Dear AI Robots/Santa, can you please build a building where we color-loving humans can walk in and experience every single color shade (in both natural light and darkness) before painting our walls? Now that I’ve designed quite a number of homes and painted many rooms, I’m extremely confident in certain colors, so much so that the fear of trying new colors and getting them wrong runs deep in my mind (and sometimes keeps me from taking risks on certain colors). Wouldn’t it be magical if large paint stores had a physical location for every single color??? So I could walk in, hold Brian’s arm, and say “Oh, I love this!! This is perfect for our family room” instead of painting the room multiple times? Because the amount of light, the direction of the sun, location on the planet and your hard finish can, of course, alter the tone of the paint color, for the most part, the fear of getting it wrong lies in whether the color itself is one you like enough to be surrounded by while enjoying the room. But until that day comes, Sample has created the next best thing – extra-large, peel-and-stick paint samples.
It may not feel like painting an entire room, but it’s definitely a lot better than keeping a small paint store sample and hoping for the best. Needless to say, you can easily move these large-scale stickers around to get a better experience of how the color changes with different lighting. but with this so many Great Paint Colors to Choose From I thought I could help you even more by including some of my favorite colors that we’ve used (and loved) in various projects (a few “good to know about”). You liked our similar white paint posts, so today I thought I’d include some of my favorite shades of blue. These are shades that I have personally experienced, and would definitely use again.
mantra by Sherwin-Williams
Beginning…not very strong (in saturation) mantra A beautiful, barely-there blue that complements the cool white of our millwork in the living room. We painted the walls this subtle blue because extra white We originally painted them to make them feel much cooler, and strangely, adding blue paint to the walls helped transfer the white paint on the millwork so it didn’t look so obvious. Mantra is from Sherwin-Williams’ Designer Color Collection, and it adds such a great tone that works with everything we have. Sometimes it looks light blue, sometimes robin’s egg, sometimes grey.
this blue This comes from a recent project, our farmhouse garage door, and I love how it turned out. This is one of Sherwin-Williams’ historic colors, and since we chose a garage door style that looked a little more vintage, this blue felt right. It’s soft but rich and stands out well against the white siding.
cheerful by Sherwin-Williams
I love this color And apparently it’s in my bedroom. Now, the only thing I will caution you about is that I think it’s better to be in a room with less natural light to adapt to the mood. It has lots of tones that play in different ways throughout the day, and is very relaxing at night or when it is cloudy. Now, sometimes when light hits it, the pigment pops in a way that’s jarring, which is why I think it’s best for a room with less direct natural light – a room that is meant to feel cozy (dining room, office, den, family room). I would use it again, but not in a room that has 4 windows and 4 skylights (and I would replace it right now if I could snap my fingers) Evening – A color we used in my brother’s house is incredible, he’s also on this list, and has the exact amount of blue I want while being light and still neutral).
by photo caitlin green | From here: Our Stair Carpet Runner
We painted our original (but very worn/beaten) stairs smoky blueAnd it’s really happy. It’s bright enough to feel colorful without being too bold.
As such a great blue -After painting this room I wanted it in several places. Although the trend at the moment seems to be greenish blue, this grayish blue is super timeless, not bold, and has an attitude without being risqué at all (IMHO). Also best for rooms with little natural light.
So dark and cool and definitely best for a room that has some but not too much natural light. blue Note In a really nice and loud way, almost black.
Droplets of dew by Sherwin-Williams
Soothing, light and airy, with some greenery – this super light blue Very dreamy, especially in lots of natural light. I guess in a dark room it might not read as “color”, but here it’s great against the white and wood. My friend painted her teenage son’s room this color, and he loves it. It’s not a kid, nor does it sound light-hearted, it’s just light, if that makes any sense.
Evening by Sherwin-Williams
For my brother’s laundry room, we chose EveningThe most soothing and refreshing blue tone for walls and cabinets. I would say it’s a powder blue without any “baby” feel (this is a color I really wish I could change my bedroom to).
by photo caitlin green | From right: River House color palette
If you’re looking for a nice navy, this is fantastic because it’s more complex than your typical “dark navy” that often looks one-note. rain cloud Dark and rich, then cut through enough brown so it doesn’t look too bright.
Apparently, I’ve got a type…this dark moody Blue is very nice. I’ve used it around a few times and it’s always been one of the top contenders, and now seeing it here reminds me why. What a lovely deep yet pleasant shade of moody blue.
For those willing to be more adventurous, hard blue is incredible. It’s not “bright blue,” but it definitely has a lot of solid colors that make it pop regardless of whether it’s in a well-lit room or a dark space. No matter what, it reads blue. Oh my gosh, I love this so much and I haven’t thought about it in a while, but it’s definitely one of my favorites for rooms like this that can handle a lot of colors (genie Definitely executed it perfectly).
I used Stiffkey Blue in my old primary bathroom in LA, which, by the way, I haven’t seen in a while, and I love it. I have a bunch of leftover wallpaper that I am now inspired to put up in the small hallway leading to my bedroom. This is great! Anyway, it’s like that hard blue. A solid choice, my friends, and great for smaller rooms like this, especially if only at the bottom (this could work at the top, but it might also feel a little heavy for a small bathroom.
hague blue This is one of my all-time favorites that I haven’t used in a while! It has a slight tinge of green to it, making it a super dark indigo? I also painted the exterior of The Fig House this color. Farrow & Ball is always a splurge (and color matching can be tricky because their pigmentation process is extremely sophisticated and subtle), but if you have the budget for a few special rooms, I love this color.
Towards upwards by Sherwin-Williams
Above, we painted all the doors on the landing and the kids’ room Towards upwards – Really light, almost periwinkle, happy blue. We are extremely happy with the color in the photos and in person. It’s happy and pretty, closer to pastel than what we usually see, but everyone is into it!
Now, for this non-natural-light laundry room, we chose something more saturated (compared to our well-lit room), which was the right decision because it needed more pigment to really show through (I’ve had to learn this lesson several times!). sleepy blue This is definitely more on the pastel side, thus very happy and bright. Less gray, sophisticated, more clean/fresh, and happy. I think this color would also look great in a room with good lighting, but test it out as it could be a more pastel and bold baby blue, or it could just be a bright, happy sunshine blue.
Now this color, Still water By Sherwin-Williams, it has a lot of green in it, but it still falls into the blue category for me. This color is so incredibly perfect here because it’s meant to be a dark room, so it still actually reads as dark blue/green/teal. If it were in a room with a lot of natural light, it would probably read extremely bold and TEAL (when we have the overhead lights on, it’s a little too much for me), but in cozy lamplight, it’s perfect. So yes, just make sure that if you have a really bright room, you like the boldness of the pigment. Here, it’s perfect (thank God).
aralyn fully implemented This super dark blue-gray-green. I love how the color of it soaked into the ceiling, and she paired all the art with white borders to break it up and add a lot of life.
by photo caitlin green | From Right Here: My Best Friend’s Dining Room Revealed
Mount Etna There’s far more blue than black (but not so much blue that it looks “bright”), which we were very happy with when designing my best friend’s living/dining room. We painted built-ins in both spaces this color, and it’s perfect. This deep blue color matches very well with all the other jewelry colors going on in the space, wood and leather. It’s dark, but when light hits, it has a lot of blue and green. It’s not a powerful, overly bright, saturated color – just a moody tone.
Now I didn’t choose this color (architect). William Hunter Did), and that’s great. Definitely leaning towards muted and charcoal, this french beret blue There’s a lot of brown in it, which makes it a cool, sophisticated and surprisingly moody read. We loved it personally, and it was a great addition to this dark space (doors lead to a covered patio) and made this small bedroom feel larger. Congratulations to them for doing the closet (see below) and curtains in the same color.
It’s clear that I love blue (and it’s coming back bigger than ever, although I don’t think green has ever completely overtaken it). All the colors are in the right context or home style, and I love how many of these companies are leaning toward more complex color shades that create more interesting rooms. But y’all, I can’t stress this enough, Sampleize is a game changer, and having big stickers for your top colors will help you a lot in avoiding paint color regrets.
If you’re into this color round-up, check out our other sample posts where we break down our favorite white paint colors. Let’s find out what color family we should create next. xx
Opening Image Credit: Photo by Caitlin Green
