Color Ideas for Walls and Decor

White is arguably the most versatile of paint colors, especially when it comes to that which surrounds us—walls. Would you agree? Although I love a pop of bold color (or a dramatic dark, or a well-considered neutral…), even I have to agree that white can be seen as one-size-fits-all, serving as a backdrop for spaces overflowing with interest and personality. It seems that no matter the style, from classic and cozy to clean and contemporary, white just works.

Yellow. It’s sunny, cheerful, full of life, and just all around happy. So when you use it on your interiors, chances are you’ll be bringing some of these attributes into your home. Wrap your walls with it, upholster your chairs, or use it sparingly in your artwork. Whether you’re looking to make a bold, vibrant statement or evoke an understated warmth, yellow is a sure-fire stop on the color wheel.

I admit I read this post with a slight eyeroll at first. I mean, red as the new “trending” color? THE red color that has been a part of human interiors for, like, ever? But then I looked around my interiors — and save for a few books spines and a couple of splashes in a rug — I have no red in my apartment. What’s the big deal, you ask? So what if you don’t have a specific color in your home? But see, red is different. It’s special.

As we’re known to say around here, painting is an easy and inexpensive way to totally change the look of your space. And while colors come in and out of vogue (neutral whites and grays have reigned supreme for quite some time now), it looks like people might now to be more willing to add a little more hue to their homes.

If you’ve ever wandered the paint section of your local hardware store, wondering who comes up with some of these color names, we can assure you it’s a human person. How do we know? Because one research scientist created an AI to invent new colors and name them, and well, things got pretty weird. Janelle Shane decided to train a neural network to not only generate new paint colors, but also name them.

It’s not easy being green. Unless you’re literally any one of these rooms. Whether you’re using the color as a nature-inspired neutral or as a vibrant, bold statement, green has a way of calming us and making us feel at one with the natural world. These homes have me feeling green with envy. What about you?

These unusual paint job ideas will add a lot of awesome to an accent wall.

While a pristine white wall can create the perfect blank canvas to complement your home decor style, sometimes you want to mix it up and get creative with your paint. While wallpaper prints and bright colors are always an option, there are some out-of-the-box ways that you can spice up a room. From concentrating color to painting just one shelf to carving out a separate space with the help of a paintbrush, ahead are some unexpected ways to paint walls in your house.

One of the most exciting (and most alarming) things about the internet is the speed with which information travels, and the speed with which ideas catch fire, achieve full saturation, and then become passé, often within a matter of weeks. Case in point: the strange phenomenon known as millennial pink. Perhaps you’ve never heard of it, or perhaps you’re already tired of it. I know I am. And yet, here I am.

Want to see the world through rose-colored glasses? Take a peek at these beautiful blushing interiors.

Having the blues isn’t always a bad thing. Just look at these awesome interiors. From Picasso’s Blue Period and Yves Klein’s invention of International Klein Blue to the modern-day fascination with indigo-dyed shibori fabrics and a revived appreciation for Chinese ginger jars, blue has proven to be a classic color that will never go out of style.

You’ve seen brown kitchens before—you know, the builder’s grade blah caramel cabinets in just about every renovation “before” shot ever. Or worse, the super shiny espresso colored kitchen your parents just had to have in the late 90s/early 2000s. Brown kitchens definitely had a moment, and thank goodness it’s over. Or is it? A quick scan of Instagram, designers’ portfolios and big box store catalogs suggests that brown may be back.

The coziness of a small space — or the closed-in, cramped feeling of one — isn’t always due to how few square feet it is. What you fill a small room with matters, for sure. But another vital element is the color you coat the room in. Conventional wisdom has always advised to use lighter colors to make walls recede (and a room feel larger) and to avoid darker hues (which might make the walls feel like they’re closing in), but that’s just not always the case.

And no, it's not white.

Here at Apartment Therapy we love our color, and unusual combinations are our Achilles’ heel. If you’re tired of neutral spaces, the same old “pop” colors or just want to feast your eyes on something new, read on for seven inspiring, invigorating and quirky color schemes to try out today.

For when you're ready to break up with those safe bet, go-to color combinations you see everywhere.

Color (via paint) can be a very powerful design tool, especially when used in unexpected places. While most people don’t necessarily think to paint the inside of their window frames, it can be the difference between a run-of-the-mill room and a spectacular, and memorable interior. A few “pros” to painting your window frames: It’s not as big a time/money commitment as painting your walls.

It's like blush's moody, worldly, more sophisticated cousin...and we can't get enough.

The accent wall has been a “thing” for a long, long time. More than just a way to save on money and time when painting, adding an accent wall to a room in your home can be a way to add life to a dull space. It can be a way to introduce a bold color — but not overwhelm the rest of your decor. But even more than that, adding an accent wall can be a way to make rooms appear bigger or smaller than they are.

The once bland color can actually be a breath of fresh air.

There are a few privileges to being an editor in the design world, one of which is getting to see the future (a.k.a. what’s going to be in stores well before anyone else is privy to that information). This comes in handy when trend forecasting happens to be your sport of choice.

Feeling blue (or green, or red)? Today, we’re shopping the spectrum of hues from Canopy, the site that curates stylish finds from Amazon’s enormous catalog. Check out what we’ve come up with: If you haven’t heard of Canopy, think of it as a shopping experience that mixes the ease of Amazon, the visual aspect of Pinterest, and the connectivity of social media, all in one.

Few things in the world of decorating are more controversial than the pink bathroom. Those old, Mamie-pink 1950s bathrooms were first loved, and then hated, and then loved by some and hated by others (with equal passion on both sides). And now there’s a whole new generation of pink bathrooms — and they’re anything but frilly and froufrou. Say hello to the sophisticated new pink bathroom.

We’re only a few months into 2017, but that hasn’t stopped Pantone from looking inside their colorful crystal ball. At the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago this week, the international authority on color gave attendees a peek into what’s on trend for 2018.

The inaugural Palm Springs Door Tour is taking place this week at Palm Springs’ annual mid-century modern lovefest, Modernism Week. If you find yourself asking, why a tour of doors, just search the #doorsofinstagram hashtag on the photo-friendly platform and you’ll see why (there are over 100,000 photos!). Perhaps the most popular door you’ll find on Instagram is “that pink door,” a now-icon of Palm Springs’ Indian Canyons neighborhood.

It’s no secret that we at Apartment Therapy love color, even (er, make that especially) in small spaces. While the rest of the internet might still be spewing the “paint it white to make it seem larger” line, we know that a bold shade can bring energy and a sense of expansion to a modest room. Have a small bedroom and want some paint ideas beyond white and gray? We’ve got you—and your walls—covered.

Project by: Jessica Preston of colour+ shape Location: Cambridge, United Kingdom Jessica Preston’s design firm is called colour + shape. And she’s not kidding. She turned a 1960s Cambridge, England bungalow into a vibrant, contemporary showpiece exploding with color and personality.

The homes we admire while flipping through magazines and scrolling through Pinterest are undeniably pretty, but do you ever look at an image of an impossibly pristine home and wonder, “Does anyone actually live there?” In celebration of quirky, personality-packed homes, we’ve rounded up house tours that definitely show signs of life—and that can teach us how to make our own homes shine. Boring doesn’t stand a chance.

Why mix colors when just one will do? It might fly in the face of typical interior design advice, which advocates balance above all things, but sometimes a room that fully embraces a single color can be strangely delightful. Layering the same color in different shades—or a handful of colors in very similar hues—can create a rich, immersive design experience that’s as stylish as it is unexpected.

I’ve always been a huge fan of pink and green together, and the current trend towards more somber, desaturated colors has put a fresh new spin on this classic combo. Hunter green and dusty pink are beautiful on their own, of course, but they’re even better together. This kitchen from Little Greene pairs a pink that’s just a wee bit bubble gummy with a dark green (and an oak worktop) that balances it out nicely.

Maggie is a writer — she covers interior design, antiques, shopping and travel. She’s also a mom of two kiddos and a DIYer with serious skills when it comes to decorating rentals. She’s had plenty of experience; her husband is active duty in the army, and they’ve moved a lot — 10 times in the last 15 years. Her ability to decorate colorfully without spending a lot of money inspired me to ask her about her favorite ideas for adding color to rentals.

We love bookcases. We love color. Put them together and you have something even dreamier than the sum of its parts, worth looking at and lingering on for a long, long time. If you’re thinking about painting your bookshelves, you’ll find plenty to be inspired by in this collection of shelving in every color of the rainbow. Above: A set of gorgeous emerald green bookcases spotted on One Kings Lane.

What’s your favorite color? It’s a question we ask children all the time, and now century-old British stationer G.F. Smith is asking the world. Sure, almost any research of favorite colors counts blue as the top hue—including a survey conducted at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. While blue will most likely be most popular, G.F. Smith is asking people for a specific hue, which you select by scrolling your mouse (or finger) over the screen until you find your favorite shade.

Pantone’s Color of the Year may be Greenery, “a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade,” but my colored-sofa loving heart is smitten with a deeper shade of the earthy color: emerald. If you’re ready to move on from neutral seating (or the ever popular navy isn’t for you), consider one of these 15 luscious green sofas (from deep hunter green to exciting olive).

If you’ve been to many Frank Lloyd Wright houses, you’ll notice that a lot of them have a curious feature: a small, almost cramped entryway. This may seem odd, but it’s actually a really neat trick that turns entering a home into a powerful experience, and makes the rest of the house seem even more spacious by comparison. One way to achieve the same effect in your own home, without moving any walls around, is to paint your entryway in a deep, dark shade.

Fusion cuisines are not always a good idea, but fusion decor styles, I have found, are almost always unexpectedly wonderful. Case in point: this mint-colored interior in a Danish castle. It’s the perfect mix of Scandinavian minimalism and crumbly European chic. I just want to rub my face on it, the way you would with an unusually sleek and well-fed cat. Don’t tell me you don’t feel it, too.

If you’ve ever looked at those gorgeous Paris apartments with their gorgeous moldings and thought “I wonder what that would look like in black?” well then, you’re in luck. And if you haven’t, you’re in luck, too, because this inky black space in Paris’ 9th arrondissement is a treat for everyone. The suite, an office “designed as a living space,” is a creation of Parisian design firm Festen.

Today, Pantone announced that Greenery is their 2017 Color of the Year. While the bright, leafy hue is already incorporated into many a home via plants, you might be curious as to how it looks on walls, furniture, and decor. We used our Color Search tool to find examples of the vibrant shade in every room of the house. Michel is clearly not afraid of bold colors in his Moroccan pad. Here, Greenery plays well with other brights for a fun space that doesn’t take itself seriously.

On Thursday, Pantone announced Greenery as the Color of the Year 2017, and publications, brands, and people from across the globe have since taken to the internet to share their opinions on the new reigning hue. Colors are so steeped in personal preference, that it’s no surprise that—like every year—there are the people that love it and the people that don’t.

It’s December, and the holiday season is officially here. But for color lovers, today is a holiday in and of itself: the day Pantone announces their Color of the Year for 2017. In 2016, they surprised us all and gave us two hues: Serenity and Rose Quartz. Is there a new pair this year? Or are we back to one color to rule them all?

In case you missed it, Benjamin Moore announced its Color of the Year for 2017. Shadow 2117-30, a deep purple that can lean more toward a smokey charcoal or a lighter violet depending on the light, came out on top for the paint brand. In honor of the celebrated hue, we’ve put together four different palettes that work with a deep, rich purple so that, no matter your taste, you’ll be tempted to incorporate the in-style shade somewhere in your home.

Fall always has me turning toward dark, moody spaces, and this autumn I’m especially drawn to dark kitchens. While black (or dark gray or navy) might be an unusual color choice for the kitchen, it’s also, as you can see here, an incredibly stylish one. Maybe these eight spaces will be just the thing to bring you over to the dark side.

Who says colors for fall decorating can’t be dreamy and soft? We’re not suggesting you trade in your pumpkin lattes for milky matchas or spiced gingerbread for lavender macaroons, but these landscape-inspired color palettes may influence your Thanksgiving tabletop to embrace the hazy hues that are often overlooked in the transition from summer to autumn.

Let’s leave aside, for a minute, all discussions of how “color of the year” became a thing that I spend my time thinking about, and focus instead on the wonders of what I’ve come to embrace as Color Season. Benjamin Moore announced recently that Shadow, a deep, rich amethyst, is their color of 2017. Sherwin-Williams went with Poised Taupe, a neutral which perfectly straddles the warm/cool divide.

I love the look of fall—the pumpkins and the fallen leaves, sure, but also the particular quality the light takes on when the sun sinks low in the sky. It’s a sad, melancholy quality, but also moody and dramatic and interesting, and in some way these living rooms just seem made for that kind of light—a place to sip tea and curl up with an obscure tome and mull over the ashes of the year.

The world of paint can feel endless. So many blues, grays, whites…how do you settle on one for your wall? I’m a firm believer that nothing will ever replace buying samples and testing a paint color out before diving into gallons of a certain shade, but to get a rough idea of a paint color family or hue without having to head to the hardware store, give one of these six apps a try!

Drinking glasses may be a standard item in any kitchen, but add some color and personality, and you'll make something so commonplace a true household treat.

Last year, Benjamin Moore went light and bright when they picked Simply White as their color of the year. This year, the hue is a bit more dramatic. Any guesses? Here’s what they chose… From light to dark, Benjamin Moore’s Shadow is a rich, royal amethyst that is a “master of ambiance,” according to Ellen O’Neill, Benjamin Moore Creative Director.

Homeowners: Lloyd Pierson and Laura Ginsburg Pierson Designer Name: Michelle Nussbaumer, Ceylon et Cie Location: Dallas, Texas As staunch supporters of color-soaked interiors, we can certainly get on board with a home that embraces a saturated scheme. So was the case for interior designer Michelle Nussbaumer’s lively pad for Lloyd and Laura Pierson, a young couple-turned-growing family in Dallas.

If you’ve ever seen photos of the houses in New Orleans, you know a wide-ranging, daring mix of colors adorns this city’s architecture. Any time I stroll the streets, I’m inspired to get bold in my own home. Even those these color combinations are on the outside of these homes, consider these pre-made palettes direction for the inside of yours.

Black and white is a classic color scheme that adds sophistication, contrast and drama to just about any style of room. But it can sometimes get boring, only playing with two colors. These 13 rooms show how you can balance out a bold black and white color palette with fresh design ideas to create exciting spaces…that aren’t a bit boring. How Nic and Andrew get this room right: A busy, graphic, one-of-a-kind black and white patterned accent wall.

Color doesn’t have to be permanent…or even on the walls. It also doesn’t have to be super saturated or loud, either. These five renters added soft, subtle color to their homes—in ways that won’t prevent them from getting their security deposit back! From Katie, of Katie’s Shabby Chic St. Paul Apartment: “I am quite proud of my dining room table and chairs.

Today is a colorful day—three paint brands have announced their 2017 color of the year. Let’s see what hues our future has in store. If you’re tired of gray’s near domination of neutrals for the past five years, then you’ll be pleased to see that Sherwin-Williams has gone with a hue that mixes it up. “Poised Taupe celebrates everything people love about cool gray as a neutral, and also brings in the warmth of brown, taking a color to an entirely new level.

Looking to up the drama in your interiors? A go-to for daring designers and decorators, black paint provides an instant jolt and dose of some serious sophistication. And even if you’re not ready to go full-volume with ebony walls, architectural accents like window sills and moldings (and don’t forget furnishings!) can benefit from the deep hue to add intrigue to just about any room.

Blame it on the Scandinavian fascination in the design world, maybe, but white walls have never been more in demand. Peruse your Pinterest boards, and chances are, a great majority of the rooms you’ve pinned have white walls. With so many slight variations in the delicate color, it can be nearly impossible to settle on the right shade, but fear not; we’ve taken the guess work out of the whole process for you. Here are 12 designer-favorite, no-fail white paint colors.

Here is something I basically thought I’d never say: I really like all-white (or mostly white) rooms. As someone who has always considered herself a print patron and a color connoisseur, the idea of a room with white walls, white fixtures, white furnishings, maybe even white floors is foreign. But something happens in my brain when I see a bright, white room devoid of pizazz; it relaxes. I breathe easier. It’s like a design catharsis.

A black and white color palette is a powerful one, no matter what style of home it’s used in. Its potency lies in the contrast between two such distinct opposites. Its success depends on how you balance those two opposites. In this post, designer Stephanie Michaan of The Interior shares a few simple secrets about black and white color palettes. Stephanie Michaan: I love using neutrals, especially black and white. Using mainly white is somewhat my signature.