Best Colors to Paint a Bedroom: Making the Right Choice
When it comes to painting a bedroom, choosing a color is a very personal decision. Your bedroom is your sanctuary where you drift off to sleep and greet the morning, so the overall color scheme should be one that you find soothing and comfortable. Get ideas to help make that choice.
Choosing the Best Color for a Bedroom
Deciding on the perfect color for your bedroom can take a little effort. First, ask yourself the following questions.
- What are your favorite colors?
- Which colors make you feel at ease?
- Which hues feel peaceful and relaxing?
If you still aren’t certain which colors make you feel most at ease and comfortable, try looking at it from a different angle and ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I feel peaceful when I am in the woods or in nature? If you answered yes, consider a neutral color palette with a variety of browns, sage or olive greens, mushroom or clay – colors found in the woods.
- Do I feel calm near the ocean or bodies of water? If so, think about a palette of blues, grays, sea greens or off whites.
- Do I like the feeling of wide open space? If you answered yes, you might want to stick with lighter colors that bring a more open feel to the room.
- Am I more comfortable in a cozy nook? If so, a chocolate brown, dark olive green or inky blue might be perfect.
Once you have determined a general color palette, you can begin to narrow your choices and find the perfect shade for your bedroom walls.
Color Guide
There are a few things to keep in mind when you’re trying to decide on a bedroom color. The following guide should assist you in making the right paint color choice.
Red
Red is a warm color and is often used in the bedroom for a romantic atmosphere. Red may be too intense and overwhelming for four walls, but you can use red for an accent wall. You may also decide to go with a lighter hue, like a soft pale blush, or use red as a faux finish with a dark glaze for a dramatic effect.
Other colors you can use for your comforter and draperies would include:
- Red and gold with brown/tan accents
- Red and white with a yellow or black accent color
- Red and black
- Red and tan
- Several hues of red ranging from deep burgundy to pale pink
Poppy patterns or roses are great complementary patterns that work well with a hip, modern room design. You may go more formal appeal with a fleur de lis or a brocade look. Whichever look you choose, you’re sure to make a bold statement with anything red.
Blue
It’s not surprising that blue is one of the top two bedroom color choices. Blue is restive and can be a deep dark midnight blue or a soft robin’s eggshell blue with all the hues in between.
As for accent colors:
- Purple falls on the far end of the blue spectrum and can be used as an accent color.
- Red, pink, yellow, or green could also work as accents.
- Brown is another great color contrast to use with the calming effect of blue.
Yellow
Yellow is a bright and cheery color that’s great when it’s mixed with cooler colors like green and blue. The addition of a cool color with a warm color also gives the overall room design balance.
Orange
Orange is a vibrant color. You may find it difficult to be restive if your walls are this color, but you can temper it by adding accent colors like:
- Green
- Yellow
- Blue (orange’s opposite color on the color wheel.)
Green
Green is also one of the top two color choices for bedroom paint because it’s restive and cool. You instantly begin to relax when you enter a green bedroom, so if you want to create a haven or retreat, go with a shade of green for your walls.
Beige or White
There are hundreds of hues between the ranges of white and beige. You’re sure to find a color you like for your bedroom.
Chocolate
Chocolate is a very popular paint choice for anyone seeking a deep, rich wall color. When mixed with white trim, it creates a sophisticated, sharp feel to a room. Blue is a great accent color, and you can select from a wide range of hues from deep ocean blue to pale turquoise.
Finding the Perfect Hue
Once you have determined a general color palette, it is time to narrow down your choices to a specific shade. The best way to begin this process is to:
- Look through home design magazines and websites to see which hues catch your eye.
- Head to the paint store or your local home improvement store to look at color samples and pull as many sample colors as you can handle.
- Lay all of your swatches on a table at one time. Choose the paint colors that your eye is initially drawn to. Chances are these are the shades you like best.
- After you have narrowed down your color choices, head back to the paint store and gather sample cans and paint brushes. Paint a few swatches on your walls, making sure to paint a sample of each color on each wall. The light varies throughout your bedroom, so a color might look great in one light and terrible in another.
- Once the paint is dry, watch the colors throughout the day. See how they feel in the morning, afternoon and evening. How do they look with the bedroom lights on? How do they look with natural light from the window? Which shade looks best with your furniture?
Making Your Final Choice
Using a small swatch to decide on the perfect color to paint your bedroom can be difficult. If you are torn between a couple of colors, paint a larger piece of the wall and ask yourself the same questions as above. Wait a few days and live with those colors a little while. Chances are you’ll find yourself drawn to one color above all the others. Once that happens, the choice is easy.
AUTHOR: Kelly Roper
SOURCE: lovetoknow.com
PHOTOCREDIT: lovetoknow.com
