What Coordinates With Mauve?

Light to Medium Neutrals

• Let mauve take a starring role by pairing it with light neutral colors. White, both soft and stark, provides a clean, elegant backdrop for mauve. Whites with blue, green or pink undertones also work well. Though beige does nothing for mauve, deeper shades of butter cream, champagne and cafe au lait add warmth to a room with mauve. Pale to medium cool grays, including grays with a green undertone, also complement mauve.

Dark Neutrals

• Pair darker neutral colors with mauve for a dramatic effect, or to ground a light color scheme. Dark neutrals that coordinate with mauve include dark browns such as warm chocolate brown or cool espresso brown. Dark grays, particularly charcoal gray, also work well. Black looks stunning with mauve as long as it doesn’t overwhelm the room. For the best result, use black in small doses.

Monochromatic Colors

• For an authentic monochromatic color scheme, use just the colors you can create by adding varying amounts of black or white to mauve. For a monochromatic effect with more depth, mix mauve with similar colors in light to dark shades, such as other colors in the purple family or those near it on a color wheel.

  Light to medium colors that provide the monochromatic effect include lavender, silvery pink, rose, amethyst, periwinkle and fuchsia. Darker colors include rich purple, burgundy, plum, deep blue and red-violet.

Contrasting Colors

• Numerous contrasting colors coordinate well with mauve. Use one contrasting color to enliven a mauve color scheme consisting of monochromatic or neutral colors, or pair two or more contrasting colors with mauve for a bold, lively look.

  Cool greens coordinate particularly well with mauve. Light greens range from mint to sage. Deeper green options include olive and forest green. Most yellows look good with mauve. Try lemon or sunny yellows for casual spaces, or use antique gold with mauve for a sophisticated touch. Though intense, yellow-greens such as chartreuse also mix beautifully with mauve. Cool blues ranging from sky to navy enhance mauve’s cool effect. Blue-greens from pale aqua to deep teal work well also.