How to

Choose Living Room Paint Colors

Whether you’re starting from scratch in a new home or looking to update your current living room, learning how to choose paint for every room is exciting. A newly painted living room can give a completely fresh feeling to your entire home. At Pottery Barn, we’ve gathered tips over the years to help you get started.

 

Choose a Theme

There’s no single best color for living rooms – you’re completely free to choose what you love! One way to approach choosing a color is to draw one from the patterns already in your living room. This could be a pattern on your sofa fabric, a rug pattern or something on a lampshade you’re fond of. Make this the main paint color for the room. Because you already know you like the color, and it’s there in your upholstery or furniture, this will bring the room together. It can also draw out that part of the design you especially like.

 

Let the Wall Color Be the Background

There are lots of things to consider when you’re deciding how to choose a wall color. The background of any canvas is what really sets up the entire design. And the color scheme of your home is no exception! Whatever color you choose for the walls in your living room will act as a supporting player to the rest of the color scheme. This means that the other colors in the room will come forward and draw the eye. Think of your wall as the blank canvas of a painting. 

 

Accent walls can add a pop of color and style. They’re a great tool to add personality to a room. So how do you pick an accent wall to paint? This is mostly a matter of personal style and choice. However, keeping natural light or special architectural features in mind is important too. The way the light comes into the room will affect the visual experience of the wall. Consider that when choosing the color. If you have a wall that has a special architectural feature like a fireplace or a built-in bookcase, this works well as an accent wall, too.

 

Look at Your Own Personal Style

Think about your own personal style – both the clothing and accessories and other decor in your home you cherish. These can be anything from items you’ve brought back from your travels to things you’ve collected over time. Think about the things you love: maps, travel, food, books and movies. Figure out how you can integrate these into your decor, from color schemes to placement of the objects themselves in your home.

 

Use the 60-30-10 Guideline

The 60-30-10 guideline is a classic decorating principle that can help you get started on creating a color scheme for any room. These proportions are meant to provide balance in the color scheme. They’re based on the idea that the color you choose for 60 percent of the room will anchor the space and serve as a backdrop. The 30 percent color is the secondary color in the room. You’ll use it half as much as the anchor color. The 10 percent is the accent color. Normally, your main color would be your walls or large accent pieces. The secondary color in your living room will come from your draperies or window dressings, or even an accent wall. Finally, the last 10 percent is your accent color. It’ll be your throw pillows or accent pillows, decorative accessories and artwork. 

 

Small Living Rooms: How to Make a Room Look Bigger

Just because you may not have a lot of space to work with doesn’t mean you can’t create a beautiful living room. There are several things you can do to make the room look bigger. First, choose cool colors over warm ones. This will make the room feel lighter. White rooms tend to feel the biggest. If you don’t want to go with all white, you can use light blues and greens to brighten up the room. Pay close attention to your windows, too. Keeping your curtains the same color as your walls gives a feeling of simplicity, light and spaciousness to the room. Don’t underestimate the power of sparkling clean windows. Washing your windows inside and out ensures all that gorgeous natural light can stream in.

 

With a beautiful new hue in your living area, you’re sure to love spending time in the space even more. Use these tips to put your plans in place, and it’ll be a breeze to revamp any room!