'While many neutrals aim to disappear, this one defines a space' – why Sherwin-Williams' City Loft is the adaptable beige paint you need on your radar

Picking out a neutral paint color for your home may seem straightforward at first. But once you factor in your space's lighting scheme, design style, color palette, and more, the task becomes a bit more complicated. That's why it's always smart to ask the experts, and take their tried-and-true tips to heart before making a commitment.

With years of experience and a wide range of spaces under their belts, interior designers often turn to their lists of the best off-white paints before diving into a project. And City Loft, one of Sherwin-Williams' best-selling paints, is a crowd favorite. This is why designers love the sophisticated neutral, and how they suggest using it to transform your home's ambience.

'City Loft SW 7631 has earned its popularity thanks to its soft, sophisticated presence and remarkable versatility,' says Emily Kantz, color marketing manager at Sherwin-Williams. 'This warm, light greige strikes a perfect balance between beige and gray, offering a neutral that feels airy without being too cool or too warm. I love that City Loft enhances natural light beautifully, brightening spaces without ever feeling stark with its slight red undertone.'

How to decorate with Sherwin-Williams' City Loft

'City Loft SW 7631 is a versatile shade that works beautifully across a variety of design styles,' says Emily. 'For the modern farmhouse look, City Loft softens rustic textures and adds a refined touch to wood beams and vintage accents, ideal for living and dining rooms. For a minimalist vibe, City Loft offers just enough warmth to keep pared-down spaces from feeling cold or sterile, great for a kitchen and bedrooms.'

Whether you're on top of interior design trends or prefer timeless styles, City Loft is a solid choice. It brings sprawling open-plan spaces together, and acts as a reliable foundation for lighting schemes of all kinds. This is how interior designers suggest you use the shade to get the best results.

1. Pair with warm or natural light

'City Loft strikes the perfect balance,' says Lauren Saab, founder of Texas-based Saab Studios. 'While many neutrals aim to disappear, this one defines a space gently, giving it a sense of order without rigidity. It reads as soft and modern, with a slightly cool undertone that feels elevated rather than flat.'

This shade's soft, gentle presence meshes well with just about any lighting scheme under the sun, but designers say it works particularly well with natural or warm light. 'Thanks to its subtle greige undertone, City Loft adapts well to shifting natural light without reading flat or overly warm,' says Lauren. City Loft maintains a consistent sense of calm, but takes on new looks throughout the day – and never clashes with bright, airy spaces.

Ami McKay, president and principal designer of Vancouver-based PURE Design, says City Loft is a 'perfect off-white putty shade' that combines warm and cool undertones for a balanced look. 'We are really leaning into off-whites rather than bright whites to add more warmth and depth,' she says. 'City Loft is a great choice for this.' In this dining nook, part of PURE Design's Oceanview project, Ami and team used the shade on the home's interior walls, ceilings, exposed beams, doors, and moldings to achieve a 'seamless', put-together look.

'Being a staple neutral, you can't go wrong using this shade in a variety of ways and styles,' says Ami. 'Always opt for a warm lighting scheme – anywhere between 2700-3000K temperatures is the sweet spot for a lovely glow. Our design style leans modern with touches of old-world soul so a warm neutral shade such as City Loft is fresh but lived-in.'

2. Tie an open-plan home together

Ami used City Loft as a neutral foundation for a warm, welcoming design scheme, and other designers have taken the same approach. Tehilla Bennett, founder and principal designer of Ohio-based Teela Bennett Design, used the shade to give a 'dated' 1970s home a timeless refresh.

'From the basement to the attic, it served as the perfect foundation,' says Tehilla. 'Its soft, neutral tone created a seamless flow from room to room, while still allowing each space to showcase its own unique design elements.'

Alicia Thomasson, owner and principal designer at Virginia-based Alicia Thomasson Interiors, went the same route with a recent project. 'We designed a large rental house and did City Loft through the entire home for simplicity's sake,' she says. 'It is a chameleon of paint colors and looks fantastic in every room.'

City Loft's ability to unify an entire home's design scheme also makes it the perfect choice for an open-plan space. Taylor Lewis-Costa, owner of North Carolina-based TLC Home, says the shade is 'understandably popular' and works well in these sprawling, hard-to-pin-down spaces.

'Frequently, homeowners find open concepts tricky to decorate given the volume of coordinating elements,' she says. 'City Loft is adaptable and allows the room to work with sections while still blending. My personal favorite is soft white lighting, but City Loft also works very well under bright white light.'

3. Give existing architecture definition

'City Loft has a way of giving a room definition,' says Lauren. 'It’s especially effective in spaces with clean lines and thoughtful detailing, where the architecture does most of the work. It supports the structure without drawing focus. It’s tailored but relaxed.'

If your home has unique details or architectural quirks, City Loft is a beautiful choice for accentuating their shapes while remaining subtle and understated. Lauren recommends using the shade in spaces 'where restraint is part of the design language.' Libraries, studies, and dining rooms – especially those with millwork, paneling or molding. 'These are rooms where tone and proportion carry weight, and City Loft brings just enough contrast to frame the space without interrupting it,' she says.

'Because City Loft has a tailored, architectural feel, it works best in spaces where the detailing is already doing the talking,' says Lauren. 'Let it wrap entire rooms or unify trim and walls to emphasize form without contrast. It performs especially well in matte finishes and pairs naturally with materials like warm travertine and bronze accents. For the most refined effect, carry it across multiple surfaces so the transitions feel intentional and seamless.'

4. Bring the outdoors in

City Loft's considered blend of warm and cool undertones makes it easily cohesive with nature-inspired colors and textures. If you love to bring the outside in with your design schemes, it provides a neutral base on which to build. Ami says the shade's versatility means it pairs well with both warm and cool organic colors. 'We love it with the warm, mossy tones of SW 6167 Garden Gate, as well as the deep, cool tones of SW 6223 Still Water,' she says.

'We used City Loft as the foundation of our color palette in our Oceanview Project,' Ami continues. 'This shade transformed a dark, dated space into a bright and airy home with expansive ocean views. Our color palette focused on bringing the outdoors in, and City Loft provided us a calm background for the mossy green tones, warm white oaks woods, and the cool-toned natural stones to shine.'

5. Enhance a bold color palette

City Loft blends beautifully with all-out neutral spaces or modern organic color palettes, but it can also provide the perfect base for a bolder, more expressive aesthetic. Perfect for those looking to experiment but not go over the top, the neutral shade shines when paired with deep, dark hues or bright pops of color.

'The beauty of City Loft does lie in its versatility,' says Tehilla. 'The color effortlessly complements a variety of styles, from traditional and contemporary to modern and glam. It enhances so many palettes from blue to pink to tone-on-tone. I would pair City Loft with Let it Rain, Svelte Sage, or Functional Gray. As a versatile neutral, City Loft helps to open up a space to a wide range of design possibilities and allows color to shine without imposing limits.'

Alicia agrees: 'Its subtle red undertones give it warmth without the "yellow" many off-whites give, and allow City Loft to shine in any area of the home, even north-facing rooms. With it's warm undertones, City Loft looks wonderful with warmer furnishings, but I've also incorporated it into rooms with pinks and blues, and it still looks stunning.'

Emulate City Loft with neutral, soothing home decor

Introduce City Loft's calming presence across your entire home with these gorgeous, pared-back pieces. From a grounding area rug to a characterful piece of art, this home decor is made to last a lifetime.

Whether you're looking to experiment with color or create a nature-inspired escape, City Loft is sure to stand the test of time. Emily, from Sherwin-Williams, suggests pairing the neutral hue with calming greens, subtle grays, and rich browns to achieve a balanced, considered design scheme.

'For a serene and softened palette, pair City Loft SW 7631 with Oyster Bay SW 6206 and Mineral Deposit SW 7652 for calm, airy interiors. For an earthy and organic palette, pair City Loft with Thunderous SW 6201 and Brevity Brown SW 6068 for a more natural, grounded space.