Settled, side by side

Townsend Harbor Brown is a near-black with a secret: a warm red undertone that reveals itself as burgundy the moment any light touches it. With an LRV of just 7.13 it absorbs almost everything, which is exactly why it makes such a rich, enveloping backdrop for moody rooms, cabinetry and front doors.

Costes is a Portola Roman Clay — a hand-applied plaster finish rather than a paint — in a dusty rose-terracotta. Because Roman Clay is troweled on, the color is never flat: it moves between pale pink and deep clay across a single wall, and the surface has a soft, suede-like depth that photographs like stone.