Best paint colors for living rooms
If you’re searching for that perfect neutral color for your living room or open concept space, this list is for you.
Before we get into paint colors, let’s go over some ground rules in terms of how to choose a paint color for your living space:
Most homeowners like LRVs (light reflectance value, which tells you how light or dark a paint color is) to be in the 60s-low 80s.
I have very few clients who ask me for a darker color for their living room. Office, bedroom, built ins yes, but in terms of wall colors, most want colors that reflect more light.
You must look at your fixed elements first before choosing a neutral!
This list is meant to give you ideas, then you must evaluate whatever is permanent in your living room, so that might be your fireplace, your floors, an expensive rug or brand new couch, whatever it is, the neutral undertones need to relate to each other in order for everything to look harmonious.
No colors are out as long as the wall color is repeated in the decorating, not even cool grays. Look how beautiful this room is and the color on the walls is a cool gray-blue!
And now, on to my list of the best paint colors for living rooms:
Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee
Swiss Coffee is a greige with a green undertone. This is a very pale paint color, with an LRV of 81, which is in off-white territory in terms of color depth, but it does have a little bit more going on with that greige and green at play. Great color if you want an off-white but want a bit more personality.
Benjamin Moore White Down
Benjamin Moore White Down is a gorgeous cream color that’s a good choice when you want the look of off-white walls, but you really want them just a hint warmer.
As far as undertones go, White Down is a cream which means it has a yellow undertone, so if you don’t like yellow, this is not the color for you. White Down has an LRV of 71.
Sherwin Williams Creamy
Another great cream option is Sherwin Williams Creamy. This color is much brighter than White Down with an LRV of 81.
I do want to note that in general, cream paint colors tend to come to life with more natural light. Ideally, you choose a cream because you want that warmth on the walls, so make sure you have the natural light to really let these types of colors shine.
Sherwin Williams City Loft
A pretty greige with a green undertone, City Loft is a color that doesn’t get too much time in the spotlight. With an LRV of 70, this color is light and bright, but still has some personality.
Sherwin Williams Accolade
Accolade is a gorgeous greige with a green undertone. With an LRV of 65 this is the perfect soft greige for living spaces.
Benjamin Moore Nimbus
Many of us love to decorate with blues, but when it comes to finding a neutral paint color that echoes our decorating, we get easily frustrated with super cold gray-blue walls.
Benjamin Moore Nimbus is the answer to your decorating dilemmas if you’re looking for a cooler, but not-too-cool gray that will look lovely with all of those blue tones. Nimbus has an LRV of 59.
Sherwin Williams Neutral Ground
Neutral Ground is the perfect paint color for warming up a space but still keeping things light and airy. This pretty color has an LRV of 70 and is a very pale beige with a green undertone.
Benjamin Moore Navajo White
Beiges are really trending right now and the hottest beige colors are beiges with orange undertones. Benjamin Moore Navajo White is such a rich color with so much warmth. Navajo White has an LRV of 78.
Sherwin Williams White Sesame
If your fixed elements lean into taupe, check out White Sesame. Taupe is in between beige and gray and has pink/purple undertones. So many rugs and upholstery items have taupe undertones.
Many times when people have exhausted all the beiges and greiges and they still aren’t happy with how their paint color looks with their furniture/fixed elements, it’s then that they realize they needed a taupe all along. White Sesame has an LRV of 71.
Benjamin Moore Pale Oak
Pale Oak is another beautiful taupe paint color. This color leans more into the purple side of taupe and has an LRV of 68.
Benjamin Moore Mushroom Cap
Yellow is tricky, and the key to getting this color right is choosing a yellow that has a bit of a beige undertone to it to calm it down.
Benjamin Moore Mushroom Cap is gorgeous and look how well this yellow has been repeated in this room, making this color the absolute right choice for the walls here. Mushroom Cap has an LRV of 73.
Sherwin Williams Lullaby
It’s tricky finding a blue that won’t read baby blue on the walls and that’s light enough for a living space. Sherwin Williams Lullaby is the perfect blue with an LRV of 65.
The key to finding a blue that doesn’t belong in a kids’ room is to find one that has a gray undertone to it, which Lullaby has.
Benjamin Moore Mount Saint Anne
A lot of people love to decorate with blues, especially in their common spaces and Benjamin Moore Mount Saint Anne has an LRV of 41 so it’s a bit darker than most colors on this list. If you have a good bit of natural light and like to decorate with blues, give this one a shot.
Benjamin Moore Hancock Green
If you’re looking for a pale green to go on your walls, Benjamin Moore Hancock Green is the perfect color for you. This green is easier to work with as a more neutral tone, thanks to that gray undertone and it’s plenty light enough for common spaces, with an LRV of 66.
Did you find a color for your walls with this list? I hope so! If not, check out my virtual paint color consultation services, I’d love to help you find a color that makes your home come to life!
