Paint colors for your home, inside and out
Coastal style · colors from 5 paintings
Coastal paint colors rest on pale, cool walls, sandy mid-tones and one deep navy. This palette takes six colors from paintings at The Art Institute of Chicago and gives each a light reflectance value (LRV) and the closest paint matches. Use it as a beach house or beach cottage color scheme for walls, furniture, wood and textiles.
Quick answer
Put the pale gray (LRV 74) or soft aqua (LRV 68) on the walls, sand and slate blue on furniture and textiles, and keep the navy (LRV 6) for one bold piece.
A very light, neutral gray with an LRV of 74, so it bounces light and suits walls in living rooms and bedrooms. Measured from Mary Cassatt's "The Child's Bath" (1893).
From The Child's Bath, Mary Cassatt
A very light blue with a cool undertone and an LRV of 68. Use it on bedroom or bathroom walls where you want a watery tint. Measured from Claude Monet's "Bordighera" (1884).
From Bordighera, Claude Monet
A very dark blue with an LRV of 6. It works best on a sofa, a door or built-in shelving, not on all four walls. Measured from Pierre-Auguste Renoir's "Young Woman Sewing" (1879).
From Young Woman Sewing, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
A mid-tone with a warm yellow undertone and an LRV of 31. It warms a room of cool colors, which makes it a good choice for the main sofa or chairs. Measured from Winslow Homer's "The Herring Net" (1885).
From The Herring Net, Winslow Homer
A mid-tone blue with a cool undertone and an LRV of 19. Use it on curtains, pillows or a rug to add depth without the weight of navy. Measured from Claude Monet's "Bordighera" (1884).
From Bordighera, Claude Monet
A mid-tone gray with a green undertone and an LRV of 33. It suits bedding, a cabinet or a single accent wall beside lighter colors. Measured from James McNeill Whistler's "Nocturne: Blue and Gold—Southampton Water" (1872).
From Nocturne: Blue and Gold—Southampton Water, James McNeill Whistler
The same paint reads differently in cool north light, warm south sun and under evening lamps. Find the column closest to your room.
| Color | Neutral daylight | North light | South light | Evening lamps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pale Fog Gray | ||||
| Soft Aqua Blue | ||||
| Driftwood Sand | ||||
| Gray Sage |
Pick which color goes on the walls, the big furniture and the bold piece. Floors, shadows and trim follow your choice.
The framed picture on the wall is The Child's Bath.
Start with the wall color, then add two or three supporting colors. In this palette the walls are Pale Fog Gray (#DAE0E5, LRV 74) or Soft Aqua Blue (#C1DCDF, LRV 68). Both are above 60, so they bounce light and make a small room feel open. Pick the gray for a quiet, neutral room. Pick the aqua for a cool tint that reads as water.
Use the mid-tones for furniture, textiles and one accent wall. Driftwood Sand (#AA947B, LRV 31) adds warmth through its yellow undertone. Slate Harbor Blue (#69798D, LRV 19) and Gray Sage (#9A9E93, LRV 33) sit in the middle and calm a room full of light colors.
Keep Deep Sea Navy (#26427E, LRV 6) for small areas such as a sofa, a door or a built-in. At LRV 6 it reads very dark and would make a small room feel smaller on four walls.
Keep trim close to the wall color. Pale Fog Gray trim against Soft Aqua Blue walls gives a soft edge without the hard line a bright white can make. Over Pale Fog Gray walls, a clean white trim gives a crisper outline. Ceilings do best in the lightest color in the room, either the same gray or a white.
For floors, choose wood near the tone of #8B6B4A, a medium warm brown. It grounds the cool blues and sits well beside Driftwood Sand furniture. If your floors are pale, add weight with a rug or sofa in Slate Harbor Blue or navy.
A simple living room formula: Pale Fog Gray walls, Driftwood Sand main furniture, wood at #8B6B4A, Slate Harbor Blue textiles and one Deep Sea Navy piece. For a bedroom, swap in Soft Aqua Blue walls and use Gray Sage on the bedding.
Light changes these colors more than most. The cool blues and grays pick up the tone of the light around them, so check each one in the room where it will live.
In a north-facing room, light is cool and even. Pale Fog Gray can look flat or slightly cold there, so Soft Aqua Blue or Driftwood Sand gives the room more life. In a south-facing room, light is warmer and stronger. Both light colors stay fresh, and Gray Sage (LRV 33) shows more of its green.
East rooms are bright in the morning and softer later. West rooms turn warm in the evening, which can pull cool walls toward gray. With LRVs of 74 and 68, the two light colors hold up in all four. Slate Harbor Blue (LRV 19) and navy (LRV 6) absorb light, so use them near a window or a lamp. Warm bulbs soften blues. Cooler bulbs make them crisper.
Test before you buy gallons. Paint a sample on a large board, at least two feet square, rather than a small patch on the wall. Move the board around the room so you see it on each wall.
Look at it in the morning, at midday and in the evening, and again with lamps on. Hold it next to your floor, your sofa and your trim, since a color is judged by what sits beside it.
The paint matches on this page are the closest ones measured from the paintings. Most are near-identical or very close, and one, Farrow & Ball No. 40 Mouse's Back for Driftwood Sand, is only close. Get samples of the match and of the colors next to it on the paint strip.
Give each sample two or three days. If a color looks right in both daylight and lamplight, it is ready for the wall.
Pale Fog Gray (LRV 74) and Soft Aqua Blue (LRV 68) are the two wall colors in this palette. Both are light enough to bounce daylight and keep a room airy.
Use a pale gray or aqua on the walls, Driftwood Sand for the main furniture, Slate Harbor Blue for textiles and wood around #8B6B4A. Add one navy piece for contrast.
Yes, in small doses. Navy at LRV 6 is very dark, so it works on a sofa, a door or shelving against light walls rather than on every wall.
Keep the walls pale and neutral, such as Pale Fog Gray, and limit the rest to three colors. Gray Sage and Slate Harbor Blue give a calm, modern look with the wood and sand tones.
Each color lists its closest measured matches, from Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Valspar and Farrow & Ball. For example, Pale Fog Gray is very close to Sherwin-Williams SW 6238 Icicle. Test a sample, since screens and light change how a color looks.
A card with every color on this page, its LRV and the paintings it comes from. Pin it, or take it to the paint store.
Painting images: The Art Institute of Chicago, public domain (CC0). Colors measured by Light & Pigment. Paint names belong to their brands and matches are approximate. Colors look different on screen than on a wall, so always test a sample.
