# Japandi color palette: calm neutrals with warmth [Canonical HTML page](https://gradiently.design/guide/japandi-colors) Pale oak, raw linen, a dark clay bowl, one branch in a vase. Japandi is what happens when Scandinavian lightness meets Japanese restraint. Here are its colours with codes, and how to balance them. ## The short version - A japandi color palette combines the light, warm neutrals of Scandinavian design with the deeper, earthier tones of Japanese design. - Typical japandi colours include oat, warm white, ash and oak wood tones, clay, muted moss green and charcoal. - Japandi avoids cold greys and bright accents; even its darkest colours lean warm and slightly brown. - A useful balance is roughly 60 percent light neutral, 30 percent wood or clay midtone and 10 percent dark accent. - Japandi works for interiors, wellness brands, ceramics, architecture studios and any brand that wants to feel calm and considered. A **japandi color palette** is a set of calm, warm neutrals with a few deeper earth tones: oat and warm white for the ground, pale oak and clay for the middle, muted moss and charcoal as accents. The name joins Japanese and Scandinavian, and so does the palette. Scandinavia brings the lightness and the pale wood; Japan brings the darker clays, the black lacquer and the sense that empty space is part of the design. What makes a palette japandi rather than simply beige is warmth and contrast. The lights are never stark white, the darks are never cold grey, and there is always at least one deep tone to anchor the calm. ## The core japandi colors with hex codes - Rice paper: #f3eee6 - Oat: #e2d8c8 - Ash wood: #c8b49a - Oak: #a9825f - Fired clay: #8c5a44 - Moss: #7c8269 - Stone: #4a4440 - Charcoal: #2a2623 Eight japandi colours from lightest to darkest. Every one of them leans slightly warm; there is no blue grey in the set. The Scandinavian end of the palette is rice paper, oat and ash wood. The Japanese end is fired clay, stone and charcoal. Moss sits between them as the one colour from nature that isn't wood or earth. You can build a whole brand from four of these. ## Four japandi palettes to copy | Palette | Light | Middle | Accent | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Morning tea | Rice paper `#f3eee6` | Oat `#e2d8c8` | Moss `#7c8269` | | Clay studio | Oat `#e2d8c8` | Fired clay `#8c5a44` | Charcoal `#2a2623` | | Pale oak | Rice paper `#f3eee6` | Ash wood `#c8b49a` | Stone `#4a4440` | | Evening | Stone `#4a4440` | Oak `#a9825f` | Rice paper `#f3eee6` | Three of these are light designs with a dark anchor. Evening flips it: a dark ground with oak and paper on top. - Morning tea: `linear-gradient(165deg, #f3eee6 0%, #e2d8c8 60%, #b9bca7 100%)` - Clay studio: `linear-gradient(165deg, #e2d8c8 0%, #b8896d 60%, #8c5a44 100%)` - Pale oak: `linear-gradient(165deg, #f3eee6 0%, #dccdb6 55%, #c8b49a 100%)` - Evening: `radial-gradient(ellipse at 70% 30%, #6e5b4a 0%, #4a4440 50%, #2a2623 100%)` The palettes as quiet backgrounds. The blends are long and gentle, like light moving across a plaster wall. ## How to balance a japandi palette Japandi depends on proportion. Too much light and it turns into a bland beige; too much dark and it becomes heavy. The [60 30 10 rule](https://gradiently.design/guide/60-30-10-rule) is a reliable starting point, and it maps neatly onto the palette. - **60 percent light neutral:** rice paper or oat as the ground of the page, the post or the room. - **30 percent wood or clay:** ash, oak or fired clay for panels, photos and secondary shapes. - **10 percent dark accent:** charcoal, stone or moss for type, a line, a single object. ### Not japandi - Cool grey and stark white - Every colour at the same mid lightness - A bright accent such as coral or teal - Busy patterns and many small elements - Glossy, perfectly clean surfaces ### Japandi - Warm whites and brown leaning greys - Clear steps from light to dark - Accents taken from wood, clay and moss - One object, lots of space around it - Matte surfaces with visible grain Texture matters as much as colour. Japandi interiors are full of natural material: unfinished wood, linen, paper screens, stoneware. On screen, a fine grain on the background does the same job, so a flat beige rectangle starts to feel like a surface. [Background texture](https://gradiently.design/guide/background-texture) covers the options. > **Neutrals shift between screens** Warm neutrals are the colours most changed by screens. An oat that looks perfect on a laptop can turn pink on one phone and green on another, and night modes push everything yellow. Check your palette on two or three devices before you settle it, and keep a little more contrast between the light and middle tones than feels necessary on your own screen. The same caution applies to photos. Shoot in soft daylight and correct the white balance so that walls and linen land close to your rice paper or oat. A photo that runs cold will look grey and lifeless next to a warm palette, however good the composition is. ## Japandi vs Scandinavian vs minimalist colour The three overlap, and people often use the words loosely. In colour terms the differences are fairly clear. | Style | Ground | Darks | Feel | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Scandinavian | Bright white, pale grey | Soft charcoal, muted blue | Airy, cosy, practical | | Japandi | Warm white, oat | Clay, charcoal, moss | Calm, grounded, crafted | | Minimalist | Pure white or black | Black | Clean, graphic, strict | Japandi is warmer and earthier than Scandinavian, and softer than strict minimalism. Read [Scandinavian design](https://gradiently.design/guide/scandinavian-design) for its lighter cousin. ## Using japandi colors for a brand The palette suits brands that sell calm or craft: interior designers, architects, ceramicists, tea shops, spas, yoga studios, furniture makers, skincare and slow fashion. It tells people that you take your time and pay attention to materials. Type should follow the same restraint: one quiet sans serif or a refined serif, set with generous space and never too heavy. A portrait post announcing new stoneware in charcoal type on a warm oat and clay japandi background A ceramicist's post in the Clay studio palette: charcoal words on oat, clay in the background. A vertical story reading Breathe out in quiet type on a pale rice paper and moss green background A yoga studio story in Morning tea, with nothing on the screen but the class. 1. **Choose your light** Rice paper if you want air, oat if you want warmth. This becomes your ground everywhere. 2. **Pick one material colour** Ash, oak or clay. It should match something real in your work: your wood, your glaze, your counter. 3. **Set a single dark** Charcoal for type and logo. Use moss instead if your brand is about plants or wellness. 4. **Leave space on purpose** Fewer words, one image, wide margins. Empty space is the fourth colour in a japandi palette. With Pro, Gradiently's brand kit holds your palette and fonts, and can read your website to fill in your colours to start with, so every post the Designer makes stays inside your japandi set. For more calm palettes, see [neutral colour palettes](https://gradiently.design/guide/neutral-color-palettes), [earth tone colours](https://gradiently.design/guide/earth-tone-colors) and [interior designer branding](https://gradiently.design/guide/interior-designer-branding). ## FAQ ### What colours are japandi? Warm whites, oat, pale ash and oak wood tones, fired clay, muted moss green, warm stone grey and charcoal. All of them lean slightly warm. ### What is the difference between japandi and Scandinavian colours? Scandinavian palettes are brighter and cooler, with clean whites and pale greys. Japandi is warmer and earthier, adding clay, moss and deeper charcoal from Japanese design. ### Is grey a japandi colour? Warm, brownish greys like stone are. Cool blue greys are not, because they break the warmth that holds the palette together. ### Can japandi include colour? Yes, in small amounts taken from nature: moss or sage green, a muted indigo, the rust of fired clay. Avoid bright, saturated accents.