CP

Red Pastel Color Palette — Strawberry Cream

A soft pastel scheme of strawberry pink and creamy red, cooled with warm white and a whisper of sage, every color matched to real paint you can buy.

By Jessica Williams · Color Stylist & Interior Editor

Pastel red is one of the most underrated soft shades there is. This scheme leads with Strawberry Cream, a milky, slightly warm red that behaves like a sophisticated blush rather than a bright pink. It is soft enough for a whole wall and warm enough to feel cozy.

Around it, Soft Rosewater and Pale Blush layer in barely-there tints, with Warm White as the base that keeps everything light and airy. Holding the value range this close is what gives the palette its gentle, low-contrast calm.

Then a single note of Muted Sage does the important work. That quiet green is the foil that stops the strawberry tones from reading as a nursery — a small dose on a chair, a vase, or a single accent is all it takes to make the whole scheme feel grown-up.

View palette in
Strawberry Cream
Dominant
PPG / Glidden Soft Salmon · PPG1190-4
#EAAAA2
LRV 49
Soft Rosewater
Secondary
Sherwin-Williams Oleander · SW 6603
#F2CCC5
LRV 66
Warm White
Base
Glidden Crisp Linen White · 61YY 89/040
#F6F1E9
LRV 89
Pale Blush
Support
Glidden Coral Cream · PPG1062-2
#EAD6CE
LRV 70
Muted Sage
Accent
Dutch Boy Refuge Green · 327-3DB
#ADB69A
LRV 45

Buy These Colors

Each color matched to the closest real paint in every brand, by ΔE2000. Tap a swatch for its full guide or + to save it — take any SKU to the store, they mix on demand.

Strawberry Cream
#E9A7A0 · LRV 47 · Dominant
Sherwin-Williams · SW 6604 · ΔE 2.04
Behr · M200-4 · ΔE 1.11
Benjamin Moore · 031 · ΔE 3.17
Valspar · 8002-7C · ΔE 2.71
PPG / Glidden · PPG1190-4 · ΔE 0.86
Glidden · 49BB 51/186 · ΔE 0.86
Dutch Boy · 206-4DB · ΔE 4.16
HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams · HGSW 1076 · ΔE 2.04
Dunn-Edwards · DE5122 · ΔE 2.43
Magnolia Home · JG-154 · ΔE 11.39
Farrow & Ball · NO. 9806 · ΔE 2.11
Diamond Vogel · 1093 · ΔE 4.88
Hirshfield's · 1058 · ΔE 5.07
Rodda · R122 · ΔE 11.09
C2 Paint · C2-528 · ΔE 7.81
Clare · PNT100-MD-76 · ΔE 5.94
Portola Paints · ANGEL'S LANDING · ΔE 12.46
Annie Sloan · PALOMA · ΔE 15.98
Backdrop · BD-RO · ΔE 4.95
Rust-Oleum · 285143 · ΔE 21.72
Kompozit · 1058 · ΔE 5.07
Soft Rosewater
#F1C9C2 · LRV 64 · Secondary
Sherwin-Williams · SW 6603 · ΔE 0.84
Behr · T12-20 · ΔE 1.52
Benjamin Moore · 1290 · ΔE 1.68
Valspar · V080-2 · ΔE 1.66
PPG / Glidden · PPG1190-3 · ΔE 1.01
Glidden · PPG1190-3 · ΔE 1.01
Dutch Boy · 205-2DB · ΔE 0.95
HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams · HGSW 1077 · ΔE 0.84
Dunn-Edwards · DE5184 · ΔE 3.85
Magnolia Home · JG-24 · ΔE 7.09
Farrow & Ball · NO. 230 · ΔE 7.28
Diamond Vogel · 1057 · ΔE 4.14
Hirshfield's · 0083 · ΔE 3.95
Rodda · R121 · ΔE 7.52
C2 Paint · BD51 · ΔE 1.94
Clare · PNT100-LT-26 · ΔE 4.92
Portola Paints · GYPSY · ΔE 10.13
Annie Sloan · OLD OCHRE · ΔE 14.57
Backdrop · BD-AU · ΔE 6.67
Rust-Oleum · 285142 · ΔE 6.12
Kompozit · 0083 · ΔE 3.95
Warm White
#F6F1E9 · LRV 88 · Base
Sherwin-Williams · SW 9503 · ΔE 1.2
Behr · OR-W10 · ΔE 0.94
Benjamin Moore · 890 · ΔE 0.58
Valspar · 8007-6E · ΔE 2.08
PPG / Glidden · PPG0998-1 · ΔE 2.03
Glidden · 61YY 89/040 · ΔE 0
Dutch Boy · 004W · ΔE 1.01
HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams · HGSW 4002 · ΔE 1.24
Dunn-Edwards · DE6260 · ΔE 1.24
Magnolia Home · JG-107 · ΔE 1.52
Farrow & Ball · NO. 239 · ΔE 2.31
Diamond Vogel · 0355 · ΔE 1.52
Hirshfield's · 0355 · ΔE 2.42
Rodda · CA002 · ΔE 1.75
C2 Paint · C2-820 · ΔE 0.56
Clare · PNT100-LT-24 · ΔE 1.71
Portola Paints · ORIGAMI · ΔE 1.61
Annie Sloan · OLD OCHRE · ΔE 12.85
Backdrop · BD-TR · ΔE 2.31
Rust-Oleum · 329598 · ΔE 5.79
Kompozit · 0355 · ΔE 2.42
Pale Blush
#EAD7CF · LRV 71 · Support
Sherwin-Williams · SW 6042 · ΔE 3.18
Behr · T13-11 · ΔE 1.56
Benjamin Moore · 1240 · ΔE 1.82
Valspar · 7001-13 · ΔE 1.06
PPG / Glidden · PPG1060-1 · ΔE 0.76
Glidden · PPG1062-2 · ΔE 0.44
Dutch Boy · 307-2DB · ΔE 2.59
HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams · HGSW 4071 · ΔE 3.04
Dunn-Edwards · DE6072 · ΔE 2.38
Magnolia Home · JG-34 · ΔE 4.87
Farrow & Ball · NO. 202 · ΔE 2.69
Diamond Vogel · 0146 · ΔE 1.87
Hirshfield's · 0146 · ΔE 0.98
Rodda · CA049 · ΔE 5.4
C2 Paint · C2-850 · ΔE 5.93
Clare · PNT100-LT-20 · ΔE 4.74
Portola Paints · GEM · ΔE 8.07
Annie Sloan · OLD OCHRE · ΔE 10.34
Backdrop · BD-CC · ΔE 9.97
Rust-Oleum · 285142 · ΔE 4.26
Kompozit · 0146 · ΔE 0.98
Muted Sage
#AFB89C · LRV 46 · Accent
Sherwin-Williams · SW 2852 · ΔE 2.22
Behr · N310-4 · ΔE 1.8
Benjamin Moore · AF-455 · ΔE 2.67
Valspar · T628 · ΔE 3.18
PPG / Glidden · PPG1030-3 · ΔE 3.05
Glidden · PPG1030-3 · ΔE 2.39
Dutch Boy · 327-3DB · ΔE 0.55
HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams · HGSW 7727 · ΔE 6.72
Dunn-Edwards · DE6263 · ΔE 3.59
Magnolia Home · JG-59 · ΔE 4.34
Farrow & Ball · NO. 309 · ΔE 2.77
Diamond Vogel · 0751 · ΔE 3.3
Hirshfield's · 0751 · ΔE 3.43
Rodda · CA170 · ΔE 4.57
C2 Paint · C2-686 · ΔE 1.61
Clare · PNT100-MD-49 · ΔE 3.24
Portola Paints · TIKAL · ΔE 7.96
Annie Sloan · VERSAILLES · ΔE 10.12
Backdrop · BD-LF · ΔE 4.04
Rust-Oleum · 371674 · ΔE 5.37
Kompozit · 0751 · ΔE 3.43

Questions

Does pastel red read as pink or red?

Somewhere between the two. A soft, milky red like Strawberry Cream keeps the warmth of red but the gentleness of pink, so it feels like a grown-up blush rather than a candy shade. The warm white around it stops it tipping too sweet.

What one color keeps this palette from feeling too sugary?

The muted sage. A small dose of soft green is the quiet foil that makes the strawberry tones look intentional and calm instead of cute, the way fruit looks better on a green stem.

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