The Easy Way to Decorate Around a Tan (Pink Beige) Sofa

Pink beige is everywhere. I’ve seen this colour show up in carpet and furniture so often that I decided to share easy ways to decorate around this presumptuous neutral that keeps making an appearance in our homes. 

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you’ll know there’s nothing neutral about a pink beige sofa.

Or pink beige broadloom.

Or pink beige tile.

How to decorate around pink beige

Recently, I had a client ask me drop by and choose a new carpet colour for her upstairs bedrooms. She had picked up four huge boards full of small swatches of carpet samples.

Besides the white and cream and a few darker colours, ALL the colours were varying shades of PINK BEIGE and brown???!!!

There was no green beige, green grey, or even a light yellow beige. Most of the samples were PINK BEIGE.

I told her which colour to look for and she went back to the store to find the right colour.

So, if you’ve ended up with pink beige anything, it’s probably not your fault. There’s just too much of it out there.

Here’s another example:

I arrived at my sister Anita’s house for a visit. After she sat on my outdoor sectional last year, she knew she wanted one for her own yard. As soon as the warmer season arrived this year, she came home with a wonderful curvy sectional from a big box store. And, can you guess what the standard colour of the seat cushions was?

Pink beige. Naturally.

My other sister, Elizabeth, and her husband bought an outdoor gazebo for their backyard, and what were all or most of the choices?

Pink beige.

UNCLE!

So I thought I’d help you all out and give you some tips on how to decorate with this most limiting undertone on the planet.

Blue Looks Best with Pink Beige

Blue is the colour that looks best with this shade of beige. Lucky thing, too, since blue is most people’s favourite colour.

Since your living room is the room you suffer over the most, and since this is the room we all want to look nice for guests and family, here’s where you should start.

A lot of people buy a pink beige sofa and treat it like it’s so neutral, the colour doesn’t need to be repeated in the room ever again. But that would be like buying a white sofa and nothing else white.

In this room, the colour has been repeated in the striped throw pillows and the wall treatment:

BHG

Navy Colour Palette

In this navy colour palette, the pink beige has been repeated in the area rug and the pillow:

Colour Scheme #1 – Area rug (Pottery Barn)

There’s only one way to choose an area rug without repeating the pink beige, and that is if your rug is one colour + white. Or a solid colour.

Turquoise & White Colour Palette

Here (below), the only place we’ve repeated the pink beige is in the pillow:

Colour Scheme #2 – Sofa (DWR) Similar Rug (Pottery Barn)

If you choose an area rug with more than one colour (plus the white), and one of those colours is a different beige or grey like the one below, it will look like you’re completely ignoring your pink beige sofa. What do you think of this combo, below?

Turquoise & Yellow Beige Colour Palette

Colour Scheme #3 – Similar Chair (Horchow) Similar Rug (Pottery Barn)

Turquoise, Navy, White Colour Palette

Below is another combination without any additional pink beige. You can make it work, especially because we are still decorating with blues, which work with pink beige, AND because there are no other neutral undertones we’re dealing with. But the question is, which of these two looks better?

Scroll back up to the Colour Scheme #1 (above) and look again.

Tell me if you agree with me but this colour scheme repeats the sofa colour and therefore looks the most intentional.

Colour Scheme # 4 – Similar White Chair (Pottery Barn) Similar Colour Rug (Overstock)

Navy & More Pink Beige Colour Palette

After you’ve picked out a rug (preferably a patterned one that picks up another colour), you can choose the chair to coordinate with your sofa:

Colour Scheme # 5 – Similar Chair (Ballard Designs) Rug (Pottery Barn)

Turquoise & White Colour Palette

Colour Scheme #6 – Similar Chair (Ballard Designs) Similar Rug (Pottery Barn)

In this space below, the pink beige sofa has been repeated in the area rug and cushions. And I think it looks lovely.

{via Pinterest}

In the room below, the only place the sofa colour has been repeated is in the window sheers. Visually, the gold accents in the room relate to the sofa. This is a pretty room; however, I think the sofa looks slightly dirty with all the white. How about you?

{via BHG}

In this living room (below) pink beige can be found in the carpet and the drapes. The brown and white wing chair also repeats the colour visually, even though it’s not pink beige:

BHG

As most people don’t have solid cream carpet (like in the living room below), so choose a blue area rug to go with this colour scheme, and add some pattern.

{Tobi Fairley}

How NOT to decorate with pink beige

Do NOT try and duplicate this kind of dark colour scheme (below) UNLESS you also have French doors that look like this. In other words, you have beautiful architectural detail in your home already.

If you have a pink beige sofa in a living room that’s basically shaped like a box, DO NOT buy a charcoal rug and pillows to go with your pink beige sofa.

Don’t get misled by monochromatic rooms that will NOT give you the look and feel you want without a lot of other expensive details that can only be achieved by a professional interior designer.

{via Pinterest}

So stay on the plan, choose a colourful area rug and some coordinating throw pillows. And that’s how your bring your living room to life!

Related posts:

Why Pink Beige Should be Banished Forever

In Praise of (Latte) Pink Beige

How to Choose the Right Beige

If you would like your home to fill you with happiness every time you walk in, contact us! We would love to help you choose colours, select the right combination of hard finishes or create a plan to pull your room together. You can find our fabulous e-design consultation packages here.