5 Living Room Paint Color Trends for When You're Craving a New Look

Calming Blues

Blue is a dominant paint color this year—companies like Sherwin-Williams (Upward), Valspar (Renew Blue), Minwax (Bay Blue), Dunn-Edwards (Skipping Stones), and Benjamin Moore (Blue Nova) all named shades of blue as their color of the year for 2024. A blue living room evokes a sense of calm and tranquility—expect it to pop up in everything from color-drenched living rooms to accented features like built-in bookshelves and ceilings.

Tan and Khaki

Neutral paint colors are a timeless choice for living rooms, which often serve as a backdrop for everything from your annual holiday cocktail party to rainy-day board game marathons. "Neutrals are a natural trend because they have the ability to clear the air and provide a clean background for endless design and decor possibilities," says Woelfel. "These are the colors to watch for in comforting and cozy settings: sand, beige, tan, khaki, and brown, from spicy cinnamon to rich and decadent chocolate."

Nicole Gibbons, founder of Clare, agrees—her customers are gravitating towards these hues at home and on social media. "In the living room, people continue to play it safe and be more adventurous with their furniture and accessories," she says. Expect to see neutrals with warmer undertones, like Clare's Neutral Territory or Like Buttah, rise in popularity. "Warmer neutrals give spaces those cozy, comforting, inviting vibes," says Gibbons.

Warm Browns and Reds

Plush browns and bold reds are major shades to watch this year—in the living room and throughout the rest of the home. "For a living room, I recommend one of my favorite browns, Urbane Bronze, because it can create a sense of sanctuary in a room where you want to be cozy and also inject a shot of energy in the space where life unfolds," says Sue Wadden, director of color marketing at Sherwin-Williams.

Looking for a more neutral take that melds red and brown? Try Redend Point. "It's a nourishing blush-beige that can easily coordinate with the furniture and décor of a living room thanks to its versatility," says Wadden.

Outdoor-Inspired Greens

Green, the most popular color of the last few years, continues to be a favorite, whether you're channeling the bright hue of spring grass, an emerald ocean tone, or the mind-clearing mid-range shades that surround you during a walk in the woods. Green's many shades have increased in popularity year over year and will continue to "trend up," says Gibbons. "Shades of green work in any room, and it's a color derived from nature. You can envision it better than you could a yellow or a pink, since when you walk outside, you see green everywhere," says Gibbons.

There are light and misty greens like Breezeway, that feel uplifting and calm—or shades like Back to Nature, an herbal green captures the rejuvenating sense of being outdoors. Want to go bolder? "Deep shades like Vine Leaf are timeless go-to colors for walls, cabinetry, and more," says Woelfel.

Darker Tones

It might be intimidating to go all in on a darker hue, but the effect it has on a living room is quite bold and dramatic. A darker color, like Behr's 2024 color of the year, Cracked Pepper, can also have the added effect of grounding a space and giving lighter-colored accents room to shine.