Colors that go with Teal for a kitchen
Teal · #008080
Teal (#008080) — a balanced blue-green — is best for a kitchen with terracotta & clay, muted red, ochre & gold, and teal. In a kitchen, contrast it with terracotta & clay, drawn from 8 historically-grounded combinations below.
Kitchens pair best with warm, durable partners — colors that read clean against cabinetry and counters in hard task lighting.
About teal
Teal is a balanced blue-green — a saturated, cool colour that reads as deep and grounding. As a cool tone it looks most resolved next to warm and neutral partners that add the warmth it lacks, and it needs lighter shades nearby for the value contrast the eye reads as finished. That balance is what makes it feel earthy in a kitchen.
- HEX
- #008080
- RGB
- 0, 128, 128
- HSL
- 180°, 100%, 25%
- CMYK
- 100, 0, 0, 50
Accessibility: put light text on teal for AA legibility (contrast 4.6:1 against off-white).
Why teal pairs with terracotta & clay, muted red, ochre & gold, and teal
Across the 8 historical combinations below, teal sits most often beside terracotta & clay, muted red, ochre & gold, and teal. That tracks with colour theory: a cool, deep tone like this one wants warm and neutral partners that add the warmth it lacks so the scheme feels intentional rather than flat, and lighter partners supply the light-to-dark range the eye needs. Kitchens pair best with warm, durable partners — colors that read clean against cabinetry and counters in hard task lighting.
- terracotta & clay
- muted red
- ochre & gold
- teal
Using teal in a kitchen
In a kitchen, contrast it with terracotta & clay and muted red. Because teal is deep and grounding, keep it to anchor pieces or a single feature area and let terracotta & clay carry the larger surfaces.
8 combinations with teal, from the 1933 Dictionary
Grenadine Pink & Naples Yellow +1
Plate 193 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Grenadine Pink, Naples Yellow, Light Porcelain Green.
#00908a #f48067 #fbe6a0
Brick Red & Apricot Orange +2
Plate 328 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Brick Red, Apricot Orange, Vandyke Brown, Light Porcelain Green.
#00908a #a84222 #f68c50 #4b3317
Golden Yellow & Antwarp Blue +1
Plate 140 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Golden Yellow, Antwarp Blue, Slate Color.
#007190 #f3a257 #34454c
Cinnamon Rufous & Antwarp Blue +1
Plate 172 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Cinnamon Rufous, Antwarp Blue, Red Violet.
#007190 #c27544 #59256a
Light Brown Drab & Vinaceous Tawny +2
Plate 244 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Light Brown Drab, Vinaceous Tawny, Andover Green, Antwarp Blue.
#007190 #b59392 #c56127 #6d7e77
Pale Burnt Lake & Pinkish Cinnamon +2
Plate 258 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Pale Burnt Lake, Pinkish Cinnamon, Olive, Antwarp Blue.
#007190 #802626 #eeb480 #837e31
Indian Lake & Vinaceous Cinnamon +2
Plate 299 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Indian Lake, Vinaceous Cinnamon, Oil Green, Antwarp Blue.
#007190 #c53c69 #eea78c #819238
Cream Yellow & Ecru +2
Plate 302 from Sanzo Wada's 1933 Dictionary of Color Combinations — Cream Yellow, Ecru, Nile Blue, Antwarp Blue.
#007190 #fdbf68 #c2ae93 #bce4e5
Questions about Teal for a kitchen
What colors go with teal for a kitchen?
Teal (#008080) — a balanced blue-green — is best for a kitchen with terracotta & clay, muted red, ochre & gold, and teal. In a kitchen, contrast it with terracotta & clay, drawn from 8 historically-grounded combinations below.
What is the hex code for teal?
Teal is #008080 — a balanced blue-green.
Does teal go with white?
Yes. Teal reads clean against soft white and cream; for contrast, add one of: terracotta & clay, muted red, ochre & gold, teal.
Teal in other settings
Other colors
Studio
Work with this pairing
You have the hex codes for Teal for a kitchen. These are the materials a colour study like this actually gets made with.
-
Calibrite
ColorChecker Passport Photo 2
A pocket target for fixing white balance and exposure at the moment of capture — the step before any colour correction, if your palette starts from a photograph rather than a screen.
Listed on Amazon as Calibrite ColorChecker Passport Photo 2 Portable Color Calibration Kit for Photo and Video, 4 Target Set for White Balance, Exposure and Creative Look
View on Amazon -
Kuretake
Gansai Tambi 24 — Art Nouveau
Gansai are traditional Japanese watercolour pans — dense, matte and easy to mix, the closest everyday medium to the flat printed colour Wada's plates were made in. This is the Art Nouveau-themed 'II' edition, a different 24 to the standard set.
Listed on Amazon as Kuretake GANSAI TAMBI Watercolor Paint Set 24 Colors II - Art Nouveau
View on Amazon
Amazon Associates affiliate links — your price is unchanged and a small commission keeps the archive free. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
From the archive
Support the archive The full catalog, on your disk, as a thank-you.
- All 378 palettes (348 Wada + 30 editorial) in five formats
- Figma design tokens (W3C-spec JSON, drag into any file)
- Tailwind v4 + v3 configs — drop into any project
- CSS custom properties — every plate, one stylesheet
- 378 museum SVG plates — print-ready at any size
- Full JSON — colors, names, eras, moods, dominant hues
Launching soon. The free archive stays free, always.
Library
Go deeper on colour
The colour-theory books behind pairings like Teal — history, reference and the science of what works together.
Book links are Amazon Associates affiliate links. Your price is unchanged; a small commission supports the archive. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Torn between the two Wada dictionaries? Vol 1 vs Vol 2, compared plate by plate →
Book links are Amazon Associates affiliate links. Your price is unchanged; a small commission supports the archive. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.