Crazy, Unique Paint Colors that Just Work

In case you're looking to balance out the neutral tones of your furniture, take the easy and affordable route by buying a couple gallons of intensely pigmented paint. Here, green painted walls and molding serve to accentuate the pretty cream sofa. Colorful accessories bridge the gap between the neutral furnishing and the bold wall color. If you are doing a two-tone effect, pick colors from the same strip. (Talk about easy!)

The Colors: Upper wall: Julep #6746, Lower wall: Argyle #6747 -- Sherwin-Williams

Saturated colors have the unique ability to call attention to pretty architectural detailing that would otherwise go unnoticed. Instead of leaving the doors and trim painted in standard white, paint them the same color as your walls in order to keep the eye moving over the entire space as a whole -- from the baseboards and doors, all the way to the crown molding.

The Color: Down Pipe -- Farrow & Ball

The color peach may take you back a decade or two. But this application will have you rethinking your 1980s/early 1990s connotations. When paired with rich, vibrant jewel tones, metallic finishes, and a bit of deep gray, the color is instantly modernized.

The Color: Naive Peach, SW-6631 -- Sherwin-Williams

If you're stumped on a wall color, try looking around the room to find inspiration right at home. Here, the walls of a cozy eat-in area are painted a spunky mustard yellow tone, which was pulled directly from the flecks in the slate flooring. While pulling a gray from the floor color would have been the standard choice, picking up on the yellow is an unexpected take.

The Color: Savannah Moss -- Benjamin Moore

Dial up the drama with a wild shade of blue on your walls. When used in a space like your living room or bedroom, the powerful color practically begs for a little extra lounging and lingering family time.

The Color: Coat of Arms, 763 -- Benjamin Moore

Celebrate the feminine tones of your home with a pretty blush-pink wall color. Creamy mocha wainscoting and trim helps to offset the traditionally girly color, giving the room a balanced, eclectic vibe.

The Colors: Walls: Salmon Berry, 2089-50, Trim/wainscoting: Gaucho Brown, 2096-40 -- Benjamin Moore

Entryways are the perfect opportunity to make a welcoming splash with color. Since this space is largely a pass-through zone, you can get away with a vibrant hue, like this poppy pink.

The Color: Rosy Cheeks, #de5062 -- Dunn Edwards

If you aren't afraid of color, give this feature-wall design trick a try. Here, a pop of pure yellow adds wow factor to the living space and is the perfect backdrop for a neutral white sofa topped with more hits of bold color.

The Color: Bicycle Yellow, IB72 -- Ralph Lauren

It's a widely held belief that dark colors make small spaces feel even tinier. But deep, dark colors actually have the power to add the illusion of space. Here, a pint-size bathroom feels cozy and a little more spacious thanks to ebony walls.

The Color: Urbane Bronze, SW7048 -- Sherwin-Williams

Deep shades of vino-inspired purples do well on the walls of more formal spaces, so choose their placement wisely. By adding dark purple to a dining room, the color has a way of inviting a second helping of dessert and conversation that lasts long into the night.

The Color: Bottle of Bordeaux, 1357 -- Benjamin Moore

A super-saturated shade of yellow is a surefire way to infuse warmth into a space. Put it to work warming up cool tones in your home, as seen here alongside shades of kelly green and aqua blue.

The Color: Strands of Gold, B24-5 -- Ace Hardware

Note: Colors vary by screen. Consult paint-color chips for actual color.

Take your love for extreme colors right out the front door and give your home modern curb appeal with a color like this sassy lime green. By taking a cue from the bright green lawn, the color feels both intentional and welcoming to visitors and passersby.

The Color: Sassy Green -- Valspar

Embrace a love of purple by painting your walls a punchy lavender hue (or just one accent wall). By choosing a few other coordinating colors to accent the purple -- such as the coral, white, and gray seen here -- the color feels youthful rather than overpowering.

The Color: Lavish Lavender, SW6975 -- Sherwin-Williams

Ease into extreme colors by looking up and focusing your attention on a usually unnoticed surface: the ceiling. This understated and elegant living room is given a modern edge just by adding a rich green color to the ceiling.

The Color: Medieval Times, 530 -- Benjamin Moore

Sticking with analogous colors is a smart strategy when going bold on your walls. Here, various blues and greens -- from the daring jade green walls to the bright blue poufs -- bring cohesion to a vibrantly styled space.

The Color: Lime Green -- Ralph Lauren

When it comes to children’s rooms, asking them for their personal input on wall colors could be asking for trouble. Instead, have them choose their favorite color and paint the ceiling with the eccentric hue. You get your white walls, and they get to see their go-to shade of bubblegum pink while playing on the floor or lying in bed.

The Color: Ceiling: Springtime Bloom -- Benjamin Moore

Unusual colors are easy to accept when used on pieces of furniture rather than entire lengths of drywall or plaster. Here, an unassuming armoire is given magnificent character just by painting it a rich emerald color and by adding a few thoughtfully placed gold details.

The Color: Derbyshire, SW6741 -- Sherwin-Williams

Thankfully, when it comes to paint, there are no hard and fast rules for how to use it. This is one medium that you can get creative with, so don’t be afraid to switch things up in the kitchen. For example, instead of white cabinets and blue walls, try painting your cabinets blue and your walls white.

The Color: Stone Blue, No. 86 -- Farrow & Ball

With color, you have the power to set and establish any sort of feeling in your home. Make the most of that control by being intentional with your placement -- take dark, moody colors into the bedrooms in your house and lively hues into your everyday living spaces. You can keep dark colors from becoming dismal by incorporating plenty of white and wood finishes.

The Color: Wrought Iron, Martha Stewart -- Home Depot

The color red is said to invigorate and enliven activity, so give your utilitarian spaces a jolt of energy with a bright red wall color. Here, accents of that bold fire engine hue alongside equally red walls create an intensity in the space that few other colors can match.

The Color: Fireworks, SW6867 -- Sherwin-Williams

Shades of purple and gold naturally bring to mind an air of sophistication. So if drama is what you're after, power full steam ahead by painting your space top to bottom (think: trim, built-ins, and walls) in a rich purple hue and then accent the rest of the room with gold details. Keeping the color palette simple ensures the room doesn't become too busy.

The Color: Brinjal, 222 -- Farrow & Ball

A bold color on the walls can instantly change the feeling and tone of a space. Just try imagining this room if it had white walls. Instead, the rich red color succeeds in balancing the airy blue and white accents, plus it bridges the gap between a series of different wood tones.

The Color: Red Bay, SW6321 -- Sherwin-Williams

Even traditionally minded decor can benefit from a jolt of unexpected wall color. Here, a bright spice orange infuses a classic living room with energy. The color is used in small doses throughout the room so the wall color doesn't appear as an afterthought.

The Color: Bryce Canyon -- Benjamin Moore

Although white has the undeniable power to bring freshness and expansive properties to any space, it also tends to feel a little clinical. Balance the austerity with an equally appealing accent shade, like the citron-green paint color on this kitchen island.

The Color: Split Pea -- Benjamin Moore