I once made a grave mistake in my bedroom: I painted the walls a rich juniper green. I thought it would summon Ivy League library vibes, but instead it instantly cast a sickly light on my pale skin. The color was a depressant on sight and made me look like a Victorian-era tuberculosis victim: wan and bilious.
I learned my lesson. These days, my bedroom is dressed in Wind's Breath by Benjamin Moore, a serene shade that plays well with any complexion and makes my shoulders drop the moment I see it.
"Color can have such a large impact on how we feel in a space," says Bailey Todd, owner and designer at White Cliff Studio in St. Louis.
San Diego designer Tiffani Baumgart agrees: "I stay away from energizing colors in the bedroom. This is the time to help calm, not activate, the mind."
That doesn't mean, though, that you're limited to blues. Any color that helps you feel Zen will work. "Thirty years ago, I rented my first house in the Hamptons, which was a rickety old Victorian," says Darren Henault, a designer in New York. "It hadn't been painted in ages, so the landlady let me have at it. I did the entire thing up in [Benjamin Moore Popcorn Kernel]. It's a strong but buttery yellow that changes hue with the light of the day."
We asked designers to share their favorite paint colors for the bedroom. Here are their answers, ranging from rich terra cotta to peppy pistachio.
Richmond designer Sara Hillery goes for a calming flat finish paint in sleeping quarters, often in shades of vanilla. (Sherwin-Williams Macadamia is a go-to.)
"A midrange beige paint color can bring warmth into a bedroom and help establish a cozy and grounding environment," says Hillery, who also notes that this sandstone-like hue can help you feel more connected to nature.
"For this Colonial home in New Jersey, we used Behr's Seaside Villa, a beautiful warmer pink that has a slight yellow and tan undertone," says Sarah Storms of Maplewood, N.J., design firm Styled by Storms. "It's definitely not a blue-toned pink, which can get too sweet and juvenile quickly. Dustier, warmer pinks have a softness and warmth that is great in a bedroom, and it's also a color that plays nicely with neutrals."
Storms selected an eggshell finish, which doubles as a concealer for subtly flawed finishes. "The home's original plaster walls will always have some waviness; an eggshell finish helps blur those imperfections."
"I love grayed-down greens for a bedroom," says Connie Vernich of Vernich Interiors in Nashville. She adds that colors often intensify at scale on a wall -- and when they're hit by sunlight. "If a green is not toned down, the color can be too intense, so I try to look for greens on a color chart that have a lot of gray in them. A deep grayed-down green like Sherwin-Williams Sage Green [Light] is my perfect go-to color. When mixed with a vintage rug and some wool plaids or stripes, you have a beautiful setting for relaxation, reading and, of course, sleeping."
It's counterintuitive, but sometimes a deep color with some red in it can be incredibly soothing. Take Farrow & Ball's Red Earth, a favorite of D.C. designer Zoe Feldman. "Faded terra cotta in the bedroom is warm, ethereal and just the right amount of moody," she says. "It feels light and bright during the day but relaxing at night." Here, she also applied it in a bedroom vestibule, where it sets the tone for the rest of the suite "and gives off a flattering glow." Pair it with a light-toned pink trim color, she says, for maximum effect.
Pigeon is a little like a Goldilocks shade: not too bright, not too black. "During the day, it doesn't feel dark and gloomy, but at night it darkens a lot, making for the perfect slumber," Todd says. "It feels organic and soft, creating more of an enveloping feel when you color-drench your bedroom." Todd is using it in a project that's nearing completion. "Each time I'm in this room, it feels like I'm wrapped in cashmere, and I could light a candle and relax with my cup of tea."
"One of my favorite restful colors for a bedroom is Farrow & Ball's Skimming Stone in a matte finish," says Katie McCaffrey, owner and principal of McCaffrey Design Group in San Francisco. "It's a wonderful warm gray that feels like a classy cashmere sweater for your walls." The color's sophistication factor is a big plus for McCaffrey, who deems it one of her all-time-favorite bedroom neutrals. "It plays great with just about any accent color as well. ... It really makes a wonderful backdrop for art."
Kirsten Fitzgibbons and Kelli Ford of the firm Kirsten Kelli used Benjamin Moore Coconut Grove in a high-gloss lacquer finish to create a warm and artful vibe in a Dallas bedroom. "Coconut Grove creates the most serene backdrop to any bedroom, as it is cozy and fresh at the same time," Ford says. "The color looks great day or night ... the ultimate oasis."
Kathryn O'Shea-Evans is a design and travel writer in Colorado.
This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.washingtonpost.com/home/2024/03/14/best-paint-colors-bedroom/
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