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It only gets better with time.

Choosing a neutral color to anchor a room may sound simple at first, but once you go down the paint chip rabbit hole, you realize just how many options there are. If you've decided you want something light and bright but would prefer to steer clear of a plain white and don't love the look of beige, then it's probably a nice gray tone you're looking for. Enter the ideal gray—not too cool and not too warm—that designers love: Pewter.

The color takes its name from the metal, which has been used everywhere from hardware to light fixtures and tabletop items. But in the design industry today, pewter can refer to certain shades of gray fabric, paint, wallpaper, and more. The dictionary defines pewter as "a gray alloy of tin with copper and antimony," so, basically, it's a metal that looks a lot like silver, though it has bluer undertones and isn't as shiny as other types of metal materials. Best yet, it ages beautifully, and you may even realize that you already have some lovely antique pewter pieces yourself. Ahead, see some of our favorite ways to decorate with the pewter, both the color and its namesake metal.

See more designer examples of this pretty petwer color in the wild:

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