5 Timeless Paint Colors for Your Home

timeless paint colors

Choosing truly timeless paint colors can feel a bit overwhelming. Planning to sell your home within the next five years? You have even more at stake when it comes to choosing the right paint color! And if you’ve spent a hot minute on Pinterest, Houzz, Instagram, or HGTV trying to figure out what’s “hot and what’s not,” you know that color trends come and go faster than it takes a wet paintbrush to dry out on a hot Texas day.

So how do you choose a color that feels fresh and modern, but can still withstand the test of time?

What makes a color “trendy?”

“Trendy” describes anything that’s currently popular with the masses. In terms of paint, it generally refers to a particular color group (like gray walls or blue cabinets). Trendy paint colors are beautiful and fun! The trouble is that they aren’t very flexible. That means when the trend shifts (as it oh-so likely will), you may be limiting your home’s decorative flexibility.

Now, if we’re talking about using trendy colors in your throw pillows or artwork, or even an accent wall, it’s not really an issue. That small-scale stuff is easy to adjust (and really the best place to invest in color trends)! But when it comes to large-scale color choices that are more expensive to update, like the wall colors for your whole house or the color of your cabinets…you really can paint yourself into a corner.

Planning to sell your home in the next five years? Choosing a timeless color is even more important! Because what’s trendy today may not be popular in a few years, and that means you will be putting a gigantic timestamp on your home. That definitely should not be your goal if you’re planning to sell in the near future.

For example, take a wild guess at when this super trendy harvest gold and avocado green colored kitchen was popular:

Image via GoRetro.com

What makes a color “timeless?”

Timeless paint colors are more versatile. They’re lower chroma (less colorful, less saturated) and have the flexibility to lean into many colors without being tied down to a single hue. Timeless paint colors are blended neutrals that have a good balance of both warmth and coolness that makes them the perfect backdrop to many, many styles and trends.

Of course, nothing is absolutely trend-proof (sorry, my psychic abilities don’t extend quite that far). And there’s no such thing as a “no-fail” paint color that works in every home (that’s why you should always, always compare test swatches). But these five colors have a really good chance of coming out on top!

Our Favorites

1. Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige 7036

2. Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray HC-173

3. Sherwin-Williams City Loft 7631

4. Sherwin-Williams Agreeable Gray 7029

5. Benjamin Moore Collingwood OC-28

Wait, does this paint look… purple?!

It’s possible. The quality of light (both interior and exterior) affects everything when it comes to evaluating paint color!

With a balanced quality of light, these five paint colors are beautiful mid-tone neutrals, which makes them extremely versatile and adaptable to any on-trend complements. Based on their spectral data, all five of these paint colors are low chroma (I.e., not very colorful, near-neutral) hues from the Yellow-Red (Orange) to Yellow color family. Near-neutrals from this color family are infamous for flashing hints of purple under certain lighting conditions.

If these colors appear purple in your space (and if you have average-quality vision), it most likely means you are working with an unbalanced quality of light. To find a “timeless” color that works better for your space, you’ll need to either adjust your lighting or sample near neutrals from a different color family. (This is actually a pretty simple, straightforward process! I teach you exactly how to evaluate spectral data and adjust for lighting in my online course, Color By The Numbers™.)


Want a handy tool for keeping track of the timeless paint colors you’re sampling in each room of your home? Get our free Home Paint Color Organization Chart, available for instant download in our Library of Freebies!

Need more help?

By reviewing your completed Online Questionnaire responses and your uploaded photos, we’ll use our extensive expertise and our professional color tools to help you bring your vision for your home to life. Whether you’re looking for a complete refresh of your space, experimenting with a new style, or just need a little professional guidance to help narrow down your paint color choices, we are here to help!


The products on this blog have been independently selected because I like them. Some of the links on this blog are affiliate links, meaning, if you choose to click on a link and make a purchase, I earn a small commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you and is paid 100% by the merchant, which helps me continue to create free content for my readers — so it’s a win-win! Thank you for supporting my blog and my business!



Published by Vannessa Rhoades, Three Bears Home Staging

Vannessa Rhoades is the author of "Just Right! Easy DIY Home Staging" and the founder of the award-winning firm, Three Bears Home Staging®. She specializes in providing positive and empowering consultations to help homeowners sell more quickly and for more money. Vannessa has staged and consulted on hundreds of properties, both in person throughout the Houston metro area and virtually across the country.

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