Gold Rush
What Gold Rush Actually Looks Like
Gold Rush is a deep, earthy burnt orange, the color of fired clay or a well-seasoned cast iron pan left in the sun. It sits in that territory between terracotta and raw sienna, with enough brown in it to keep it grounded rather than flashy. At full depth it reads bold and warm, and in a small or dimly lit room it can feel almost like a smoldering ember, rich and enveloping rather than bright.
Gold Rush Undertones
The dominant pull here is red-brown. There is enough red to give the color real warmth and vibrancy, and enough brown to stop it from reading as a pure orange or a safety-cone shade. In strong direct afternoon sun the red comes forward and the color looks more intensely orange. In low north light or on a cloudy day it settles back into a deep, earthy ochre-brown. The brown base means it reads as sophisticated rather than playful, but you need to check it against any fixed elements in the room since the red undertone will compete with cool grays and blue-greens.
Where Gold Rush Works Best
Gold Rush is an interior color, and it earns its place in rooms where you want warmth and presence. It works well as an accent wall in a living room or dining room, where one saturated surface can anchor the space without overwhelming it. It is also a strong candidate for a home office, library, or any room where you want the walls to feel close and cozy rather than expansive. Because the LRV is low, natural light matters a great deal. Rooms with good south or west exposure handle it well. In a basement or a room with a single small window, it will read very dark and may feel heavy unless you balance it with lighter furnishings and good artificial lighting.
Where to put Gold Rush
A dining room is one of the best places for a color this deep and warm. You are rarely in it for long stretches, and the low LRV works in your favor at dinner with candlelight or warm-toned pendant fixtures. The walls will glow rather than absorb. Keep the trim in a warm off-white and the tabletop in natural wood or dark walnut to stay in the same earthy register.
One wall of Gold Rush in a living room is enough. It gives the space an anchor point and creates the kind of warmth that makes people want to sit down. The other three walls should be significantly lighter. A warm linen white or a pale warm beige keeps the contrast readable without fighting the orange-brown.
Deep, saturated colors in a home office can make the space feel intentional and focused rather than cold and corporate. Gold Rush on all four walls of a small office reads like a warm cocoon, especially with warm-toned task lighting. Pair it with dark wood shelving and leather or linen upholstery and it earns its name.
Entryways and hallways are high-impact, low-consequence spaces for bold color because you move through them quickly. Gold Rush makes an immediate impression without committing every room in the house to the same warmth. Keep the ceiling a crisp warm white so the space does not feel like a tunnel.
What to Pair With Gold Rush
No coordinating colors are listed in our database for this color. As a general pairing guide, Gold Rush responds well to off-whites with warm or creamy bases, deep navies or forest greens that share its earthy seriousness, and natural materials like raw wood, leather, rattan, and stone. It is harder to pair with cool whites, pale grays, or anything with a strong blue or purple undertone, since those will pull against its red-brown warmth.
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Colors that clash with Gold Rush
If an adjacent room or the trim color carries a cool gray or blue-gray base, Gold Rush will look more orange and almost jarring by contrast. The red undertone amplifies against anything cool.
With a low LRV, Gold Rush in a north-facing room with limited natural light will read very dark and potentially muddy. The warmth that makes it appealing in good light can turn flat and heavy when light is scarce.
In a kitchen dominated by cool white cabinetry or stainless appliances, Gold Rush on the walls can feel disconnected, like two rooms arguing with each other. The red-brown warmth and the cool-white sharpness do not share a register.
Common questions
The LRV is 18.75, which puts it firmly in the dark range. Most designers treat anything below 25 as a deep or saturated color that will read as visually heavy on all four walls of a small room. It is not so dark that it becomes a near-black, but it is dark enough that light conditions, room size, and ceiling height all matter when you are deciding whether to use it on all walls or just one.
For walls in a living space, eggshell gives you just enough sheen to make the warm tones pop without creating distracting reflections. For trim or any woodwork in the same color, a satin or semi-gloss gives a nice contrast in sheen level. Flat or matte finishes will make the color look slightly more muted and earthy, which can actually suit a library or study if that is the mood you want.
Benjamin Moore lists this as an interior color, so check with your retailer about whether the formula is available in an exterior base before planning any outdoor application.
The Benjamin Moore code is 2166-10. The hex and RGB values render in the color swatch on this page.