degree of saturation.

While taupe is cooler than beige or tan, it is still considered a warm neutral. To illustrate this point, when set next to Repose Gray by Sherwin-Williams, it is clear to see the warmth of Smokey Taupe.

While it is almost imperceptible, this color does have a whisper of pink in it. I have only noticed it in certain lights when paired with green (or other neutrals with green in them, like Tapestry Beige.) It is not unpleasant, and not as prominent as Muslin, another warm neutral paint by BM.

I originally found out about this light taupe paint color, by reading about how interior designers love it precisely because it doesn’t have any pesky undertones. The lack of strong undertones makes it a perfect warm neutral paint color if you do not like yellow or if you are looking for a warm neutral to go with gray furnishings (or floors.)

LRV For Ben Moore Smokey Taupe- 983

The LRV is 54.53 which means it is a mid-tone paint color. LRV stands for light reflectance value which describes how bright or dark a paint is. Pure white would be a 100 on this scale and true black would be 0.

What does all this “Mid-tone LRV” business mean in plain english? Well, if you look at the image above, you can see in our south-facing apartment bedroom that Smokey Taupe has plenty of body to handle direct light, without washing out.

In the image above you can see our Living Room in the apartment, where I used Smokey Taupe for the trim and millwork, and paired it with white walls (painted in OC-17 White Dove by Benjamin Moore. Even with lower light on the north side of the house, Smokey Taupe is still light enough to not feel too heavy or high-contrast.

FAQs for Benjamin Moore 983 Smoky Taupe

White Paints To Pair With It

Whether you’re doing reverse trim or contrasting trim, like I did in our apartment living room, or you want to paint your trim white and the walls Smokey Taupe here are some great whites to pair with it:

My current white paint color obsession is Whitetail by Sherwin-Williams and it is simply stunning with Smokey Taupe. They have the same undertone and so it is a match made in heaven! This is a great ceiling color too because it is nice and bright with an LRV of 86.

For a more subtle effect, with less contrast, use Sherwin-Williams White Duck for your white. It has an LRV of 74 so will have less contrast. It too has a very similar undertone so it will not have any off cast.

I used White Dove for my white and all of the photos in this post show what that pairing looks like. I used White Dove as my universal white for my whole house, so this decision was an easy one. It looks great and provides crisp contrast without seeming too cool.

Check out this collection of my favorite warm whites samples.

Is Smokey Taupe Right For You?

Ultimately, you’re going to have to test out Smokey Taupe in your own home to make sure it works for you. You can buy a sample sheet of it on Samplize or a small pot of it and paint it on the wall. Look at the sample in all different lights and make sure you love it. If it is too dark or light, consider trying some of the other ideas I suggested above.

I love it because it is warm without being yellow or overly tan or beige. It is a light taupe akin to a deeper greige paint color, so it is perfect if you are hoping for the paint to disappear into the background and let the furnishings do the speaking. But it has enough value that it will keep your walls from looking blank!

If you are bugged out about unexpected undertones, you can feel safe with Smokey Taupe. It is expert tested and approved, that’s how I found it! And now having used it in my own spaces I can verify how great this paint color really is!

If you are still unsure, sign up for a paint color consultation online and I can help!