10 Living Rooms With Wall Colors to Love
Choosing that just-right hue for your living room can make all the difference — creating a mood, defining the space and more. Case in point: these 10 colorful living rooms, from homes featured in our My Houzz series. Whether your taste runs to the bright and bold or something subtler, see if one of these color ideas appeals to you.
Peacock in Los Angeles. Homeowner Maggie Bohlman asked a former neighbor, an art teacher, to help her decide on wall colors for her 1927 Spanish-style fixer-upper. “We brought her a color swatch book and went room by room,” Bohlman says. “The space and light really helped make the choices clear.”
Paint: Peacock Blue, Glidden
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Paint: Peacock Blue, Glidden
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Jet black in Montreal. The accent wall in Sarah Brown and Chad Zentner’s large, open-concept living room was originally covered in faux-wood wallpaper and two layers of faux-brick wallpaper. “Removing the layers of wallpaper from the very high feature wall in the living room was challenging and something I hope to never have to repeat,” says Brown. But the result, this wall with a dramatic jet-black hue, was certainly worth it.
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Sunny yellow in the Netherlands. Matt Steinglass and Pauline Oosterhof’s 1920s fixer-upper in Haarlem, the Netherlands, was covered in old wood paneling when they moved in. “We found layer after layer of wallpaper from all eras,” Steinglass says. “Art deco pop art from the ’60s, dark brown from the ’40s and fine wallpaper from the ’20s.” When all of the paper was peeled back, the couple chose this juicy Meyer lemon yellow to wake up the space.
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Midcentury cool in Long Beach. Doug and Rochelle Kramer’s 1953 home in Long Beach, California, is filled with midcentury gems. The great room has two sitting areas divided by a fireplace, so the paint colors in both spaces needed to look good side by side. For this end of the room, the couple chose a cool, dusty blue, while the opposite end sports a mustardy hue — both of which have a vintage vibe that works well with the midcentury style the couple favors.
Blue paint: Sea Pine; paint in background: Gingersnaps, both by Benjamin Moore
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Blue paint: Sea Pine; paint in background: Gingersnaps, both by Benjamin Moore
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High contrast in Brooklyn. Cody McBurnett and her husband, Douglas Friend, wanted a wall color that was dramatic and would work with their Brooklyn, New York, apartment. They settled on a deep charcoal hue, paired with crisp white trim. “At night it’s as if the walls fall away, which actually makes the room feel larger than it is,” says McBurnett.
Paint: Iron Mountain, Benjamin Moore
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Paint: Iron Mountain, Benjamin Moore
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Hand painted in Massachusetts. Laurie and Bruce Rabe’s Norfolk County, Massachusetts, home got a major personality boost when Laurie painted murals in the family room using acrylic paints. The buttery yellow background and botanical motifs are undeniably cheerful.
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Going to the dark side in Georgia. Zack and Lauren Anne Johnson are normally drawn toward soft, neutral hues. But something about their 1920s farmhouse in Athens, Georgia, called them to use bolder color. In the living room, this deep royal blue makes the original woodwork look even richer.
Paint: Deep Royal, Benjamin Moore
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Paint: Deep Royal, Benjamin Moore
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Chartreuse in Santa Cruz. The warm hues and antique decor in Suna Lock’s 1870s Victorian home in downtown Santa Cruz, California, create an inviting spot where guests can curl up beside the fire with a good book. Painting the backs of the floor-to-ceiling bookcases added color in a less expected way.
Paint: Artichoke Hearts, Benjamin Moore
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Paint: Artichoke Hearts, Benjamin Moore
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Mossy green in New Hampshire. Painter and felting artist Lauren Decatur‘s picturesque cottage in the woods, complete with stone fireplace and a pond on the property, is made all the more charming by her choice of soft, natural hues to complement the surroundings.
Paint: Lush, Benjamin Moore
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Paint: Lush, Benjamin Moore
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