Choosing the best living room paint color is an important decision for homeowners. Many times, your living room sets the tone for the rest of your home’s paint color palette.
Additionally, your living room is often the most used space in your house. Whether you have guests or family visiting, the interior living room walls act as a first impression.
But which wall colors look best in the living room? Should you go with a light crisp white or stick with a warmer neutral paint color? Perhaps you want to add an accent wall to make a bold, eye-catching statement with your interior design color scheme.
Not to mention, there are thousands of living room color undertones from companies like Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, and Farrow & Ball that you can select. The final factors include the amount of natural light your living room gets as well as the current couch color and existing decor.
Trying to stay on trend with popular color ideas can drive you up a wall. This is why our interior painting experts chose the 9 best living room wall paint colors of the year to make it easy for you.
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Paint Color For Living Rooms Criteria
Since the pandemic, it seems like everyone is taking a second look at the interior aesthetic of their home. Whether you have a minimalist living room design or a few bold colors that you need to match, we kept things pretty universal with our list criteria.
First, we know that our living room color combination needs to flow nicely with the rest of the living space. This means you’ll want to consider how the room feels in combination with the family or dining rooms, kitchen, and entry hallway.
As a result, our interior design professionals skipped the crazy popular living room colors that are either too warm or too cold. Instead, we opted for neutral paint colors like greige and taupe pastels that are easy to match and coordinate.
Last but not least, we included a few of our favorite white paint colors for living room walls. We even added a few neutral-leaning blue colors and green wall shades to keep things interesting. All the while still being easy to match with existing room color choices.
No need to wait any longer, let’s dive right into the absolute best living room paint color of the year according to our painting experts.
1. Creamy By Sherwin Williams
Creamy (7012) by Sherwin Williams is our top pick for the best living room color this year. It is a true off-white color with warmer undertones that is best used for living spaces with northern light exposure.
Accordingly, our designers love Creamy because of the warmth and tranquility it brings to a living space. Likewise, this shade also can really brighten up a smaller living room area without a ton of natural light.
This living room color works exceptionally well when transitioning from old gray colors that were all the rage a few years ago. Especially if you don’t want to go with a stark white that may look too cold combined with your current room’s decor.
Keep in mind, natural light in a southern facing living room may bring out the slightly pale-yellow undertones of this tranquil wall color. As mentioned, this is why we recommend Creamy for living rooms that have decor with cooler leaning tones.
One drawback of this color is it has a higher LRV of 82. To clarify, a higher light reflective value (LRV) means you’ll need to apply more coats for proper coverage.
2. Light Pewter By Benjamin Moore
Another designer favorite for living rooms this year is Benjamin Moore’s Light Pewter (1464). It’s a warm greige paint shade without those pesky purple or pink undertones. Moreover, Light Pewter works in both large and small living rooms as an inviting neutral backdrop.
At the same time, this popular Benjamin Moore living room color has enough depth to contrast beautifully with crisp white trim and flat white ceilings. Unlike trendy off-whites like Alabaster or High Reflective White by Sherwin-Williams, it has a medium LRV of 68.39. This allows for better coverage when painting living room walls, saving you time and money.
No question, with all of the COVID-19 craziness of the past few years, we can all use a natural and familiar tone like Light Pewter to create a soothing environment in our main living space.
3. Pure White – SW 7005
We promised a few white paint colors and we are eager to deliver. To start, we have Pure White (SW 7005) by Sherwin-Williams. Indeed, this is another timeless creamy white color that will brighten up any small space.
Pure White has a drop of yellow in it that creates a warm undertone and a drop of black that softens the color.
Like any white paint, the color of the furniture in the room will dictate the underlying hue of the walls. For example, a large green rug might make Pure White reflect a subtle green hue.
The lighting of your living room will also impact how Pure White appears on your walls. Warmer lighting can make your walls appear more creamy. However, a white source of light can make Pure White feel cooler. Oftentimes a south-facing room will naturally provide that warmth and north-facing rooms will offer a coolness.
Our design team loves this color because of its versatility. Pure White adapts to your space to mirror the furniture and lighting. In fact, this helps it blend more seamlessly into your decor. Unfortunately, this white color has a high light reflective value (LRV) which means you’ll have a harder time covering up darker walls.
4. Limousine Leather By Behr Paints
On the opposite side of the color wheel is Limousine Leather (MQ5-5) by Behr. This deep black has become increasingly popular, especially with wainscoting. In order to create a more elegant space, this color choice has often been used in dining rooms and family rooms. We’ve found that these deep darker colors are also becoming popular with kitchen cabinets and are often used in matte sheens.
By and large, one of the quickest ways to completely reinvent your space with little effort is to use bold yet neutral accent wall colors. In our opinion, Limousine Leather does that and more. Lastly, the fact that you can pick up color swatches of this modern shade of black at Home Depot is a huge plus.
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5. Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray
In the search for the best living room color of 2023, we couldn’t escape the sea of greige. As a result, we chose Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb Gray (HC-173) as another very popular hue on our list this year.
Similar to Pure White, this color is a great neutral backdrop for any bold living room color scheme.
In addition, Edgecomb offers warm tones that you won’t find with Pure White. If your goal is a cozy living room, you’ll give this fantastic warm greige living room paint color a look.
Likewise, this is one color you’ll be tempted to paint everything with, making it the perfect color for your living room’s built-in shelves. Not to mention, it’s also a great neutral whole house color for an open concept space with plenty of natural sunlight.
6. Borrowed Light By Farrow & Ball
Up next, we decided it was time for a pop of color. True to form, Borrowed Light (No. 235) by Farrow & Ball is the perfect pale shade of blue that offers a cooler color tone.
No question, Borrowed Light is a wonderfully distinct, airy tone that stands out among the droves of neutral off-whites. Moreover, this blue living room wall color broadens our palette. All while being neutral enough to match most furniture choices.
This delicate pale blue creates a dreamy vibe that reminds our design team of a bright summer day. Pair it with wooden beams or wood-toned furniture for a classic yet contemporary look in your living room.
7. Evergreen Fog By Sherwin-Williams
Now onto our next living room color, Evergreen Fog (SW 9130) by Sherwin-Williams paint company. Indeed, this warm green tone was crowned the Sherwin Williams 2022 paint color of the year. Unlike cooler mint greens that often feel too cold, Evergreen Fog’s earthy tones are both inviting and modern.
For those that find Evergreen Fog is too deep of a tone for a main living area, perhaps Sherwin’s Livable Green is more your style. Livable Green is not only a lighter earthy shade of green but it leans more neutral with hints of gray. This makes it a perfectly balanced green living room color. That’s why it pairs nicely with stark white trim or wainscoting.
Finally, where both of these green tones shine most is when paired with stained wood trim or crown molding. To this end, this allows for a stunning living room combination that sets the tone for the rest of your home.
8. Farrow & Ball – Serge
Continuing the theme of making statements is Serge (No. 9919) by Farrow & Ball. This deep cool-toned navy has purple and gray undertones. Certainly, these undertones become more or less prominent depending on the lighting and decor in your living room.
For example, a cooler-toned sofa or loveseat will bring out the gray hues. On the other hand, warmer lighting and creamy textured decor will bring out purple undertones.
Serge has become an increasingly popular accent color for kitchen cabinetry making it great for open concept homes. The color’s elegant feel is well-suited to all entertaining spaces.
Furthermore, it can be carried as an accent color throughout your floor plan. This helps create a seamless flow from room to room.
Without question, its muted yet blunt appearance can bring some deep blue life to your living room, dining room, or even a bedroom or bathroom.
Last but not least, gold fixtures and white wainscoting pair nicely with this moody blue wall color.
9. Shaded Whisper By PPG Paints
To finish our list we have PPG’s Shaded Whisper (PPG0995-1). This classic light gray living room color is one of my personal favorites for a few reasons. First, this wall color makes your space feel clean and modern. Next, this minimalist color makes larger rooms full of furniture and patterns feel inviting and simple. Additionally, Shaded Whisper has a light reflective value (LRV) of 74 which means you’ll need to apply more coats for good coverage. In the end, you’ll have a cool, crisp, and modern living room, straight out of HGTV.
Keep in mind that in the whirlwind of interior design decisions, toned-down color choices like Shaded Whisper are easiest to match. Living rooms tend to be large spaces that have a lot going on. Similarly, this is an ideal neutral gray to calm the room.
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Living Room Color FAQs
What's LRV and why is it important for living room colors?
LRV stands for light reflective value and refers to how much light a paint color reflects. The lighter the paint color, the higher the LRV number. Low LRV is typically in the 0-40 range.
These are darker colors that absorb more light than they reflect. This means that they often need fewer coats to achieve better paint coverage. Finally, higher LRV colors are in the 60-100 range. Indeed, these colors reflect more light than they absorb. The drawback of high LRV paint shades is that they require at least 2 to 4 coats to cover.
Which is the best neutral living room paint color of 2023?
Greige colors create a warm and inviting backdrop for not only the most modern of living rooms but the coziest as well! Our top picks are Light Pewter by Benjamin Moore and Creamy by Sherwin Williams. Unlike the former trend of picking cool-toned grays for every room, these warm-toned colors are both neutral and tranquil.
What is the best living room accent wall color of 2023?
Earthy-toned green shades are on the rise in 2023. Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, Glidden, Behr, PPG, and Better Homes & Gardens all chose muted green colors as their Color of the Year for 2022. Popular living room green shades include Evergreen Fog by Sherwin Williams, Laurel Leaf by Better Homes & Gardens, and Guacamole by Glidden.
