Get classic, timeless inspiration for living room paint colors for your home. We’re looking at 2022 and beyond, with the perfect living room colors that will create the warm and cozy home you crave.

This round-up includes 12 of my favorite interior paint colors for living rooms. You’ll find classic whites, creams and greige tones. And of course, there are even shades of blues, greens and grays here too, in case you’re looking for richer, deeper color!

A neutral living room paint color on the walls of a soft neutral living room
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I know it’s not the same for everyone, but paint is one of my favorite subjects. In fact, I think it’s a huge step towards creating the warm and cozy home of your dreams, and it’s fun to discuss all the nuances!

That’s why I’ve been hard at work creating complete paint guides to help you make decisions, every step of the way.

Find incredible round ups of our favorite Warm WhitesGreige Paint, Blue Gray Colors, and Romantic Bedroom Colors. There’s a paint guide for everyone around here!

As we all know, choosing a paint color is easier said than done. It’s complicated… and while it’s affordable in comparison to other changes you might make, you want to get it right the first time!

Learn from our mistakes and get all the ins and outs of the best paint colors, without all the effort! You’re sure to find the living room paint color of your dreams with all this inspiration.

Use the drop down table of contents menu to navigate this post with ease.

A neutral living room paint color on the walls of a soft neutral living room

Living Room Paint Colors

If you’ve been following along for long, you’ll know that soft, warm neutrals are the colors we gravitate towards for both of our homes. It’s just what makes us feel good!

However, that doesn’t mean we don’t have plenty of fun with color sometimes! Be sure to read through both the Paint Color category and the Paint Tips and Tutorials here on the blog to get more inspiration.

First, a few of my favorite tips and a little Q+A session about living room paint colors.

Tips

  • Paint colors darken as they dry.
  • In fact, look at your paint samples on different walls, and throughout the day before deciding.
  • Learn about Light Reflectance Value in my comprehensive guide: What is LRV?
  • Samples – Pay attention to the LRV number on each sample, because as you try different shades, you’ll begin to recognize a pattern in the colors that feel good in your home.
  • White has a high light reflective value, picking up surrounding colors. Always keep light sources in mind, as this can change the way the color feels.
A graphic from julieblanner.com titled "the best living room paint colors"

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the living room colors for 2022?

Currently, the most popular color searches around here are for shades of greige, cream and warm whites!

What colors brighten a living room?

Choose a light and bright color with a high LRV. In fact, you should consider a warm white paint color or a shade of cream if you’re trying to brighten any room of your home.

Are gray walls still in style for 2022?

While gray has been in style for a long time, it is starting to trend downward for interior walls. Consider a color with a little more warmth for 2022 and beyond!

A white living room with the perfect cream living room paint color on the walls

White and Cream Living Room Colors

For the ultimate neutral backdrop in your living room, choose one of my favorite warm white or cream paint colors.

Why do I love a soft, light wall color? It allows me to change the accent colors and styling in this room at a moment’s notice! All I need is a quick pillow cover change and it updates the entire feel of this space.

You might not believe this, but our lake living room has been painted several different shades of white and cream over the years. I wanted to get it just right, and it took me a while.

Finally, as you can see below, we have landed on Simply White – and it’s perfection in this home! However, paint is different for everyone, so here are a few of my favorite shades of whites and creams.

Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee

If you’re looking for a sophisticated, warm off white color, Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee might be the one for you!

Swiss Coffee paint color has an LRV of 83.93, which is considered high. Shea McGee of Studio McGee fame uses this color at 75% saturation, as you can see in the Swiss Coffee post link.

Below, you can see it freshly painted in our newly renovated basement. I can’t wait to style out this basement living room and show you more!

A freshly painted basement with LRV floors and Benjamin Moore Swiss Coffee paint color on the walls

Sherwin Williams Zurich White

Zurich White a little creamy, a touch greige, and it might just be the perfect soft neutral color for your home! In fact, I think this is a color that works almost anywhere!

We used it in our neutral living room seen in this post (click through to see more). It’s warm, soft and comes in at an LRV of 76, making this a soft, creamy neutral color that isn’t nearly as bright as many whites on the market.

A neutral living room paint color on the walls of a soft neutral living room

Benjamin Moore Simply White

Benjamin Moore Simply White OC-117 is a warm, bright (barely) off-white color you’re going to love. With just the slightest hint of yellow in the background, it’s the perfect creamy white.

In fact, the LRV for Benjamin Moore Simply White is 91.7, which is considered very high. It’s the lightest and brightest color on this list, and it is sure to brighten your living room, too! Read more about our Coffee Table Decor picture below.

A white living room with the perfect cream living room paint color on the walls

Benjamin Moore Cloud White

Cloud White is a classic, timeless color that has been popular for many years. Come see the color in our home with lights on and off to show the nuances, along with images of other homes that feature this gorgeous color!

An LRV of 85 means that Cloud White is definitely a light and bright color, but not as bright as Simply White, above. That means it will help bounce plenty of light around a room. 

Gray, Blue and Green Living Room Colors

Looking for a rich, vibrant blue or green color that will enhance your living room walls? Then you’re going to want to check out these beautiful options.

If you’re intimidated to take one of these darker colors all throughout a room, try a feature wall or perhaps painting the bottom or top half over board and batten.

Benjamin Moore Hale Navy

If you’ve been looking for the perfect navy blue, look no further! Benjamin Moore Hale Navy paint color (HC-154) is a true navy that plays nicely with any color combination or design style. Truly, this color is a designer’s dream!

Hale Navy falls firmly in the dark color family with a low LRV of 8. Now, you all know that I love soft, neutral paint colors. I love how they make our home feel light and airy. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t love an occasional saturated color like Hale Navy.

Benjamin Moore Smoke

Benjamin Moore Smoke is the prettiest soft blue gray paint color. It’s a spectacular cool blue tone that reflects outdoor elements like sky and water, and helps lighten and brighten any space.

We used it in a pretty little garage mudroom space at our lake cottage. But I can absolutely see this color working in a living room too – it has just enough gray to read a little more neutral. Benjamin Moore Smoke has a mid level LRV of 56.49.

garage mudroom with art coats and boots

Sherwin Williams Evergreen Fog

I’m using this color very soon and I can’t wait to show you where! It’s been on my short list for a while, and with good reason. It’s so soothing and yet subtle.

Recently chosen as Sherwin Williams’ Color of the Year for 2022, this is a fresh and fabulous gray green that is both moody and timeless. SW 9130 has an LRV of 30, making it quite dark.

When choosing a darker color for your living room, consider a feature wall, or using it on a wall treatment like picture frame molding or board and batten.

Benjamin Moore Silver Gray

Next, consider this pretty shade! This is a cool blue gray color that reads differently in various lighting situations. As you can see, we just used this color on the Dutch door of our lake cottage, and it feels like the perfect coastal blue!

A little blue, a little gray, and a little green… this hue has you covered! With an LRV of 60, this is a significant color that falls right in the middle of the LRV scale.

A door into a living room painted in a blue gray paint color

Beige and Greige Living Room Colors

Finally, the classic, timeless shades of beige and greige. These colors are warm and neutral. They offer deeper tones than a white or cream, but they don’t feel like quite as much of a commitment as a more bold color.

In fact, while beige used to be considered boring, it’s actually making a comeback. Indeed, these aren’t your grandmother’s eighties beiges!

Sherwin Williams Accessible Beige

Take a photo tour of this paint color used in more than one real home! You’ll see it in a variety of lighting situations, used on walls, trim and more. It’s no wonder this is one of the most popular paint colors right now!

It has a lower LRV (light reflective value) of 58, which means that it can make a room feel softer and cozier.

Benjamin Moore Classic Gray

Next: Classic Gray! If you’re looking for the perfect neutral greige paint color, this one is just the ticket! Learn why Benjamin Moore Classic Gray is the prettiest warm paint color for your home.

Classic Gray has an LRV of 74, which means you could classify it as a warm white or a greige. Any which way you call it, it’s wonderful! In the image below, it’s paired with Simply White trim.

Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter

Similarly to Accessible Beige, this color has a middle-of-the-road LRV of about 55.5. That means it isn’t very dark, but it isn’t all that bright either. Painting a room this color won’t make it feel brighter, but it will feel warm and cozy!

Revere Pewter is the perfect neutral. It’s not gray or beige – just a lovely mid-tone greige. It is ideal for open floor plans because it works well in so many different types of spaces.

Benjamin Moore Pale Oak

Finally, rounding out this list is one of my favorites. Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore is a soft neutral greige paint that can work beautifully in a variety of spaces and lighting situations. It’s a warm, balanced color that reads as an off-white in some rooms and a true greige in others.

Pale Oak has an LRV of just under 70 (69.89). That’s a great number and one that sits right between a greige and warm white.

Well, what do you think? Are you ready to take the leap with a fresh new living room paint color this year? Above all, I hope you’re inspired to consider a new color! I’d love to hear from you!

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8 Comments

  1. Hello! I love your page 🤗 my husband and I are moving to Texas and I won’t get to really test any samples in our new home. What’s a tried and true warm white color that will work in almost any house? Feeling overwhelmed and I don’t want to choose the wrong thing!
    Thanks!!

    1. Hi Emma,
      I wish I could tell you for certain, but we’ve tried many warm whites between our lake cottage and primary home, and they look different in each home! I’d suggest trying one of the colors in my Warm Whites paint guide, you’ll find great suggestions there.
      Good luck,
      Julie

  2. I have been using BM Chantilly Lace and Revere Pewter in our open living, dining, kitchen beach house. space and now I’d like to add a soft blue into the color scheme. I am looking for a serene, sophisticated coastal look. I am wondering if I should use either CL or RP all over? One color for the great space and the same for bedrooms and baths and den? I am struggling with how to make things flow. The stairwell flows into the kitchen but bedrooms and baths and upstairs are divided off the main space. The ocean side is South and the Marsh (street side) is North. The island runs East/West. I love the colors you suggest but, I really want to get it right after this renovation.

    1. Hi there!
      Have you read our paint color guides? Check out Coastal Blues and Blue Gray Paint Colors (under the paint color organization tab). I think both will have great suggestions for you- but also, I think sticking with Chantilly Lace sounds beautiful and flexible to allow you to bring the blues in through decorating accents and wall art.
      I hope that helps,
      Julie

  3. I am completely stressed every day when I walk through my house. I finally decided to use a colour consultant to help pick paint colours for the house we moved into 7 years ago. 2 yrs ago were were ready to change the gold and medium dark greens in our main floor rooms. There are windows all along the kitchen counter overlooking the backyard and a two panel patio door past the windows beside the eating area. The living room is right off the kitchen/dinning area ( no wall) and one step down. There are very tall widows on the long wall ( one window at corner) then another window at same corner on wine side of fireplace, then the same two windows on the otherside of fireplace at corner of two walls. I made it very clear to the woman that I do not want any greens or hints of green. The colours she chose were Revere Pewter for the Kitchen, Morning Dew for the family room and hallways and up the stairs. Every time I walk into the family room all I see is green. In that room the fireplace wall is quite a bit taller as is the ceiling area where there are two skylights. I really want to change it but have no idea if the Swiss Coffee will also look greenish? The coloour she picked for all the trims and doors (also pantry doors) in the was White Heron. I decided I wanted to do a contrast colour at the last minute to go with a piece of furniture I had painted so we painted the fireplace wall City Shadow. I love it! My question after all that, is what do you suggest for a warm colour for the family room that won’t look greenish.

    1. Hi Linda,
      Unfortunately, we can’t offer custom paint consultations at this time. Every color looks different in different people’s homes and lighting situations.
      I think you’ll enjoy my paint color guides, though! You can find them here.
      Enjoy,
      Julie

  4. When you repainted your lake cottage from Chantilly lace to simply white what did you do with your trim, doors and ceilings? Did you leave them Chantilly lace or repaint everything simply white? Just wondering what you do with trim and doors when you decide to repaint a different color of white.

    Thank you