As I mentioned in my post earlier this week, I’m on a white wall kick and had every intention of moving in and painting our living room bright white. Until I realized it wasn’t going to work. Did you know that white doesn’t necessarily lighten every space? It all depends on the amount of natural light and how the light reflects or “bounces”off of the walls, if it does at all . . . In our case, it doesn’t. So, it was better to go with something soft instead of stark.
(You can see the room here before I painted it.)
Our screened porch is attached to this room, which doesn’t make it the lightest and brightest even during the middle of the day. I wanted a change from the gray in our last house and started weighing my options. I kept going back to images of soft blue rooms and landed on Palace Pearl (from Benjamin Moore’s Williamsburg collection). Very light blue, with a touch of gray:
I love the idea of layering blues, but am also excited about future possibilities. . . So many pretty combos that would work with light blue walls:
Elle Decor
This might be my new favorite “neutral” wall color. . .
I love all those combos! I would have never thought all those colors would look so good together. Trying to figure out my sunroom. We had a little roof leak so YAY I get to paint! It is currently a yellow color painted by the previous owner. I was thinking a grey, but now after seeing this, you have shown me how versatile blue can be!
Yay for roof leaks! Ha! :)
So pretty – a great neutral indeed. I love how the beige and leather elements warm it up.
Looks beautiful! I love watching how you do this, because it’s like you’re channeling my living room. When we moved into our house in 2012, it had been freshly painted white, but it looked like a smoker had lived there because the lack of light made the color so dingy. I mentioned in an earlier comment that we painted our brick fireplace white and the walls Valspar Fragile Blue and it made it feel fresh and shady instead of dark and dingy. I’ve paired it with navy and bright greens (and orange for fall). My only question is, will it start to feel boring if I go with a light blue and navy palette throughout the main floor?
I’ll let you know, because that’s probably the combo I’ll end up with, too :)
Love that color in your space. You are so right! Whites can be tricky, tricky, tricky ;)
BEAUTIFUL! Now this has me thinking about repainting our master which I’ve been thinking about for a long while!!
That is SO close to our color in the living room/kitchen combo. We used BM smoke. I absolutely adore it.
Love this! When we bought our house in Raleigh (yes, NC girl!) we painted the main area Milk Pail by Martha Stewart and still love it. This gives me some inspiration to freshen the space up!
Thank you as always…
How did you know I was looking for the perfect light blue for my living room?? Seriously. I just picked up all kinds of swatches yesterday. LOVE the one you chose. Will definitely have to look into that. What color is the moss green that is pictured? Thanks!
Aaaah, I can’t remember. I was just playing around with the colors on the BM site and pulled one that looked right. Sorry :(
Very pretty and calming. I love the light blue with the navy combo!
I love it! It looks great and whatever color choose as an accent will be beautiful too.
It really is a beautiful color! I love all the combos you displayed as well!
Shelley
So pretty! I know it may not seem like it to you, but you’re making quick progress with this house!
You’re right. It does not seem like it :)
Love it! Most of our walls in our main iving area are SW Rainwashed. I have it mixed with tan, white and navy. LOVE it as a backdrop. The other main areas are SW Aloof Gray. Sometimes they look like the exact same color. I love that. Makes the color flow great! We also have adjoining rooms off of it painted in BM Revere Pewter and Edgecomb gray.
I did blues in our last house in the dining room, family room and kitchen, and I loved it! I kind of miss those walls, too. All those color combinations look great, and I think blue can be such a fun neutral when done well. Your room looks fantastic!
I LOVE it with the moss green…but maybe that is because the other examples are a little more saturated…and maybe it is because I am a softy for moss green.
Ooh Emily. I love that color. I was actually looking at it a couple weeks ago. My family room is decorator white SW. It’s looking drab and dingy. Not fresh at all. Guess I’m going to BM for paint! !
Life is to short to not have a pretty color on our walls!
Installing a client project next weekend with very similar blue walls. I can’t wait! I love the breath of fresh air that an easy, brezzy blue can bring.
I love your selection of a light bluish gray! I actually think it is much prettier than white. White looks great in some rooms, but not all. I, like you, have a living room with a screened in porch off the back. It does make the light less bright and you don’t get the light-filled room vibe that works with white walls.
I have many rooms painted a very light bluish gray. I adore it. My bedroom, the downstairs back hall and my kid’s bath are all variations of this color. It is divine! I am thinking of painting my little girl’s room this color as well. It is currently the dreaded very light tan that was ubiquitous 10 years ago. Her room has soft pinks and I love the combo of light bluish-gray with this color. Excellent choice and your home is looking gorgeous!
You should look at BM opal. So pretty.
Thanks Carol, I will try a sample! :)
How very pretty! It doesn’t look chalky or infantile like some pastel rooms can. Must be the touch of gray.
I never thought of light blue as a neutral before but I love it! Can’t wait to see what you do. Now off to rethink my own darkish family room that’s painted white. It’s open to the kitchen as well so I have to be happy with a “color” in both rooms. Hmmm…
I love where you’re going with this room. It looks so fresh. I’ve been toying with BM Opal Essence or Crystal Blue in my living room for the very same reason. This post has encouraged me to go for it. Thanks! I so look forward to reading every day.
Nice color! I have Ben. Moore’s beacon gray in our master bath. It’s a very light blue gray & I really like it. Can’t wait to see what else you have in store for the rest of the house.
Palace Pearl is beautiful. My daughter and hubby just painted their bedroom a similar blue…and it is a lovely color. Our grand picked out navy blue for her room as she wanted a “teen” look from the pages of PB. She is 10 going on 15. ha. Blues are calm and restful. Sheila
The coral combo is beautiful, hoping you will go for that one;-)!
LOVE it!! I have had pale or light blue on my family room/kitchen walls for the past 7.5 years. I certainly cannot see myself having any other color on the walls. I was ready for a different shade last year but it will always be some sort of blue. It is so calming and does pair well with so many other different colors. Great choice!!
Blue is such a great neutral! Love how it looks in your new house. Thanks for sharing – great color!
I love the color combos!!
Abbie E.
This is very similar to the color we’ve been painting everywhere in our house! While I love the freshness of the white walls, I can’t pull the trigger. Too stark, too “boring” for my style. The light blue is a perfect solution! I’ve been saying it’s my new favorite neutral too!
I recently painted my master bedroom in Sherwin Williams Monorail Silver. The room is light and bright and it looks beautiful. All my trim, bedding, and drapery is white with Navy blue and Kelly green accents. I love it! I am having a terrible time finding much in Kelly green though! I’ll persevere though because I LOVE the combo.
Beautiful! I’m currently on the prowl for a pretty light blue for my daughters shared room – I’m off to pick up a swatch card of this now! Now if I could just find the perfect greige for the rest of the house….
beautiful color! i love the blue that makes the gray feel softer and a little more feminine. beautiful choice!
I am getting ready to redo our dining room, hearthroom and kitchen. The hearthroom and kitchen are a shared space facing north. There are quite a few windows in this area. I originally wanted to use Sea Salt Sherwin William’s in all three areas with latte Sherwin William’s in the foyer and main living room as they,too, have a shared curved wall. In the dining room i planned to do a stripe with eggshell and semi of Sea Salt but it came off mint (faces south) and in kitchen/hearth it read mint and a darker green depending on the light. What is the LRV for this blue and how do you think it would read in a large area. Thank you for your post and insight.