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Color blocking in the living room
Cost-effective color ideas for lovely family living rooms
Five wonderful ways to create a family room you’ll love – on a family-friendly budget.
1. Embrace color blocking
Can’t afford to paint the whole room? Try a bit of carefully planned color blocking instead. You could, for example, paint one color on the wall behind your sofa, then pick a tonal color for the walls around your windows and another for any alcoves in the room. Varying shades of coral work really well for this.
Which colors?
C6.22.61 / 30YR 41/263
D8.12.43 / 80YR 21/118
ZN.02.73 / 70RR 55/044
2. Paint doors in contrasting colors
Bright living room door
This is a fun way to inject a bit of vibrancy into a plain white room. Go for bold colors for your door then paint the doorframe in a complementary color – for example, a red door with a coral frame, or an indigo frame with a yellow door.
Kids will love the bright colors and costs are kept low because you don’t have much surface area to cover.
Which colors?
B6.51.30 / 98RR 12/480
X7.04.82 / 79RB 76/076
FN.01.85 / 40YY 83/026
3. Focus on your frames
Colorful window frames
If you have your heart set on a particular color but can’t stretch to using it on your walls, you can create an equally striking effect by painting your window and doorframes instead. Go for a darker shade on your frames than on your walls and you’ll have the added bonus of making your room feel larger.
For a bit of help, take a look at our simple steps to painting wooden doors and window frames here [LINK TO: Global article ‘How to paint wooden doors and window frames’].
Which colors?
N1.06.61 / 50GG 40/064
T3.04.12 / 30BB 05/022
QN.02.82 / 72BG 75/023
B5.05.52 / 10YR 28/072
4. Brighten up your bookshelves
Painted shelves
If you have built-in bookcases or floating shelves, make them a focus in the room with a bit of paint. For instance, you could paint each shelf in a different color for a playful, rainbow effect, or choose bright colors that will help the shelf pop out. Complete the look by color-coding your books.
Which colors?
E4.05.45 / 30YY 22/059
G2.58.80 / 54YY 69/747
ON.00.90 / 81YR 85/004
Top tip:
Satin paint [LINK TO PRODUCT] will work best for painting shelves, wooden doors and frames.
5. Go for happy hues
Bright living room door
Color can really lift your mood and a fresh coat of paint is a cost-effective and easy way of reviving tired walls. Bright hues have the most energizing effect, especially if you go for warm tones like yellows and oranges. If you’re in need of a bit of calm, pale greens and violets will create a soothing scheme.
For busy family spaces, our Easycare paint means stress free mess!
Which colors?
F2.40.60/ 20YY 35/456
C8.10.70 / 50YR 53/160
E8.23.52 / 20YY 27/225
Once you’ve finished decorating, give your living room a designer-style finishing touch by using a few inexpensive accessories. Scatter cushions, colorful pottery or painted picture frames will help bring the scheme together.
