What Are The Best Contemporary Interior Paint Colors?

Toss out the old paint chips, and mix up some contemporary color for your walls.

At Concepts In Color we know that designers and homeowners with a sense of style are experimenting with new shades of some old favorite paint colors with striking results. White walls are disappearing under coats of inky charcoal. Theatrical shades of rich purple, like aubergine and currant, are covering up the linen and pale blue. A green like antique glazed pottery is gleaming off entire walls. The paint in contemporary interiors is a carefully considered element of the artistry of the design.

Purples
Purple, the color of royalty, is asserting itself in contemporary décor in far more powerful hues than lilac and lavender. Real deep purple, with strong tones of red or blue or even black, is a choice for high-style reception areas like foyers and social spaces like studies, libraries and media rooms.

As reported in “Veranda” magazine, internationally renowned designer Nina Campbell mixed a black-currant lacquer for the library walls of her Chelsea flat in London. The vibrant berry tone is offset by white trim and ceiling and polished hardwood floors. A strong purple is a fabulous backdrop for art, dramatic in a dining room and fair warning in an entryway that the home you are about to enter is anything but boring and predictable. (What color is right for you? Ask Matt Kimble at Concepts in Color: Interior Painting in Los Angeles and surrounding areas.)

Grays
Slate, pewter, charcoal—gray is a new neutral and showing up everywhere from the pool house to the bedroom. A softer medium gray is rich when painted on walls in faux suede. But the sophisticate is a darker shade of gray, sometimes tempered with brown, sometimes verging on black. Dark taupe or charcoal is dramatic in a dining room or living room and is often bordered with white trim to accommodate contemporary furnishings. The darker grays are cozy in a den with a fireplace and crisp and neat in a kitchen with stainless steel appliances. (Ask Matt at Concepts In Color, Interior Painting in Los Angeles , for more great ideas.) Grays look terrific with wood floors, ceramic tile and terracotta floors, slate floors and hand-loomed Persian or geometric modern carpets. The darker end of the spectrum tends to feel claustrophobic when used with a lot of traditional furniture, heavy drapes and patterns. But it is stunning in a high-ceiling salon with elaborate period furnishings like Louis XV chairs and tall windows that let in plenty of light.

Greens
With Contemporary Interior Painting in Los Angeles, Celadon and sage are greens that invite more color. The shades hold the watery mystique of Venice and the appeal of the Arts & Crafts style. Naturally, they look gorgeous with Italian gilt furniture and Arts & Crafts pieces. But celadon also calls up Chinese court artistry and blends well with Asian styles. And sage is right at home with everything Western as well as earth-toned natural materials and country décor. Green is versatile enough to use as a glass tile backsplash in a kitchen, a penny tile bathroom floor, the wall color for the public rooms in the house—the living room, dining room, or den–the dusty blackboard paint wall in a children’s room, the single color wall in an otherwise all-white master bedroom. Celadon and sage green are calming paint colors but by no means unremarkable ones.

Special thanks; Benna Crawford Journalist and New York-based freelance writer since 1997.

This entry was posted on September 1, 2011 at 10:46 pm and is filed under Commercial Painting, House Painting, Interior, Interior Painting Los Angeles, Interior Painting Los Angeles CA, Los Angeles Homes. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Interior Painting Los Angeles, Interior Painting West Los Angeles

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