Warm up your winter with wall color! Winter is a great time for interior paint projects, and cheery colors like red, yellow, and orange will make you feel warm even when it’s cold outside. Warm colors are great for rooms where there’s lots of activity, like kitchens, kids’ playrooms, or home gyms, but you can use them anywhere you’d like to add energy.
Warm vs. Cool Colors
Warm colors are typically red, orange, and yellow, while cool colors are blue, green and purple. However, any color can be warm or cool depending on its bias, or undertone. The easiest way to tell warm from cool is to think about how a color makes you feel. If the color is calm and soothing, it’s cool. If it energizes you, or reminds you of fire or the sun, then it’s warm.
Using Warm Colors In Your Home
Some people are hesitant to use warm colors, but if you take the leap, they can really add a lot of personality to a room! Consider these ideas:
Create an accent wall. Paint three walls of a room a more neutral color, like sand, then paint the fourth wall a bold orange or sunny yellow to make it pop. Use the accent wall to display art or create a family photo gallery.
Make your kitchen island stand out by painting the walls a creamy white and the island a warm blue.
Give your den or any room with wainscoting a luxe look by painting the wainscoting and crown molding the same color and applying a different paint color to the walls. Try a tan-brown taupe for wainscoting and trim and an olive for the walls.
Paint a bedroom a monochromatic color, like a dark charcoal, then use a warm white for your bedding, lampshades, and other accents.
Even if you have a room full of dark wood, such as built in bookshelves and flooring, you can still paint your walls a warm hue. Use a warm green, a beige, or even eggplant.
Showcase specials ceilings made with beadboard or shiplap by painting them a completely different color than the rest of the room. You can stick with a traditional off-white with different colored walls, or go big with light grey walls and a bold orange color for the ceiling!
For a dramatic entryway, paint with a clay red, or give it a classic, elegant look with black walls and white trim.
Get more warm color inspiration for your rooms at The Spruce or Veranda.
Still can't decide which warm colors are right for your rooms? Give us a call for a free consultation. Our experts can recommend the perfect colors for your home, and we'll make sure the job's done right. Plus, you can get up to 20% off interior painting now through March 31, 2021! Call us today for more details.