The Best, Unexpected Color to Paint Your Living Room if It’s Cramped and Windowless

When renting an apartment in New York City, most people know that there will likely be some building quirks they’ll encounter. And if you’re renting (read: it’s not necessarily a forever home), it’s usually not possible to do structural work to fix them. So it’s important to lean in. Take the living room in Scott Davis and Emily Tarleton’s 550-square-foot apartment, for example. 

The couple shares the apartment with their two children, Ginny and Ruby. Fitting four people in an already small space is a feat, but they ran into a problem in the living room. “The room has no windows, and it is extremely small — there was absolutely no way you could paint this room into seeming larger than it is,” Emily explained at the time of the House Tour. So instead of painting it white (or some other airy color), she went in the opposite direction. 

Home stagers and designers have long weighed in on their top paint picks for making a cramped room feel larger. However, Emily didn’t even want to try that. Instead, she leaned into the coziness by painting the space Clare’s “Current Mood,” a moody, dramatic deep green.

“I really leaned into the dark tones and covered the walls in the art that we have collected or made over the years,” Emily said at the time of the House Tour. “As a result, it’s the coziest little room, especially during the winter when you want to watch Netflix or curl up with a cocoa or warm blanket. It feels like home.” 

I’ll admit it: I’m the first one to stress about things that I can’t control. For example, I have a small, one-window (it looks out onto a brick wall) bedroom, and I painted it blue to make it feel larger. But Emily’s take is a good reminder that sometimes accepting and embracing a quirk can actually lead to design rewards. She didn’t have to stress over a full renovation in a rental apartment, and she saved money by only spending on a can of paint. Some designers, like Emily Henderson, agree with her choice. “Light paint color is not going to fix your dark room. In fact, it’s gonna make it worse,” she explained. 

Emily’s paint choice is perfect for her small, windowless living room because it doesn’t try to be something it’s not. It doesn’t pretend to be larger by painting it a white shade. Instead, it owns the coziness and makes it feel like a warm hug. To see more of her family home, visit the full House Tour.