Best color for a family room
20 Family Room Color Ideas
By
Melissa Epifano
Melissa Epifano
Melissa is a news writer for The Spruce. She covers a wide range of topics including trends, decor ideas, and design tips.
Learn more about The Spruce's Editorial Process
Updated on 09/01/22
Amy Leferink of Interior Impressions
Family rooms are synonymous with the term household hub. Often used interchangeably with the term living room, a lot goes down in these warm and welcoming spaces. This area is a place for socializing, family recreation, and often for quiet relaxation, so it's understandable if you're set on nailing the perfect color scheme. The family room must meet the needs of various purposes and multiple people, all while feeling more comfortable than a more formal living room. These days, many homes only have one living space or blend these names together, so we'll refer to these terms synonymously.
Whether you're opting for bolder color schemes, two-color combinations, classic neutrals, or anything in between, your family room paint color can match the function and feel of your space. We've gathered 20 different ideas to help you choose the best color for your family room walls. The Spruce's Paint Calculator can help you determine how much paint you'll need to get started.
-
01 of 20
Cozy White
Becca Interiors
White is hard to beat when it comes to family room paint colors. It's a basic hue that presents infinite opportunities. Any accent color will work with white as its backdrop and almost every design style out there will find a tone of white that fits perfectly, whether it's a cozier boho cream or a modern bright white.
Selecting this color also makes it easier to switch up the look of a family room every now and then or tweak it for fun as trends arise. -
02 of 20
Cool, Bright White
Leclair Decor
Yes, there is a big difference between warm and cool white—but it's harder to see when there aren't two rooms you can use to compare. White is a clever hue as the undertones can largely influence the final effect. It can appear warm and cozy (like above), but it's also a great pick when used in rooms with cooler schemes, like this space. Grays and cool neutrals appeal to decorators with modern tastes, and a colder white is perfect for setting the tone.
-
03 of 20
Light Pink
Calimia Home
A slightly more saturated step away from white is light pink. It may not be the most common color palette to swatch on your walls, but in the right tone it provides the perfect near-neutral. With the addition of red, pink takes off the edge that a cool white often brings to a place.
Family rooms looking to stay modern and fresh yet still warm and inviting may want to venture into this color family. -
04 of 20
Bold Red
LA Weddings & Interiors
Though red is a fiery and bold color, it feels fitting for a room that's meant to be warm and inviting. Deeper shades of red can be the spicy kick a room needs and allows for the rest of the space to remain neutral—or gives you the chance to play with unique accent colors, such as this space shows. Red is a great choice for smaller family rooms as it provides the comfort and coziness of a dark tone like navy or black, but doesn't make it feel cramped.
-
05 of 20
Taupe
Erin Williamson Design
Not quite pink but not quite beige, taupe is a fun happy medium that doesn't exit the realm of neutrals but adds a little more color than a cream or gray. Though more traditional living rooms may gravitate to the concreteness of a taupe, cottagecore fans and even Scandi lovers may really appreciate what this color can do for their family rooms, too.
-
06 of 20
Beige
Morse Design
Beige and its hyper-trendy cousin greige have been long-running popular picks for family rooms. The warm undertone from a room this color helps define the shape and allows lighter-colored furniture to stand out rather than blend in. Beige is perfect for warmer color schemes, and the chillier greige is ideal if you want to work in cooler blues or purples. Traditional, transitional, and contemporary family rooms work well with this shade, but don't sleep on using it in modern farmhouse or cottage-inspired homes either.
-
07 of 20
Brown and Beige
KJ Design & Mortar Styling
A chocolate brown or muddy beige will always deliver when it comes to making your family room feel cozy. Throw in plenty of pillows and blankets, as this living room has done, and your space will tick all the boxes needed for creating an area to gather, socialize, and watch movies. Depending on whether you're leaning towards warmer or cooler tones, you'll be able to find a shade that works with either.
-
08 of 20
Warm Tan
Beauty Is Abundant
As mentioned, nothing cozies up a space quite like a warm tan, beige, or brown. This design feels soft and welcoming with a few bold accents for contrast. While many family room color ideas use bold, definite hues or something soft and quiet, this space provides the best of both worlds. It still stands out amongst the white and light gray living rooms of the world thanks to the shade chosen and the graphic, colorful artwork on the wall. At the same time, tan is a neutral and brings with it the expected grounding and sophisticated atmosphere.
8 Must-Try Neutral Paint Colors for Any Room in Your Home
-
09 of 20
Cream and Yellow
Kateryna Gonchar / Instagram
Admittedly, yellow isn't the most popular wall color, but in its lighter versions, it's a perfectly creamy and cozy shade to include in your family room. Whether it's rolled onto every wall or used as a color for cabinets, it provides that soft, warm glow that many other colors can't.
Minimalists who are craving a change from the classic white or pale gray may find this to be a substitute that fits the bill. Pair it with chocolate brown accents or even with a few splashes of light blue to make it stand out. -
10 of 20
Light Green
Michelle Boudreau Design
Granted, it takes a certain amount of fortitude to apply a bright shade of green to your family room walls—but family rooms don't have to be neutral. The right light and bright hue of green can uplift an area and even cater to furniture and accents in near-complementary colors. The pops of orange in this living room show just how easy it is to make a more tranquil color one that's playful and modern.
-
11 of 20
Earthy Green
Brexton Cole Interiors
For something a little more grounded, try deepening the shade ever so slightly. Mossy greens are gorgeous backdrops for gold accents and brown furniture. Earthy textures look perfectly suited in family rooms when walls are this color, too.
Boho style or eclectic spaces will also find that a middle-ground green is a nice pick over more classic neutrals. -
12 of 20
Two-Toned
Casa Watkins Living
A darker shade of teal may be just the color needed to make a living room shine. If you prefer your family room to feel open and airy rather than cozy, you probably know that deeper tones often do the latter. That doesn't mean they can't be used. When working with jewel-toned shades such as teal, incorporating lighter hues can keep the room feeling light and airy. As this space shows, a two-toned palette—along with bright yellow curtains and a light-colored rug—all make it feel spacious.
-
13 of 20
Deep Teal
Design by Ryann Miller of Style by Emily Henderson / Photo by Sara Ligorria-Tramp
Providing the earthiness of a dark green but the softness that comes with a blue, it's not worth skipping over deep teal when you're testing out paint swatches.
Complement it with rusty oranges or tans to make the whole space come alive (this is also a much gentler take on the complementary orange and blue palette). And, as this room perfectly points out, it's a dreamy color for making your collection of books pop. -
14 of 20
Light Blue
Dazey Den
This light and airy color scheme is all held together by the sky blue paint on these walls. It's also a premium example of working with two contrasting colors. The different shades of blue and pink that serve as accents make this living room appear unique but cohesive overall. While the selection of the two paint colors needs to be made carefully, don't be scared to experiment. Colors that are closely related or commonly seen together in nature will lend a room a relaxed, but alert feeling.
-
15 of 20
Navy Blue
Michelle Berwick Design
For something a touch moodier and more elevated, try navy blue on the walls of your family room.
It's not as dramatic as black per se, but it provides that same stillness. When you pick out the right light fixtures and pair it with neutral furniture, a blue this dark won't overcrowd the space either. Be sure to try multiple shades on the wall to see how it looks throughout the day—some may appear grayer while others take on a royal blue tinge. -
16 of 20
Deep Purple
Tyler Karu
Royal purple, lavender, lilac, mauve—there are many shades of purple out there to choose from. For a sophisticated option that feels more playful than charcoal but still elevated, why not try a deeper tone? A paint color or wallpaper that straddles the line between purple in gray is ideal. In some lighting, it'll appear more purple and in others, charcoal, giving a unique look all throughout the day. It's an easy color to get behind when you see just how well it pairs with olive green, as seen above.
-
17 of 20
Classic Gray
Twelve15 Design Studio
Falling under the category of timeless living room colors alongside white and beige is gray.
It's an excellent color for homeowners and renters that are aiming for a cooler tone in their space. Though it's a good pick for trendier styles and modern tastes, it won't ever go out of style—no matter how many times you reconsider your couch shape or change out the wall art. Like white, it's best to swatch and try shades in person to ensure you get the tone you're after. Gray is a chameleon in the color world, too. -
18 of 20
Charcoal Gray
Rikki Snyder
Perhaps you're searching for a shade with a little more depth. In that case, don't overlook charcoal gray. Yes, it's still in the family of famed neutrals, but its more serious tone feels bolder than its paler counterparts. It's a shade that feels slightly magical as it's typically cooler in tone but still creates a warmth in coziness that radiates from the walls. As this family room shows, plants and accent colors are given the spotlight when gray stands in the background.
-
19 of 20
Black and White
Louis Duncan-He Designs
Nothing punctuates a room like a black-and-white color scheme.
These opposites expertly harmonize with one another and leave room for other colors to jump off the wall or appear in the form of an accent chair or rug. While the idea of painting your whole living space all-black (or all-white) might make you nervous, a balancing act of the two is the perfect happy medium so neither color will overwhelm you or the room itself. -
20 of 20
Neutral Textures
Rikki Snyder
If standard colors aren't sparking any inspiration, it might be worth turning to wallpaper, paneling, or paints with textured finishes. These provide a unique look that can't really be created with a plain color. You can go all out with a maximalist printed wallpaper or keep minimal styles front and center with a subtle print or four-dimensional paint. Beadboard and wainscoting can add additional oomph, too.
These 10 Behr Paint Colors Inspire a Family Room Update
The Best Family Room Paint Colors
From pale blue to soft lavender, color gurus share their go-to hues for creating a warm, inviting space.
Caroline Biggs, Freelance Writer portrait
By Caroline Biggs September 15, 2020
You don't need to be an interior designer to experiment with paint color in your home—you just need to follow along with Fresh Coat. We'll help you tackle all of your home's painting projects, from choosing the ultimate color palette to perfecting your method. You'll be prepped, primed, and ready to roll (literally) in no time.
Your family room is an important place of congregation, which means it should be as inviting as possible—something you can easily achieve with the correct paint color. "The family room is where people come together to cherish each other's company and is often the most frequently occupied room in a home," says Erika Woelfel, the Vice President of Color and Creative Services at Behr. "Considering the importance of color in creating an energetic, welcoming atmosphere, painting your family room is an investment that can bring joy to your home for years.
"
family room blue walls
Credit: Getty / Westend61
However, picking the perfect paint color can be tricky. "Family rooms usually have a larger footprint, so its color scheme can set the tone for the rest of the home," explains Nivara Xaykao, Associate Manager of Color Marketing and Development at Benjamin Moore. "It's also typically the setting for a lot of activities, from watching TV to working, so the design and color have to accommodate a wide range of needs." Not sure which paint hue will work best in your family room? Read on.
Light Blue
A family room is one of the most-used rooms in the home, which is why Sue Wadden, Director of Color Marketing at Sherwin-Williams, suggests painting it a hue that can act as a backdrop for all of your activities, but won't overwhelm your senses. "I recommend a calming blue-gray, like Serenely SW 9632 from the new Emerald Designer Edition collection, that's soft rather than saturated, so it's refreshing and soothing," she says.
"Blue is a classic color, but this muted version is an updated take that we're seeing everywhere in the home."
Warm White
If you're searching for a sleek, but versatile paint color, Wadden says to consider a warm and welcoming shade of white. "A creamy white, like Sanctuary SW 9583, is great for the family room because it pairs well with any type of décor and never goes out of style," she explains. "Whites can often be stark and clinical, but just a hint of yellow undertone warms up the hue and creates an inviting atmosphere."
Greige
According to Xaykao, a good shade of beige-gray paint can go a long way in this type of space. "Neutrals with a lot of versatility, like Revere Pewter HC-172, can create a welcoming vibe in a family room and also work with the mishmash of décor family rooms tend to have," she explains. She also recommends employing a paint color with an eggshell finish for a family room, because it can help mask imperfections and stand up to a little wear and tear.
Steel Blue
Dreaming of a dark paint color that won't make this room feel dim? Ashley Banbury, Senior Color Designer at Pratt & Lambert Paints, suggests an elegant shade of steel blue. "Wethers Field 415E is a beautiful and colorful neutral that generates a sophisticated, but calming environment that will help you unwind at the end of the day," she explains.
Pale Purple
If you're looking for a family room paint color with a little bit of pizzazz, Woelfel says lavender is the hue for you. "A shade of soft purple such as Fanciful M560-2 also has an uplifting, yet cozy effect that can simultaneously make a room feel larger," she explains. "Colors that spark positive emotions will draw people in and make the room everyone's favorite place to gather."
What color should a couple's bedroom be: 10 secrets to the perfect bedroom color - what color to paint
When it comes to furnishing a home, it is often a woman who makes the decisions.
Often it is she who decides what color the bedroom should be. However, I don't like it when a couple's bedroom is too girly. As a designer, I design a bedroom for both a man and a woman - the reaction of both is important to me.
How and what color to choose for the bedroom? — I'm talking about how I find it in projects for my own customers.
Irina Krasheninnikova
Thicken the "feminine"
Couples discuss the color of the bedroom more actively than the wallpaper ornament or other design components. Usually she likes one shade, he another - how to find a compromise is not clear.
I usually give an example with lace: it is considered a uniquely feminine decor, but if you make the lace black, a man may also like it. Need to decide what color to make the bedroom so that both spouses like it? - Take your favorite "female" color and thicken it, make it darker than usual. It might work.
Interested in interior design?
Let's select an artist according to your criteria
Geometrium - Interior Design Studio
Dilute the "masculine"
We do the same with our favorite "masculine" shades - the color of whiskey, dark skin: in a wash, as in this photo they look light and even "feminine".
Gridley + Graves Photographers
Use black strokes
A few thin lines of dark wood are enough to keep a "feminine" pastel palette from seeming too soft.
Tip: Outline light objects. Follow the advice of Johannes Itten, co-author of the Bauhaus curriculum and New Art theorist: "Light colors on a light background can be enhanced by enclosing them in a black frame."
Groundswell Design Group Inc.
Take colors from ads
The combination of orange and blue is most often used by marketers to attract a male audience: in the USA, these are the colors of the New York Mets baseball team, subconsciously men consider this combination “their own”. I am sure that designers in any country know such color codes - they work unobtrusively, quickly give the desired result.
———————————————
YOUR CITY…
► Houzz can hire a designer or architect in any city or country.
Start looking for a specialist
———————————————
FLIK - architectural and construction bureau
Scheme 1: Gray as the main color
Choose what color to make the matrimonial bedroom, pay attention to gray - it will add sophistication to the interior. In this room, smoky gray sets the tone for the bedroom, while other colors energize it.
TINEKE TRIGGS
If you prefer an understated classic style, but don't know what color to paint your bedroom walls, try dark gray. It is he who does not allow calling the bedroom too feminine.
Pay attention to how subtly the designer applied the technique of "thickening colors" - for pillows with classic ornaments, textiles of rich wine color were taken. And snow-white bedding adds the right touch of “feminine” to this composition.
Laurent Cathalinat
Fact : white linen will match any interior - no matter what color you decide to make the bedroom.
RELATED PHOTOS…
► Modern style bedroom – 453 photos
Credit Ceramica
make a bedroom. Use both! Gray and beige go well together. They also make spectacular color compositions with rich shades (about them in the article at the link below).
RELATED…
Four schemes: How to combine beige and gray shades
Oleg Mikhailov, architect-designer
Scheme 3: gray and complex shades
Fashionable alternative to beige - complex pastel shades with undertones of gray look rich , perfectly combined with anthracite shade of any intensity. Please note that saturated gray was introduced here as the color of bed linen (if you don’t like it, you can always replace it).
TINEKE TRIGGS
Scheme 4: coffee, blue, orange
Wondering what wall color to choose for the bedroom? — Pay attention to this interior.
His design scheme is built around colors that men love, but in an interpretation that women will love.
The discreet transition from blue and orange to blue and coral can be a treat for women's eyes. Choose an artistic combination of expressive patterns and knit them in charcoal gray. Get an option that suits both.
Special-style
Scheme 5: around white
When couples can't find a compromise and argue which color is best for the bedroom, I suggest white. Shades can be entered carefully, using curtains, bedspreads, carpets.
Erica George Dines Photography
The soft pastel of the walls is feminine, but the massive wooden headboard is something definitely masculine. The balance has been maintained.
Natalie Vershinina
Tip: Choose saturated colors for your bedroom to contrast with pastels.
"Saturation" refers to the degree of purity or intensity of a color. Saturated color does not contain impurities of white or black, with the help of which gentle or, conversely, deep shades are obtained.
RELATED PHOTO…
►876 beautiful bedroom interiors
Flats Design / Evgenia Matveenko
Scheme 7: Universal yellow
If you have read up to this point, but have not yet decided what color to make the bedroom in - take yellow! This versatile, gender neutral color saves most couples with different style preferences. By the way, black will add expressive contrast to yellow.
RELATED PHOTOS…
► 345 more photos of yellow bedrooms
ND Studio
In the photo: choose one of the thousand shades of green and stop thinking about what color to make the bedroom
Chart 8: green and its shades
Green is always the best option for those who don't want to give their design a distinct gender identity.
VVDesign
9. Brown and cream
Favorite classic color combination. If he and she are fans of the classics, this combination will appeal to both.
RELATED PHOTOS…
►433 more photos of brown bedrooms
Rachel Reider Interiors
Chart 10: dark wood and shades of blue
Blue is statistically the most popular and favorite color. But to keep the balance, these colors need to be diluted and shaded. The dark brown headboard in this bedroom plays the role of such an expressive accent. This room is an example of the golden mean: not too masculine and not too feminine.
► This is archival material. First published in 2015. Updated in 2021
YOUR TURN…
What colors do you think are suitable for the couple's bedroom? Write in the comments!
Sponsored
Wir schaffen Lebensräume aus Design, Architektur & Interior
style and character of the whole house or apartment
01.
10.2019
3794 0 Comments
The living room is the most visited place in the house or apartment. The whole family rests here in the evenings, guests and unexpected visitors are received here. Therefore, the choice of color in the interior of the living room determines the whole character of the house or apartment. An ideal living room should be functional, comfortable and harmonious at the same time, not annoying with flashy colors and not be faceless.
Color factors
The choice of colors for the living room is influenced by many factors: the size and illumination of the room, the style of the hall and the house as a whole, the taste preferences of the owners (and the designer), the colors, shapes and textures of the furniture.
Dimensions and shape of the living room
The dimensions and height of the common room directly affect the choice of colors for the walls, ceiling and floor. Traditional advice is appropriate here: for small rooms, you should use light colors that visually increase the volume.
Black, chocolate, dark blue, purple, burgundy tones make the room visually smaller.
In compact and low living rooms, a glossy ceiling will be very appropriate - it adds height to the room.
Spacious rooms give more space to the imagination of homeowners - the choice of colors and shades for decorating the living room is much wider.
To choose the decoration of the living room, the location of the room in the house or apartment is no less important. An enclosed space with a door allows for a more creative finish. Open placement, when the hall is one with the dining room, hall, hallway, implies a common style and color scheme for all rooms. In open living rooms, it is usually not used to paint a large surface in one color, especially dark. A combination of several colors and / or textures would be more appropriate.
The monochrome solution of the walls visually enlarges the room. In current design solutions, a combination of several wall colors or textures in one room is very often used.
Lighting
The natural illumination of the room depends on which side of the world the windows of the living room face. North windows give a little light, so it is better to choose warm shades: beige, chocolate, peach, orange, coral, lemon, yellow, pink.
The southern windows give bright light, and you can choose cool colors in the room: blue, blue, gray, turquoise, white, mint. For a living room with western windows, a cold color scheme is also more suitable.
Colors are perceived differently in natural and artificial lighting.
Color specification
White is becoming more and more popular. Initially, neutral white blends well and effectively emphasizes any color accents, decor elements, furniture, textiles. White has many shades. A room in white tones will always look flooded with light, clean and gentle. Depending on partner colors, décor, textiles and lighting, a white living room can look warm or cool.
But light or white furniture, white carpet, curtains will give the room a somewhat cold and distant look.
Black color looks very stylish and extravagant, but visually reduces and darkens the room. Sometimes it acts somewhat depressingly, requires bright lighting. It is better to use it for individual design elements or to highlight part of the wall, rather than paint over the entire room with black paint. The black gloss on the ceiling looks interesting - the reflection of the room adds volume to it, no matter how paradoxical it sounds. Black is combined with all colors, but it is better not to choose caramel, pink, beige, lilac, peach as partners.
Everything that has been said about black belongs to the noble shades of dark chocolate. But it is better to combine chocolate shades with white, beige, cocoa with milk, cherry. Brown colors - chocolate, cocoa with milk, light brown, coffee - require competent lighting, in the twilight all the charm of these colors is lost.
Green, pistachio and salad colors have a calming effect on the psyche and relax - there is an association with green vegetation and nature. For dark shades, it is necessary to provide bright lighting. The optimal partner for green and salad shades is yellow and lemon. Olive and marsh colors should be used with caution, preferably in partnership with white.
The warmest colors are yellow, peach, light orange. The living room in these colors seems warm, cozy and sunny. This is the best choice for a room with windows to the north. Yellow and peach do not go well with red, cherry, black furniture. Optimal partners are natural wood browns, beige, green, ivory, dark orange and terracotta.
Red color is the brightest, exciting, active. And aggressive - it is uncomfortable to live in it. It is better not to use it for the entire room, but to highlight individual sections of the wall with decor. It is better to muffle the brightness of red with a combination of gray, beige, white walls, furniture, textiles.
A more refined and muted shade of red is coral. But it is better to use it in doses. The same applies to dark orange, terracotta.
Cherry blossom has long been the color of luxury. Especially when combined with gold. It will warm the room and serve as a wonderful backdrop for light-colored furniture, curtains, carpets. It is possible to use furniture in "palace" styles - natural lacquered wood, carving, gilding, inlays. Requires bright lighting. It does not go well with black, orange furniture or high-tech items.
The same can be said about emerald and blue colors combined with gold.
But all shades of blue and blue (boring faded blue does not count) are gaining more and more popularity. The white and blue gamma simply does not go out of trend. To soften the contrast, bright accents are used: red, coral, yellow, orange. Blue and blue shades are great for high-tech style.
Increasingly, purple and lilac colors are used.
That's right - combine purple walls with white or light-colored furniture, light purple textiles. Companion colors - white, beige, light coffee, gray, lilac, light purple. Looks great, but the purple space is not very suitable for families with small children. Purple living room requires bright lighting.
Another trend among modern designers is light gray. A discreet neutral color is not as cold and easily soiled as white, and at the same time it is combined with any color and favorably emphasizes all design delights, furniture, decor, textiles.
Family and living room color
In many ways, the color scheme of the living room is determined by the composition of the family and the characteristics of family pastime. For a couple without children or with teenage children, a creative design of the hall would be more appropriate: bright or dark colors, non-traditional catchy design, high-tech style, loft, etc.
For a family with young children, neutral warm tones and a small amount of aggressive colors are preferable.
Children will be uncomfortable in a black or coffee room, and parents of children in an exciting red one. For a family of three generations, a calmer color scheme of the common room and a traditional design are more suitable. The main thing is that all family members do not feel discomfort and can fully relax.
Interior styles
The style of the living room determines the color. Some styles simply dictate the use of certain colors. So, hi-tech requires cold, soft shades (possible with bright accents): gray, white, blue. Loft - almost always white or brick (terracotta) walls, or a combination of both. Rustic style, eco-style require the use of wood, white and beige. Provence - muted beige, pistachio, olive shades.
For modern styles, more saturated colors are used, often only one wall is painted in a bright color. For a classic style, muted beige, salad, blue, lemon shades are used.
Any renovation starts with an idea.
