by Shelly Mcrae

Created on: November 26, 2008   Last Updated: May 03, 2012

The color of your living room walls serves either as a backdrop for your furnishings and artwork, or a core element in your color palette. When choosing your paint color for your living room, decide first where your walls fit into the design scheme of your room.

For a modern design, with its clean lines and cool tones, you want your walls to stand firm. The wall color plays host to the dynamic and colorful artwork used in modern design. Materials used in furnishings are metal, glass and lacquered woods. The brilliance of these materials calls for glacial walls. Use icy colors such as gray, blue or pure whites. Avoid creamy colors; they just push against the angles and edges of modern design.

Cottage design calls for such creamy colors. Chalky whites and pastels blend with the casual and eclectic look of a beach house cottage style. If your cottage look is more inclined toward rustic and woodsy, though, go for the deep rich earth tones. Be daring. Try cocoa browns and forest greens.

In cottage design, cohesion needs to come from the more substantial elements such as flooring, walls or the fireplace. Choose colors that will pull the mismatched furniture and informal arrangements together.

If you consider your design to be traditional, and think you have to choose muted colors and beige tones, think again. Brilliant blues and bold greens can wake up your heavy woods and neutral fabrics. Instead of making the walls stand in the back and be quiet, bring them into the scheme and let them liven up the design.

Don't make the common mistake of believing that white walls make a room look bigger. They do not. Light bounces off the walls, telling the eye, "The room ends here."

If you want to "open up" your small living room with color, choose something lively and rich. Consider the view out your living room window. Is it a front garden, a suburban street or urban hubbub? Bring in the colors from the outside view to visually extend the room to include the exterior.

If you look out onto a tree-lined avenue, find a green that reflects that floral effect. Look out onto brick buildings and busy intersections? Warm red walls with white trim will expand the room to beyond the windows.

Choose your paint color for your living room based on the design scheme of your room; this tells you where your walls should "stand". If your living room is filled with brightly colored fabrics, artwork and accessories choose one color from the array and use it for your walls. If your living room is simple and quiet, make the walls do the work by giving them a bolder color.

If you've always used neutrals and creams for your walls, break out and try something new and bold. Your walls will love the attention.

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