Living Room Color Schemes
A color scheme can set the tone for your living room. Get inspired by these color combinations to find a fresh look for your own living room.
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Kelly Green + Brick Red + Earthy Browns
A fearless combination of colors and design styles gives this family-friendly living room its edge. The Moroccan-inspired diamond print of the pillows on the window seats and the green chair serves as the jumping-off point for the room’s color scheme, guiding the selection of the other pillows, curtains, and the accent furniture, such as the tables and pouf. The exotic colors stand in juxtaposition to the room’s traditional coffered ceiling and rustic stacked-stone fireplace, proving that mixing and matching styles can be done.
Peachy Yellow + Chartreuse + Oatmeal
The right color scheme can give traditional style a fresh update. Drawing on a foundation of traditional elements, such as white trim and beaded board, classic furniture shapes, and antique accents, an infusion of color gives this living room its own persona. The muted peachy yellow is a fail-proof alternative to basic beige. Repeating an accent color, in this case chartreuse, throughout a space delivers continuity. A consistent use of oatmeal white, on the sofa, rug, and dining room chairs, also provides a sturdy base for the room.
Wisteria Purple + Linen Beige + Cloud White
Although this living room is mostly neutral, the exact shades selected for the space bear a certain colorful quality. A hint of wisteria purple on the fuzzy pouf and the throw pillows guided the choice of cooler neutrals on the gray built-in cabinets and brown armchairs and clean white on the walls and trimwork. The linen beige color on the sofa, coffee table top and mirror frame warm up the living room, as do the wicker baskets and leather-bound books.
Learn how to choose the perfect paint color for your living room with these tips.
Citron Green + Wheat Beige + Driftwood Brown
Almost any time green leans more yellow than blue, it has more zing. The pastel citron green on this living room’s walls and fabrics is countered by rustic browns, a light hue on the sofa, and the textural browns of the coffee table and rug to give the space a comfortable yet peppy vibe. Sleeker furniture and doses of gray would have taken the citron from casual to chic.
Cerulean Blue + Mustard Yellow + Khaki Beige
Taking a risk with color is a big step, but the payoff can be incredible. Balancing a bold color with neutrals and repeating the color are two keys to success. In this living room, a vivid cerulean blue colors the walls, and similar hues appear in the artwork, upholstery, and area rug, to carry the color through the space. A mid-tone khaki on the side table and sofa temper the blue, and mustard yellow accents provide further contrast.
Kelly Green + Saffron Yellow + Steel Gray + Bleached Beige
Combine sophisticated tastes with everyday sensibilities by using easy neutrals alongside colors with flair in your living room. In this space, a comfortable steel gray sofa and a beige rug underfoot lay a family-friendly foundation. A color combination of Kelly green and saffron yellow adds an uptown feel, as do chic pattern and lacquered accents. Textured wallpaper in a variegated bleached wood tone creates a neutral yet interesting backdrop for the room’s colors and patterns.
Soft Ecru + Avocado Green + Deep Cerulean
Create a dynamic look by pairing a distinct style with colors that aren’t ordinarily associated with it. In this living room, midcentury modern furniture is paired with a simple khaki beige and a rich cerulean blue. The avocado green sofa pays homage to the furniture’s era of origin but looks completely 21st century, thanks to its surroundings.
Chocolate Brown + Dark Mint + Cotton White
Rooms flooded with natural light can take on dark walls without becoming cavelike. To offset a rich tone, incorporate blocks of other color, such a sofa and chairs in solid colors. Introduce patterns that tie the room's colors together. In this living room, chocolate brown walls envelop the space, and a linen white sofa and a dark mint green chair provide the contrasting blocks of color, while the rug and the artwork synchronize the room into one harmonious space.
Ocean Blue + Cottage White + Lacquer Black
Use color for other purposes than for visual interest. In this living room, ocean blue paint along the top of the wall plays up the room’s architecture, from the beamed ceiling to the trimwork and fireplace wall. Accessories throughout the living room carry the color. While the white carries the cottage vibe intended for the space, the unexpected comes by way of black accents on a singular throw pillow and two framed prints. Adding a hint of something a little different will give a space its own personal look.
Blush Pink + Gray Green + Cheeky Magenta
A living room enraptured by blush pink is destined to be a feminine, show-stopping space, especially when it is supported by classic touches and elegant accessories. Incorporating both white and cream will play up the gorgeous characteristics of pink -- all white would make the color come off as childish, and all cream would muddle the color. In this living room, balance is achieved with white trim and doors and cream upholstery. The right accent colors will also help you pull off blush pink. Here, a stately gray-green on the drapes and mirror frame and magenta accents do the trick.
Golden Wheat + Country Blue + Clean White
When classic colors are applied to a decidedly modern aesthetic, the result is striking. In this living room, golden wheat beige colors the sofa, drapes, and walls for a monochromatic background, while country blue pillows add pep. Paired with the clean lines and modern silhouettes of the furniture, the colors come off as chic, not country.
Lakeside Lavender + Tidal Blue + Fern Green
Soft colors, when banded together, produce a strong style statement. In this living room, an is-it-purple-or-blue wall color changes, depending on the light, giving the room an ethereal glow. The blue properties of the wall color are picked up in the drapes, upholstery, and accent pillows and are complemented by soft green. As shown in this room, hints of colors outside the color scheme will give a space a collected look. All the colors swirl together, recalling a lakeside at sunset.
Citron Green + Brick Red
Red and green form one of the complementary color pairings on the color wheel, which means they are an eye-pleasing duo. This living room proves that the color scheme can be pulled off without looking Christmas-y. A citron green hue wakes up the walls, and brick red colors the room's accessories. Using gray as a neutral would have created a more sophisticated look, but a sandy beige was used instead to set a casual tone within the vibrant space.
Barely Gray + Golden Khaki + Smokey Black
Give neutrals presence by applying them in a mix of patterns. Using one pattern that includes every color in your scheme will create a polished look. In this living room, the medallion and scroll pattern on the sofa serves as a jumping-off point for the khaki trellis pattern on the chairs and the large-scale espresso brown geometric rug, as well as the color for the beaded-board walls. Even the black scroll in the background of the fabric is played up by glossy black trim and garden stools.
Gingham Red + Pure White + Sky Blue-Gray
Red, white, and blue is a perennial favorite for cottage living rooms. Giving the beloved color scheme a slight twist will keep it fresh and current. Sky-blue-tinted gray blankets this living room as a cool counterpoint to the cottage style. Doses of true white, here on the trim, curtains, and fireplace surround, and bright red and blue pillows fall in step with cottage style to maintain a perfect balance of trends and timelessness.
Coral Orange + Uptown Aqua + Milk Chocolate
Traditional style relies on a refined composition and classic styling. Have fun with this graceful look in a living room by layering in a punchy color scheme. With a foundation of timeless neutrals, a complementary color scheme of coral orange and aqua blue brings this living room to life. Hints of chocolate brown recall the coloring of the wood floor, tables and chair frames. Limit a traditional color palette to a few neutrals and two colors to maintain a formal air.
Cloudy Blue + Garden Soil Brown + Bluegrass Green
Combining two styles you love can often be done by way of a color scheme. In this living room, an earthy palette is given a sophisticated makeover, thanks to the specific colors chosen. The green curtains and garden stool and the blue wall color are cooler in tone, a more refined approach to earthy colors of sky blue and grass green. A brown sofa directly resembles the color of rich soil and is repeated in the armchair upholstery’s stripe.
Terra Cotta Brown + Preppy Green + Coral Pink
If you love the look of old-fashioned parlors, but crave modern color, marry the two into a unique look. In this living room, bold brown walls bear a slightly reddish tint, a color that relates the rest of the space to the pink sofa. Preppy green paired with pink also recalls a bygone era of 1950s ladies’ luncheons. Graceful touches, such as the chintz patterned rug and velvet upholstery, will carry the look of a parlor from yesterday.
Clear Sky Blue + Lemony Green + Maplewood
Bring your living room to life with exuberant colors. Start your scheme with one or two main colors, then add in more hues via accessories and fabrics. In this cheery living room, a blue sofa and green chair are the mainstays, along with a maple finish on the wood furniture. From this foundation, almost anything will go. This space gets its unique character from patterned curtains and a rug, both of which carry the furniture’s colors.
Light Peridot Green + Dusty Amethyst + Brushed Onyx
Color can transform a blank-slate living room into a space filled with personality. Starting with a light peridot green that colors the walls, area rug, and pillow, this room is brought to life with tones reminiscent of precious stones. Amethyst is toned down into a soft, dusty purple and applied to accents peppered throughout the room. A black fireplace surround is reflected in the onyx tone of the velvety upholstered chairs. While these jewel tones are not as vivid, they still carry a graceful elegance.
Nickel Gray + Gold Yellow
Use neutrals inspired by metallics to create a chic look that’s not overpowering. In this living room, nickel gray walls envelop the space, and gold yellow patterns the window treatments. Bringing the colors of your walls and window treatments into the rest of the space is a smart step in good decor. Here, the gray pops up on the upholstery, and the golden color appears in variations on the rug and the side table between the chairs.
Indigo Blue + Preppy Green + Summer White
Recall the look of a yacht club with preppy colors set against a background of summer whites. In this cozy living room, indigo blue pairs with a yellow-green. Avoiding any nautical motifs creates the vibe of a seaside location without overdoing a theme. Sticking to two accent colors means you can switch out one later and keep the other in place for an easy decorating update.
