September 17, 2020 How-To

Color Matching your Lexus Accessories

Make your interior and exterior of your car look in sync.

So, we’ve talked about the DIY jobs you can do to make the outside of your Lexus look its very best. You can stand back and look at the fine work you’ve done. But what’s this? The interior of your car is a different color! All the customizing you’ve done has made the overall effect mismatched. Whatever will you do?!

…you’ll accessorize the interior to match the exterior. It’s not hard. We wrote a guide about it.

Finding the perfect match

If you’re adding new exterior accessories to your Lexus such as new bumpers, lip guards or side skirts, generally these accessories will come in an unpainted black finish. In order to get them to match your car, you can make your customization job much less expensive by painting the accessories yourself in a DIY job.

To get a perfect exterior paint match of the original color of your Lexus, look for the color code on an informational sticker on the driver’s side door jamb. The color code will be found after a “C/TR:” but before the “/”. The code after the “/” is the trim color. Use this color to get a color paint that exactly matches your color. Before applying Lexus touch up paint to your car or accessories, first test it on a sheet of paper, let it dry, and compare it to the original to make sure it matches.

For a guide to using aerosol paint to color your exterior accessories, watch our How to use Aerosol Spray Can video.

If your car has been painted a different color than the original, you may have to do some detective work to find the right color. You can go old school by comparing color swatches to identify it, you can upload an image of your car to an app or website that automatically detects colors like coolors.co, or if you want to be really precise, you can use a color detecting device such as a colorimeter.

Beyond matching: looking for complements

Some interior accessories such as seat covers, dash covers, floor mats, or shift boots can theoretically be dyed to match the rest of the interior, but compared to exterior accessories, it is more acceptable to not have everything matching. In fact, there are examples of having too much of one color being harsh on the eyes, especially with bright colors. An Infrared LC Convertible with Circuit Red interior and all red interior accessories is going to overwhelm the senses. If you want a red car, it’s better to get a black interior. If you want a red interior, get a black car.

Instead of having all one color for your car, look at ways to contrast and compliment using basic color pairing theory. Your car is never all one color – pay attention to all possible sources of color and consider each one as a potential option for matching.

Look for sample palates online that include the various colors of your car to discover other additional colors that go well with them. Some contrast is a good thing, but also keep in mind you can also overdo it and create a visually distracting slew of colors that’s too much to take in at once.

To get you started, here are some sample suggestions for colors to pair with the two most common Lexus interior colors: brown and black.

Colors that match a brown interior:

Bright white
Light blues
Light orange
Yellow
Copper metallic shades

Colors that match a black interior:

Silver
Gold
Orange
Yellow
Red

Getting a feel for texture

Color is just one of the components for how an interior looks. Interior elements of your Lexus also have textures that need to be taken into account when being paired with other textures. Depending on whether the surfaces of synthetic materials, leather, wood, glass, or metal, the variable textures of your car can make it seem comfortable, sleek, cool, elegant, modern, warm, or earthy. Take notice of the textures and try to avoid contrasting them too much.

Pay attention to your upholstery. If your seats are made of NuLuxe synthetic leather, pair it with other synthetic leathers. If your seats are real semi-aniline leather, add accessories that are also made with semi-aniline leather.

Ideas to match and emphasize texture:

If you have wood paneling – get a wheel cover with matching wood elements in it.
If you have leather seats – get leather neck roll pillows or a leather dash cover.
If you have synthetic material – add footwell lights.
If you’re a LS owner with Kiriko glass – get a glass shift knob.

Have fun experimenting with different colors, designs, patterns and textures. Don’t be afraid to try something new; nothing says luxury like having a car that’s perfectly matched to your needs and style.