Choosing the right bedroom colors for you!
09/09/2008 09:07 AM by Gretchen Schauffler
Choosing the right bedroom colors for you should be as pleasurable as designing an amazing meal, full of exciting, complimentary flavors. Bedroom color should be like the filet mignon you treat yourself to, not the energy bar that keeps you going when you’re running from appointment to appointment. Simply pick a color that you love, because it is going to be the last color you look at before you fall asleep and the first color you see when you open your eyes in the morning. One easy way to begin the quest to choose your perfect bedroom shade is to start with a color of the rainbow—red, yellow, pink, blue, purple, orange or green—then decide if you want a morning, afternoon or evening version of the color. Lighting can change, bedding can change, but do consider the color of the wood in floors or bedroom sets. If your bedroom furniture is dark wood and you love it, try painting your walls a lighter or brighter contrasting color to feature the wood.
Then again many of us may not like our bedroom furniture or the dark wood trim and we are stuck with it. Now trust me on this, if you don’t like the wood that much then camouflage it with a richer, darker color on the walls that blends with the furniture or trim. DO NOT be afraid—beauty comes in all colors. For example, dark wood with red undertones would look tres chic with dark purple or red walls (think Devine Bordeaux™, Dusk, or devinegreen™ Chameleon). Rich greens, or dark chocolates like Devine Cocoa™ or Truffle can do the trick. Yes it will be dark, but then get a light colored comforter, bright pillows, a better lamp. Take the focus away from the furniture you want to get rid of but can’t. If you dare, paint the ceiling the same to make it a cozy womb of color you want to curl up in. If not, DO NOT LEAVE IT WHITE. It will look like a white hat on a burgundy suit, a white sheet over a green lawn. Paint the ceiling a smoky neutral in the same hue. For example, if you paint the walls Devine Tempest™, try Devine Bavarian™ on the ceiling. With lighter woods, be very careful you don’t end up washing out the room into nothingness. Create harmony, not monotony, with similar shades on either the lighter or darker side of the scale, but not the same as the wood. For contrast make sure you don’t over do it. Light wood accessories with a super-duper dark color on the walls makes the furniture look cartoonish.
Now, I know that most people do not think about this, but paint sheens on walls make a HUGE difference on how a color looks! Think of walls being the LARGEST SURFACE IN YOUR DECOR because they are. So here is why the sheens matter. Devine Powder Finish™ and other mattes on the market have little to no sheen. Think of it as absorbing light and making a color darker. Eggshells—I hate that name, so I named our version *Delicate Wall Finish™—makes color lighter because of their small levels of reflection. Higher glosses, like our Devine Luscious™ and our new Devine Smooth Gloss™ (coming out this winter) makes light bounce off the color, and therefore features the color prominently. That is why it is good for accenting trim, and cabinets. I personally love our Delicate Wall Finish™ for bedrooms. I love how the light diffuses over the walls at night and looks like the color is illuminated from within. Our paint sheens mimic fabric. They have an evenness to their level of reflection that you’ll love.
So whatever your fancy: Make it a dark pink that makes that makes you happy, a cool blue that makes you relaxed, or an electric green that makes you energized and ready to face the day’s challenges. What ever the color, consider spicing up your bedroom, and let me know what you come up with!
Read How to Use Devine Color Finger-Daubed Paint Palettes To Choose All Your Colors
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My bedroom with vaulted ceiling has trim and doors made with very light wood (hemlock/clear finish), and maple colonial furniture with a medium stain. So there are 2 types of wood to work with. I am considering something very dark, a chocolate or an eggplant perhaps, for the walls or at least one accent wall. I have your trendproof color palette and soon will work on selection as it has been white for 8 years. If I go dark with the paint, then the furniture will hide and the trim will pop, and if I go light with the paint then the furniture will pop and the trim may hide, correct? Any advice welcome. Windows are south facing. Muchas gracias, I am very excited to finally paint my house with color.
— Melinda 03/04/2009 09:49 PM #
Melinda:
You are CORRECT! There are many colors that will be rich and beautiful with your woods! Think of the wood colors as numbers 1 is the lightest and 10 the darkest. When you look at our paint colors, put a number to them as well and see how many combinations you can make!
— gretchen Schauffler 03/05/2009 09:34 AM #
hi! i’m wondering if ever we will be able to make our own color combo pallette on the website! i often want to see what 4 or 5 of my choices look like together but have to drive to the burbs to see the large chips :) would love to see that as an added feature on this fabulous website!
i have a small home and especially am struggling to find a bedroom color to work with the spice and neutral (changing from muslin to pecan or something else) in the dining and living room. I have fairly dark wood that has orange/yellows in it, and a lighter finished hardwood…thoughts? are reds horrible in the bedroom? i’m hoping to use the same neutral as in the living room, and then the accent wall will be seen…and you can look in the other direction and see the spice as well… :) or do i just stick with neutrals? i feel like greens and blues aren’t working, and hear that yellow is not for a bedroom!
thanks for any suggestions :) i love reading the articles on this site…
— Jen 08/03/2009 01:52 PM #
Jen:
Great idea on the website. The reason we have already put together Combos is that computer screens are all different and give different color outputs. A combination you may put together “virtually” that looks perfect on your office computer screen may look totally different in your home computer screen and again different when you audition the paint colors at home. That is why we are careful to choose combinations we know look pretty good on screen but are confident that when you test the paint colors at home they look perfect with each other and the similar fabrics we showcase.
Glad you are reading the articles and Devine Pecan and Spice are perfect with each other. Yes, you can have in your bedroom yellow, red, and any colors in the rainbow. It’s all about what you love and makes you feel like everything is so perfect you hear it sing every time you see it. The question is which colors can do that in YOUR SPECIFIC BEDROOM…not someone else’s in your SPECIFIC HOME :)! With Devine Pecan and Spice have you tried Devine Roast, Moss, Macadamia, Bordeaux, Peanut, or Cactus, or Buffalo? BUT…..have you tried to do our Process?
You may think that the small daubs in our Color Collection Palettes are not as good as larger samples but trust me, they work like magic. Our larger Color Pages and Mini Paint Pouches confirm your choices once you have connected a palette together but they don’t let you see the whole picture like our Color Collection Palettes do. Think of it this way: using the Pages or Pouches first is like going to a store and seeing only a few items at a time--really up close. Now with the Trend-Proof Color Collection, you are able to see an overview of all the items(colors), take the items(colors) home with you, and understand how all the pieces fit with the items(colors) you already have at home. Each Trend-Proof page has colors in a sequence that let your eyes immediately sift through and detect the colors that make your things perfect and ignore the ones that don’t. See what you think of my color suggestions, but if you get the Trend-Proof Collection and follow our Imagine The Possibilities Process with our Trend-Proof Collection, see what possibilities you end up with and I can help you narrow down your choices…:)
— Gretchen Schauffler 08/04/2009 10:09 AM #
Thanks! I had actually just picked out some colors before i read your response – spice and pecan in the main rooms, then pecan and roast in the bedroom – with piping and teak (or ale) and cocoa accents…or spice and sumatra living space and sumatra and ginger! in the bedroom – similar accents!
Now i’m excited to get started! My couch that comes in next week will help me decide which pallette! and yes, i use samples :) already have them for this scheme…
thanks :) i love love this decorating and reading and learning about paints and color – thanks for making it simple!
— Jen 08/04/2009 12:36 PM #
My entire condo is painted in Devine Paints. The colors I have used are Medallion, Roast, Toucan and Persian. Everyone always comments on the color choices I have made. Now I have the bedroom left and want to make the same impact here. I have my dream bedding (Black and White paisley accented with black and white ticking and solid white). The bed is a gunmetal grey and the dresser is white with gunmetal grey hardware. I need advice for the wall and ceiling color. The carpet is a standard dk brown. I want the focal point to be on the bed but don’t want to end up with boring walls. Your suggestions would be so appreciated. Thank you,
Donna
— Donna 09/22/2009 10:45 AM #
i painted y sons room a dark bright blue for the reason so it wouldnt get dirty so easy now i need help in finding out what colors can i use for the curtain and bed sets
— shinsky 10/31/2009 12:53 PM #
Shinsky:
Dark Blue is the new Neutral, lol! It does go with everything from tan & red stripes, to lime green & black. I suggest you take the color shopping with you. With so many cool bedding choices, here is one I think is peachy-keen: BB&B
— Gretchen Schauffler 11/01/2009 12:07 PM #
Hi my boyfriend and i have just bought our first home and i’ve gone wild with your paint and have been painting everything not just the walls! the only problem i’ve found is that im having a very hard time picking a color for our master bedroom it gets good light and i am drawn to dark warm colors even in smaller rooms i just feel like they make my house more cosy and homey which is what i want. we have a big closet and beautiful french doors all the trim is similar in color to whip so almost anything could go with the trim. so far i’ve done cocoa in the entry which is small but now looks huge and very tall and impala in the living room which is carried into the dining room, hazelnut in the kitchen, i also have ginger on a small wall in the living room and impala is carried down the hall. i have already painted our master bath in the olive but i can’t for the life of me figure out what for the bedroom itself. i’m drawn to greens mostly but already have green throughout the house and 2 browns i’m not a big fan of golds so i’m very confused at anything else. i want to be able to accent with browns and reds but still keep a warm earthy bedroom. any suggestions i’ve been pulling my hair out for about 3 weeks now. Thanks so much.
— Alicia 12/02/2009 06:27 PM #
Alicia:
You are in the middle of following the paint trail you started. Lets see if I can follow it and give you more directions. Devine Cocoa, Impala, Olive, and Ginger sounds fantastic. That is a personal collection that tells a story about you.
See which option makes you want to turn down that road:
Devine Cocoa, Impala, Olive, Ginger, Roast, Cabernet, Clover.
Devine Cocoa, Impala, Olive, Ginger, Buffalo, Denim, Penguin.
Devine Cocoa, Impala, Olive, Ginger, Hazelnut, Macadamia, Shell.
I look forward to hearing about the trip!
— Gretchen Schauffler 12/03/2009 08:49 AM #
Help! I need advice painting my tiny “master” bedroom. Saving grace is a glass sliding door out to a deck and nice woodland yard. Lots of trim (1924 Portland bungalow) I just painted a warm white. My headboard is slipcovered (one white and one champagne), nightstand white and vanity white. Carpet is oatmeal. The previous wall color was dark blue but I wanted to warm up the room. I have a variety of duvet covers that I would like to use (coral pink, blue & white, white, and three in a wheaty, gold apricot range from a previous bedroom). I just painted the room taupe and it turns out to have a purple undertone that I don’t like at all (not your paint). Also, the taupe doesn’t work with ANY of my duvet covers. Please help me!!! (Is there somewhere that I can attach photos?)
— Pam 01/30/2010 03:33 PM #
Pam:
Sounds to me like you need to coordinate (not match) not only one color, but everything in the room. To insure this please get the Trend-Proof Collection and follow our PROCESS ASAP. I tell people all the time we have a philosophy that arms you with the information you need to take amazing & fantastic risks with color that turn out beautiful every time. Give our paint a try! It will deliver exactly what you want…promise! But first you have to promise me to get the perfect color collections (haha OURS) that will make a difference, not only this time, but every time you get the fancy to paint or help someone else with their paint dilemmas! We have so many colors that can rock that room, once you narrow down the choices after the process, because you fell in love with certain colors, not because you wanted to be safe, I can help you narrow down your decisions!
— Gretchen Schauffler 02/01/2010 12:04 PM #