Choosing the right living room paint colour can sometimes feel a bit like you’re trying to solve a mystery without all the clues. Your living room, after all, isn’t just another room in your home—it’s a gathering spot, a place for relaxation, and a place where you want to show off your personal style.
Whatever the color you splash on its walls can elevate its ambiance, influence your mood, and even affect how big or cozy it feels. So you want to get it right.
And that’s why today, we are talking about how to find the right wall paint colour for your living room.
What most new homeowners do when they first move into their home is they have their whole home painted. Every single wall. This is the biggest mistake a new homeowner can make.
That’s because your living room paint colour should be one of the last design decisions you make. When you start decorating your home by painting your walls first, you are literally painting yourself into a corner.
It means that you are automatically limiting the options available to you for everything else you need for the home by the paint colours you chose. This, while paint colours are the one thing in design that has a million options for you to choose from. It’s a recipe for a boring, ho-hum looking home at best.
Images via Pinterest.
Don’t Paint Your Walls First
Let me give you an example. Green is one of the most popular living room paint colours right now. Let’s say you decided to paint all your walls in your living room in a lovely shade of green.
Now let’s say you need to buy a new sofa to go in this room. So you need to make sure that the upholstery on the sofa absolutely works with the shade of green you chose for your wall colour.
That means you can’t just pick any sofa that you like. You have to make sure the colour of the sofa works with your walls. You see what I’m saying?
So instead of having a much larger choice of sofas to select from, you are now limited to only those that work with the shade of green on your walls.
Same goes for any other pieces of furniture or accessories you need for the room like accent chairs, throw pillows, rugs, artwork, etc.
Images via Pinterest.
At Daakor, we follow a framework with 5 different elements that we consider when choosing a living room paint colour for one of client projects. And today I will share with you one of my favourite elements from this framework on how to do this successfully.
It’s also important to mention that while we are talking about how to choose a wall paint colour for your living room today, in reality, you can use these steps for any room in your home.
Colour Psychology & Your Living Room
So, let me tell you about this concept we use at Daakor that will help you choose the perfect living room paint colour for you. This tip alone will go a long way to help you get the right vibe in your space.
One mistake people often make is choosing a paint colour solely because it’s trendy or it’s their personal favourite, without considering the emotional and psychological impact that paint colour can have on the people who are using that space.
Images via Pinterest.
For the uninitiated, colour psychology says that different colors can evoke different emotions and moods in us. Ignoring this can result in a room that doesn’t feel like how you want it to feel and even mess up the overall vibe of the room.
That’s not even the craziest thing. For a room like a living room where you are likely to have guests, you want people to feel relaxed and at home. If you choose colours that are bold or intense, there is a good likelihood that your guests are going to feel overstimulated and uncomfortable. And that means they won’t be very sociable.
And that’s not all. Colors that clash with the natural tendencies of the people who regularly use that room can have negative effects on their mental and physical health. For example, colors that are too bright or harsh can cause eyestrain and headaches.
And colours that are overly dull might affect mood, making you feel sad or lethargic. Interesting and a little crazy to think something like the paint colours you decide to put in your room can have such a big impact on you and people around you, right?
Images via Pinterest.
Let How You Want to Feel Lead the Way
Okay, so how do you choose the right living room paint colour using colour psychology? For a space like a living room, think about how you want to feel in that room. For example, do you want your living room to be airy? Welcoming? Warm? Cozy? Timeless? Versatile? Or something else entirely?
Here are 3 out of the 6 most requested ways our clients want their living rooms to feel, with some corresponding paint colour suggestions:
Comfortable and Cozy
To create a cozy vibe, think warm, soft hues like rich creams, soft beiges, or gentle earth tones such as terracotta, warm greys, and muted greens. These colors wrap the room in a hug, making it feel like a snug retreat from the world.
Calm and Relaxing
Cool, soft colors like pale blues, gentle greens, or light lavenders are perfect for crafting a tranquil oasis. They mimic the calming elements of nature—sky, water, and foliage—bringing an outdoor sense of peace indoors.
Stylish Yet Timeless
If you want a look that balances modern appeal with enduring style, consider classic neutrals with a twist. Greige (a blend of grey and beige), navy (yes, it can be a neutral!), or charcoal offer a sophisticated palette that stands the test of time. These colors provide a chic backdrop that allows your decor to shine.
Images via Pinterest.
Okay, so now you know how to use colour psychology to narrow down your paint colour choices. But the problem is that there are still a few other concepts that also need to be considered along with this one if you want to make sure that your colour really works for your home.
Without them you might be able to pick a good colour, but there’s also a good chance it’s not the best colour for your space. That’s why we offer a free online training session to go over our complete process on how to choose the right living room paint colour for your walls. Click on the link below to learn the full 5-step process we follow at Daakor.
