The Best Bedroom Paint Colors You’re Probably Not Using

December 4, 2018
30 Comments
Posted in: interior paint colors

Hey Everyone,

I’m back to give you another updated post for the best bedroom paint colors you’re probably not using. OR, maybe you are using some of them, because some of this post came out four and a half years ago like Sunday’s post which addressed nine no-fail paint colors.

I’m saying “some of this” because the post is actually quite different than the original.

It’s quite interesting, to go back and see what I wrote when I was a relatively innocent, naive 58-year-old interior design blogger. ;]

And, by today’s standards, I think the old post is not-so-great. (and no, you won’t be able to see it because I’ve done a 301 redirect, which upon deletion of an old post directs it to a new post.) In this case, this one!

Let’s begin with our upstairs floor plan before we get into the best bedroom paint colors for each room.

Here we have a fairly typical configuration of four smallish bedrooms.

So, the first question I want to answer when coming up with a great palette of colors for the upstairs is this:

Do we need to use the same colors upstairs as downstairs?

You don’t have to but, you can.

Do the best bedroom paint colors need to totally coordinate with the downstairs paint colors? Like, if you have earth tones downstairs, can you do a pink, orange or a violet bedroom upstairs?

YES! I think so. However, what I would recommend if the colors are earthy neutrals downstairs, to stick to the less chromatic versions of the colors, for the most part. Chroma, if you don’t know refers to the brightness of a color. The less chroma, the grayer the color is. Great Scrabble word. haha.

This is one thing I love about the Laurel Home curated paint/palette collection. Most of the colors go with all of the other colors. Even in the case of the brighter colors and there are several, there are shades which look great with neutrals, as well.

What I’m going to do for today, is select five different color combinations for the four bedrooms to go with the no fail paint colors that are downstairs.

Naturally, one bedroom will be a master and then I will assume that there is a boy and a girl and a baby that you aren’t sure what it is. ;] OR, it could be guest bedroom.

One thing I hate more than I can possibly say are nurseries that are well– “babyish.” Ya know…Cute little ducks and boats and other stuff. Hey, put up some antlers and a photo of Katy Perry. Just kidding. Let’s face it. Nurseries are for the adults, not the babies. Babies couldn’t care less what the wall color is or if their linen is from Pratesi or Target. One of my favorite nurseries is here.

We all know that their raison d’etre is to sleep, eat and eliminate and if you’re lucky like I was, you’ll have a couple of adorable dumplings who will projectile vomit for 7 months straight. Good times. (I love you my darling young man if you are reading) Besides, they are only going to be babies for about 10 seconds. Really. Blink, and you’ll soon be humming Pomp and Circumstance!

I want your children to grow up happy and self-assured, as of course, I know that you do too, so let’s start by giving them sophisticated colors to help give them the best start in life and a taste for the finer things. Of course, all of that is only my opinion. You are free to raise your children however you like.

Before we jump in. Please note that the paint color that’s in the photo is often NOT what I say it is.

In the interest of sanity, the idea is that it looks close to the color I’m talking about. In fact, at least half of the time, I find that photos of the real colors in rooms are a distant relative of what they actually are. So, please don’t freak out if you recognize a room and know what its real color is that is not what I’m saying it is.

So, here’s what I’ve done. I’ve created five sets of bedroom possibilities. Please know that I could sit here and make thousands of combinations. But, each one will have something a little unexpected, or maybe not.

Below is a graphic of an overview of today’s no-fail bedroom paint colors

please pin to pinterest

Best Bedroom Paint Colors Number One

Master – QUIET MOMENTS 1563 – My never-fail go-to bedroom paint color

Daughter – LOOKOUT POINT 1646 – a really beautiful, soft pale gray-blue.

Son – VAN DEUSEN BLUE hc-156

Baby – CLASSIC GRAY 1548

Best Bedroom Paint Colors Number Two

Master – WHITE BLUSH – 904

Daughter – WOODLAWN BLUE hc-147

Son – RACING ORANGE RED 2169-10 – Son must have a red-orange bedroom. That’s fine. Keep everything else quiet. Oh, and just so you know, this color will NOT make him more hyper than he already is.

Via Verona Brit

Baby – WICKHAM GRAY hc-171 – Please note, that this gray is supposed to be revere pewter. It doesn’t look it from the photo, but that’s why I try to put up photos that look more like what they are.

Best Bedroom Paint Colors Number Three

Master – CHELSEA GRAY hc-168

Daughter – ORGANDY 1248 – daughter has to have violet. Organdy is a violet that everyone will love, even if you can’t stand purple.

Son – BUNKER HILL GREEN 566 — ahhh… remember the son who wanted the acid green bedroom? You get brownie points if you do, because nobody read that post. lol

Baby – ABALONE – 2108-60 – This is a very beautiful warm greige color with a slight lavender undertone that looks great in a wide variety of settings

Best Bedroom Paint Colors Number Four

India Hicks

Master – OPAL -oc-73 – Actually this post has a lovely photo of this color

Daughter – PINK CLOUD 887 – This is a very non-gaggy shade of pink. There are nine shades of pink from pale, pale to a beautiful coral pink like in the coral bedroom in this post about the 20 best shades of orange paint.

If you love pink, please check out this post.

Lauren Liess

Son – RICHMOND GRAY – hc-96 – This is another go-to bedroom paint color. Great for a boy’s bedroom, but the first time I used it in a handsome master bedroom with this bed (the one with the cool navy and white duvet)

Baby – DEEP ROYAL, yes a navy nursery. You can see that in the link above, as well.

Best Bedroom Paint Colors Number Five

One of my favorite bedrooms every by Barbara Westbrook

A detail via Design Indulgence

It’s actually Narragansett Green. But when it came time to create the Laurel Home Paint Collection, I switched it to Newburg because it’s easier to spell. haha

Master – NARRAGANSETT GREEN hc-157 or NEWBURG GREEN hc-158

Daughter – ONYX – Your teen-age daughter must have a black bedroom or else. Actually, black is a fine color for a bedroom. Please note the two bedrooms below. I don’t think this is what your teen-ager had in mind, but it’s something to consider.

Mary McDonald

Alexa Hampton

Son – DOLPHIN’S COVE 722 – Love the bedroom below!

Baby – DEEP ROYAL 2061-10 – Yes, a navy and white nursery. You can see one, plus the image above in this post. The website doesn’t seem to exist any longer.

Or, You could paint any bedroom white. COTTON BALLS 2145-70 I’m totally fine with that.