Whether your living room hosts game nights or lazy Sundays, the space should feel equally chic and comfortable. This room is one of the most highly trafficked spaces, especially in a small home, and all of your design choices should feel intentional. For this reason, you'll want to choose the best living room paint colors possible. When done right, paint will enhance the overall room’s design while complementing the aesthetic and layout of your home.
While the process of picking out and buying a paint color for your living room is a daunting task (so many swatches!), you can ace it with our help. Neutrals like white, off-white, and greige are the most popular paint colors for living rooms. However, neutrals (and living room trends) aren't for everyone, so we found many statement-making shades for those who like to stick to the center of the color wheel.
Before you choose a living room paint color, it's important to think about what kind of living room you want to have. If you're looking to make an impact, we recommend a bold hue like a jewel-tone color. If you're looking to reflect light and make a small room feel bigger, opt for a light neutral or pastel to help bounce light around the space. For a cozy vibe, choose a deep paint color like forest green or navy to make your living room feel snug. And there are plenty more ideas ahead! No matter your design style or room size, we found the 60 best living room paint colors to elevate your space.
Additional copy by Hadley Mendelsohn.
For more paint inspiration:
- 7 Paint Colors to Make Your Home Sell for More Money
- 11 Versatile Paint Colors That Designers Swear By
- The Best Relaxing Paint Colors for a Calming Space
1
Deep Teal
Interior designer Cecilia Casagrande searched for a living room paint color that was “lush but livable.” She landed on Hague Blue by Farrow & Ball. By leaving the ceilings white, Casagrande gives the illusion of higher ceilings in this historic home.
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2
Soft Turquoise
Coastal design can easily lean kitschy, so to elevate this Palm Beach home, the team behind Kemble Interiors opted for a step above ocean blue. The slightly green teal living room paint color (Del Mar Blue by Benjamin Moore) livens up the space and pairs perfectly with the patterned wallcovering.
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3
Avocado Green
Magnolia's Director of Styling wanted to preserve the Midcentury soul of her Waco home as much as possible throughout the renovation. One way was through era-appropriate paint colors, like the living room's green: Savannah Shade by Benjamin Moore to be exact. Modern furniture silhouettes and graphic textiles bring the space into the 21st century.
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4
Two-Tone With Blue
Why choose one paint color when you can have two? In Rita Chan's California home, a two-toned wall is created using different hues of plaster for a textured finish. The powder blue offers a chic backdrop for the children's play area in the living room.
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5
High Gloss Black
Designer Charlotte Lucas took a dramatic turn away from the pastels that fill the rest of this North Carolina home for the lounge. A high-gloss black covers the walls to heighten the Art Deco influence. Light ceilings and colorful furniture keep the dramatic hue from feeling too dark.
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6
Stormy Blue
In House Beautiful's 2023 Whole Home, Arianne Bellizaire gave the entryway a more modern sensibility by using two living room paint colors (Farrow & Ball Hague Blue and Oval Room Blue) to simultaneously enhance and ground the damask wallcovering.
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7
Barbie Pink
Isabel Ladd doused the walls of the 2023 Whole Home owner's suite in Farrow & Ball Shallot to energize the space. “Pink and red can get a little preppy,” Ladd says. “The olive trim balances with a touch of weird, which I love.”
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8
Bridgerton Pink
To celebrate this home's historic architecture, Caitlin Wilson chose complementary colors that enhanced the living room's molding and felt feminine: Farrow & Ball Pink Ground (walls) and Wimborne White (trim). The finished room is pink on pink with a bit of blue and a hint of green.
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9
Moody Mahogany
Hema Persad, CEO of Sagrada Studios, doused this salon in the living room paint color Farrow & Ball Brinjal; “broke apart” a circular sectional, fire-pit-style, to encourage conversation; and added brass interior shutters for that wanderlust vibe.
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10
Sunshine Yellow
Claire Staszak of Centered by Design hoped to embrace a plein-air lifestyle indoors in our 2023 Whole Home's sunroom. She pulled down the trellises, repainted them in Farrow & Ball Dayroom Yellow, and then reinstalled them. A tasseled valance—reminiscent of Parisian cafe awnings—along with a marble bistro table and all-weather draperies in a Morris & Co. stripe deliver European ambiance in practical style.
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11
Poppy Red
In British tastemaker Lucinda Chambers' London home, she makes the boldest moves work, nonchalantly recalling when she painted her sitting room primary red and yellow based on her youngest son's suggestion that it match his Lego bricks. For a bold, energetic living room paint color, try Clare Sriracha.
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12
Gray-Purple
In a Cape Cod–style home for a couple of empty nesters, Lauren Nelson painted the living room walls in Farrow & Ball Dove Tale—a warm gray with purple undertones. It keeps the atmosphere neutral yet inviting.
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13
Pearl
A soft white paint with a slight gray cast can easily make your living room a spot you want to spend all day in. Take it from Sharon Rembaum, who dressed this living room with textured pieces in a neutral color palette to boost its overall coziness.
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14
Cerulean Blue
Garrow Kedigan used Benjamin Moore Lakeside Cabin on the walls of this cozy corner. The faded cerulean blue acts as a soft backdrop to the rich orange and gold decor and dark gray sofa.
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15
Cloudy Green
Reminiscent of the outdoors and luxurious spas, sage green can instantly make your living room feel welcoming. In this speakeasy-inspired room by Brooklinteriors, Art Deco, Eastern, and bohemian elements blend against walls painted in Clare Dirty Martini for an opulent but casual atmosphere.
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16
Sunny Yellow
Lively yellow walls can instantly brighten up your living room—whether you have big windows or small openings for natural light. In this room by Taylor Anne Interiors, Farrow & Ball Citron adds energy to the tropical yet modern space.
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17
Ebony
Set a moody yet cozy scene by painting your living room walls and ceiling a soft shade of ebony. For Sean Anderson's client, comfort and function in the living room were crucial for entertaining. So he used Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore as the living room paint color and layered items that told the homeowner's story for a welcoming atmosphere.
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18
Red Clay
Designed by Melanie Turner, this living room's walls are painted in Sherwin-Williams Windswept Canyon. The furniture is united by a common colorway that pairs nicely with the paint.
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19
Frost Blue
Frost blue walls—painted in Benjamin Moore Philipsburg Blue, to be exact—offer the right amount of softness in this room by Jenny Wolf. Gold-framed art and a textured rug add warmth.
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20
Teal
“It's a vibrant happy blue while not being too overwhelming,” says Rudy Saunders of the color on the walls of his studio apartment on the Upper East Side of New York City. It's Fine Paints of Europe Jefferson Blue from the Dorothy Draper paint collection.
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