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Need urgent help with selecting wall paint color

4 months ago
last modified: 4 months ago

Our painter is breathing down my neck to make a decision. :-) I’ve made many trips to Home Depot trying to decide on paint colors, and I’m still stuck. I’m torn between painting the entire condo a neutral white (like Behr’s Swiss Coffee or Night Blooming Jasmine) or adding some with accent walls in the two bedrooms of my 1,000 sqft condo. Both bedrooms have water views:

  • Master bedroom: Overlooks a canal (faces west, sunny afternoons, with sunsets) and a sprawling hillside.
  • Guest Room: Faces the pool (practically no direct sunlight enters this room).

Outside, there are lots of turquoise, greens, yellows, and light browns, which I’d like to complement, not clash with. Our painter prefers Behr paint, and I finally found a color I really like—a dark buttery yellow described as “an energetic and optimistic yellow that celebrates vitality and joy.” But I’m wondering:

  • Is yellow a bad idea in a room that gets a lot of direct sunlight?
  • Should I play it safe and stick with neutral white walls throughout, adding pops of color through art, fabrics, and furniture instead?
  • If I go with accent walls in the bedrooms, would it make sense to use the same color in both for consistency or choose different colors for each room to reflect their unique lighting and views?

Picture 1: Guest bedroom facing large pool (behind me). Accent color would be on the right wall. All popcorn ceiling has been removed.



Picture 2: Master bedroom


Picture 3: Living Room as seen from demo'd kitchen- Sofa will be on left, kitchen is behind me, entrance is also behind me on the right





Thanks so much for your input! 😊

Comments (22)

  • 4 months ago

    Buy a large piece of foamcore. Paint it yellow. Move it around the rooms you are considering for accent walls.


    Or just have it all painted white because then you can easily add an accent wall later, once lighting, flooring and furniture have been installed.

    C S thanked apple_pie_order
  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    I personally would stay away from yellow undertones. https://www.behr.com/colorfullybehr/picking-the-perfect-white-paint/

    C S thanked Lyn Nielson
  • PRO
    4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago


    Paint the condo one color in eggshell finish with a different color for trim and doors in semi gloss. Geez NO YELLOW

    What's going on in the bathrooms and kitchen?

    Your selections lean WARM.



    I would consider a more neutral color like Silky White with Polar Bear Trim & Doors



    Are you keeping the tile? Will you be adding flooring?

    You can't select accent colors without knowing what the colors of the furnishings are. Do you have them?

    You can stilll have a great looking home with all the walls the same color by just confining the accent colors to art and accessories.




    C S thanked BeverlyFLADeziner
  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    I would not paint accent walls, they are no longer trending. Plus it sounds like the home would be too choppy. Whole room paint colors are more contemporary and fresh.

    For walls and ceilings, I prefer a Flat or Matte finish over a sheen such as eggshell. Flat has more depth because there is no shiny surface. Semi-gloss or satin for trim, yes.

    For the guest room I would consider a soft grayed blue because of the blue light coming off the water.

    For the rest of the home, an off-white sounds nice. I agree no yellow.

    We chose Kelly Moore Swiss Coffee (off-white) and love it but they are out of busiiness....other paint companies can mix the formula for you if you want a sample.

    C S thanked tracefloyd
  • 4 months ago

    Thank you, Tracefloyd! Very helpful!

  • 4 months ago

    Beverly- Thank you so much for your detailed and very helpful answer. I can make a million decisions each day but paint color on walls is sadly not one of them. :-)

    We've removed the entire flooring, incl. the tile. Our new flooring is https://www.staymorfloors.com/floors/p/sandstone 

    In the rooms it's tending towards warm, not grey.


    No, we do not have any furnishings at all yet.


  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    The floors look good with Behr Swiss Coffee.





    A bright white ceiling will make the color pop. A ceiling and trim painted the same color as the walls is very serene.

    C S thanked tracefloyd
  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago
  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    Here is something called Behr Absolute Zero...very nice for the guest room








  • 4 months ago

    Hi D M!

    A few possibilities photos?

    Yellow walls are a favorite of mine, used by the great decorators, think, David Hicks! who used buttery and muddy yellows as a neutral. I second apple_pie_order! if unsure, test the color with a sheet or rolling sample!

    A little inspiration follows …

    C S thanked Abby HeartsBeauxArts
  • 4 months ago



    English decorator Phillip Hooper

    in House and Garden

    C S thanked Abby HeartsBeauxArts
  • 4 months ago



    Yellow Accent Wall

    Marshall Watson Interiors

    (Accent walls are now in paper or textures)

    C S thanked Abby HeartsBeauxArts
  • 4 months ago

    Behr Waterfall




    C S thanked tracefloyd
  • 4 months ago

    And just quickly! This is from a textile site but i use the charts in decor! Should you dive into the virtual rabbit hole of online color try out, always go with color codes in hand!

    D M i so love yellow, hoping you keep it in decor if the walls do not work, but it has such great flexibility and warmth, hoping you let loose your creative muse and play!

    (Decorating Can Be Fun ❤️ Mrs. Draper Draper!)

    Go have a ball!

    https://stitchpalettes.com/palette/rocky-cliff-in-ireland-spa1502/

    ❤️

    C S thanked Abby HeartsBeauxArts
  • 4 months ago

    @Abby HeartsBeauxArts I agree with you. Yellow is one of my favorite colors, it pairs with just about anything. I'm an artist at heart (photographer, water color etc.) and selecting the perfect color is very important for me but I'm so picky that it's hard to make a decision. I LOVE the website you sent! Thanks so much!

  • 4 months ago

    D S You are most welcome! My background is historical textile restoration, and this morphed into decorating! Practical applications seem the most helpful when determining color palettes — art, photography indeed!, textiles etc. help you “see” further!
    And today’s password to the Very Exclusively Secretive Online Color Club is Hex and sometimes RGB plus tricky color configuration, best to go armed with color charts!
    Have a (Farrow) Ball (ok, I could not resist that one, been waiting to use it! Lol!)
    ❤️

    C S thanked Abby HeartsBeauxArts
  • 4 months ago

    The Behr Swiss Coffee is very nice. As mentioned by @apple_pie_order, you could do a color such as that everywhere, and then later decide on other room colors and/or accent walls, etc.


    I am a yellow/gold lover, myself... very much so. Maybe that is why I rendezvoused with a place that is full of it! LR, DR, kitchen and hallways in my current apt are done in the yellow gold. I love it.


    So when I see that someone is interested in a yellow/gold wall color - I am all over it!! :)


    AI and I are up at the wee hours here in NYC - and going for the gold! :) I tried to capture some of the views you describe.












    I asked for tiger art - and I definitely got it!!









    Reminds me a bit of Farrow & Ball’s Cat’s Paw.


    So much fun.:)

    C S thanked freedomplace1
  • 4 months ago
    last modified: 4 months ago

    Those British drawing rooms in yellow and filled with antiques are nothing like your space so yellow walls will have a different effect for you. Probably a more modern feel with your architecture, maybe MCM furnishings to go with your yellow.

    C S thanked tracefloyd
  • 4 months ago

    I'm a big fan of neutral paint for walls. If you paint, often, in 10 years, your paint will be out of fashion and finding furniture or decor that goes with it is hard. Even if the same color is in, it will often be a different tone. Lighter, darker, bluer, greener, grayer turquoise might make it hard to match, even if turquoise and beachy is still around.


    It's a lot easier to sell a house with neutral paint.


    I don't see any point in "consistency" between rooms, unless you have substantial views from one into the other. And then, I'd just make sure the colors are not clashing.


    Some paints really light up a room. Paint a warm color in a room with little light. I have a room with north-facing windows, shaded by trees. We painted it BM Marry Me and for the first month, my husband and I kept thinking I'd left the light on in the room, because even the weak winter sun on a cloudy day made the room look warm and sunny.

    C S thanked Sigrid
  • PRO
    4 months ago

    I don't know how all the rooms will be furnished but I definately wouldn't do any accent walls. Behr's Swiss Coffee warm white can certainly work throughout or one of the more neutral whites:


    Matte for the walls and satin or semi-gloss for the trim.

    C S thanked lisedv