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Picking a color scheme for the living room is often more complicated than you might first think. If you have an open floor plan, your living room adjoins your kitchen and other spaces. The colors you choose impact the entire space and by extension the rest of the house.
Choose the right colors for the living room and it sets the stage for great design for the entire space. Here’s a few tips for living room color scheme success.
Warm
2023 is all about warmth. We all crave the warmth and coziness of a home that’s less about minimalism and more comfortable and inviting. Softer furniture, touchable textures, gathering places, and fireplaces are in demand now. Another way to achieve some warmth is with your color scheme.
Warm colors are on trend and make a great foundation for the living room color scheme. They can range from neutrals like gray and beige to something more colorful like pastels. Browns are an excellent choice for a warm palette and they blend well with most other colors.
Just about any color can be made warm. Any color with some yellow or orange added has a glow that’s perfect for the warm color scheme. Blush, reds, or terra cottas are favorites of the moment that bring some color in a soft shade that invites warmth.
In fact, color giant, Pantone chose Viva Magenta as the color of the year in 2023. This bold pink-red is described as "an unconventional shade for an unconventional time." Indeed it is.
Neutral
A neutral color palette is always on trend and perfect for a living room that blends into an open floor plan. Neutrals create a clean palette to work from so you can add color and pattern in the furnishings and accents. This makes it much easier to change things up should you want to do a little refresh.
Gray continues to be a favorite neutral color. Beige is another, warmer choice that always works. Don’t forget to consider less obvious neutrals like soft greens and blues, even an understated blush can work as a neutral.
Sherwin-Williams named a blushed beige, Redend Point as their color of the year. It's solidly a neutral but with a hint of blush that makes it special.
Green
For many trendsetters in color, green is the color of the year in 2023. In fact, Krylon named Spanish Moss as its color of the year in 2023. This deep green functions like a dark neutral as it blends well with everything.
Another paint company, Glidden (Paint by PPG) leaned into Vining Ivy, a blue green that you'll see everywhere this year and probably in years to come. It's the perfect backdrop with a warm feel that is attention-getting but blends into the design seamlessly.
White
White is always a good bet. It’s a blank canvas that you can dress up any way you like. It also makes a great accent color or stands in contrast to darker colors. There should be some form of white in every living room color scheme.
Speaking of blank canvases, Paint company Behr dubbed Blank Canvas as their color of the year. It's a clean, warmer white that invites you to personalize your space.
In 2023, pure, stark white has fallen by the wayside in favor of warmer whites like ivory, cream, and winter white. These beautiful colors do many of the same things as a pure white, just be careful to look out for the undertones. Most undertones are either yellow, blue, or gray. Warmer whites tend to have yellow and brown as undertones. Be sure the other colors you choose harmonize with those undertones.
Gray
Gray has been the color of the last decade. It defined kitchens, living rooms, bathrooms, the whole house. It worked as a primary color in some schemes and as an accent color in others. It was on the floors, ceilings, cabinets, and throw pillows. Though warmer colors are coming into favor in 2023, that doesn’t mean gray is going anywhere anytime soon.
Turn your attention to greige, a blend of beige and gray. Greige is an excellent color to set in the center of your living room color scheme, especially if you choose the greens and blushes that are so popular this year.
Earthy
With focus shifting in 2023 into warmer color schemes, it has also meant the return to more earthy colors. Brown is coming back in all its coziness in various shades from beige to deep chocolate. Earthy reds are especially hot right now.
For instance, Dunn-Edwards named Terra Rosa as their color of the year. It's a soft, earth pink blended with beige reminiscent of a pinker terra cotta. Additionally, soft pinks, oranges, and blues that mirror the sunset are also a go in 2023. Take Benjamin Moore's Raspberry Blush as your guide for the perfect sunset color.
Naturally soft, earth tones are inviting and comfortable, the perfect aesthetic for a cozy living room color scheme.
Choose the right living room color scheme for your space with the warmer, softer colors on trend in 2023. These beautiful colors will create the right environment for your living room that is versatile enough for an open floor plan color scheme.
