Pastel Color Bedroom: Soft Shades and What to Pair Them With
The best pastel colors for bedroom walls are soft and slightly muted, not sugary. Here are three pastels measured from paintings, a warm parchment, a pale straw and a dusty blue, plus three companion colors for trim, wood and accents.
Quick answer
Use Soft Parchment on the walls of most bedrooms, Dusty Sky Blue on a bed or main furniture, and Pale Straw in textiles. Keep trim and ceiling in a warm chalk white.
Every color on this page was measured from one of these public-domain paintings.
Shades of pastel
#E2CEB3LRV 64
Soft Parchment
Use it on all four walls of a bedroom, especially one with little daylight. Its LRV of 64 bounces light and its warm yellow undertone feels gentle at night. Measured from "Mountainous Landscape at Tivoli" by Simon Denis.
Good for curtains, bedding or a rug, or for walls in a larger bedroom with decent daylight. At LRV 56 it is light but a little deeper than Soft Parchment. Measured from "Ancient Rome" by Giovanni Paolo Panini.
Use it on an upholstered bed, a dresser or one calm wall. The blue undertone is cool and its LRV of 51 keeps it soft. Measured from "General Garibaldi's Residence at Caprera" by Frederick Richard Lee.
Use it for trim and ceiling. At LRV 75 it is lighter than all three pastels, and its warm yellow undertone matches the warm ones. Measured from "General Garibaldi's Residence at Caprera" by Frederick Richard Lee.
Sherwin-Williams SW 7010 White Duck
Near-identical
Valspar 6005-1A Asiago
Near-identical
Farrow & Ball No. 291 School House White
Very close
#625B45LRV 11
Deep Olive Brown
Use it for wood: a floor, a bed frame or a dresser. At LRV 11 it is very dark, so a little goes a long way against pale walls. Measured from "Mountainous Landscape at Tivoli" by Simon Denis.
Choose it for one bold piece, such as an armchair, a bench or a headboard. Its LRV of 30 gives clear contrast with light walls without feeling heavy. Measured from "Ancient Rome" by Giovanni Paolo Panini.
Sherwin-Williams SW 2842 Roycroft Suede
Very close
Farrow & Ball No. 40 Mouse's Back
Similar
How the lighter colors change with the light
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
Soft Parchment
Pale Straw
Dusty Sky Blue
Warm Chalk White
Mid Tan Khaki
Try these colors in a room
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 Mountainous Landscape at Tivoli.
Which pastel works best on bedroom walls?
Soft Parchment (#E2CEB3, LRV 64) is the lightest of the three pastels. It reads light and bounces light, so it suits a bedroom with one small window or a north-facing wall. Its warm yellow undertone gives the room a gentle glow in the evening.
Pale Straw (#D0C5A3, LRV 56) is a little deeper but still on the light side. It works well in a larger bedroom with decent daylight, where the extra depth will not feel heavy. Dusty Sky Blue (#B4BFCE, LRV 51) is the only cool choice. Its blue undertone feels calm, and it holds up in a room that gets strong sun.
These are muted, soft pastels, not candy colors. That is why they sit well on bedroom walls: they stay quiet next to bedding and wood.
If you want one color on all four walls, start with Soft Parchment. Use the other two on a single wall, a headboard wall or in fabric.
What colors go with pastel bedroom walls?
Start with trim and ceiling. Warm Chalk White (#E5E0D4, LRV 75) is lighter than all three pastels, so it frames the walls without a hard edge. Paint the trim and ceiling in it. It comes from the same Caprera painting as the blue, and its warm yellow undertone sits comfortably with Soft Parchment and Pale Straw.
For flooring and wood, use Deep Olive Brown (#625B45, LRV 11). It is very dark, so keep it to a bed frame, a dresser or a wood floor, where it anchors the pale walls. Mid Tan Khaki (#A5936D, LRV 30) suits one bold piece: an armchair, a bench or a headboard. A rug in this tone also works.
A simple plan: Soft Parchment walls, Dusty Sky Blue on the main furniture or an upholstered bed, Pale Straw in curtains and bedding, and the two darker tones in wood and one accent piece.
How do pastel bedroom colors look in different light?
Light changes pastels more than deeper colors. A high LRV means the color reflects a lot of light, so it also shows every shift in the light around it.
In a north-facing bedroom, daylight is cool and flat. Soft Parchment and Pale Straw are the safer choices there because their warm yellow undertone offsets the chill. Dusty Sky Blue can turn grayer. In a south- or west-facing room, daylight is warmer, and the blue balances it well.
Evening matters most in a bedroom. Warm bulbs push all three colors toward yellow, and the blue loses some of its coolness. Cooler bulbs do the opposite. Choose your bulbs first, then judge the color under them.
Walls in shadow, such as beside a wardrobe or near the ceiling, will read a little deeper than the number suggests. Pale Straw (LRV 56) and Dusty Sky Blue (LRV 51) show this most.
How do I test pastel paint samples?
Paint on a screen never matches a wall exactly, so test in the room. The closest commercial matches we measured are a good place to start. For Soft Parchment, Sherwin-Williams SW 7688 Sundew and Behr HDC-AC-09 Concord Buff are near-identical, and Farrow & Ball No. 226 Joa's White is very close.
For Pale Straw, Behr BXC-80 Wildwood is near-identical, while Sherwin-Williams SW 7732 Lemongrass and Farrow & Ball No. 16 Cord are very close. For Dusty Sky Blue, Behr N550-3 Best In Show is near-identical, Sherwin-Williams SW 6541 Daydream is very close, and Farrow & Ball No. 27 Parma Gray is close.
Paint a large board, about two feet square, or a patch on each wall. Set it next to your trim color and the floor. Look at it in the morning, at midday and at night under your bedroom lamps. Wait until the sample is dry before judging. Choose the one that still looks good at the hour you use the room most.
FAQ
What is the best pastel color for a small bedroom?
Soft Parchment (LRV 64) is the lightest of the three and bounces the most light, so it is the best starting point for a small room. Keep trim and ceiling in a warm white so the walls do not feel boxed in.
Are pastel colors good for bedroom walls?
Yes, when they are muted. These pastels have LRVs between 51 and 64, so they read soft and light without being bright. They sit quietly next to bedding, wood and lamps.
Can I mix a warm pastel and a blue pastel in one bedroom?
Yes. Put the warm Soft Parchment on the walls and use Dusty Sky Blue on a bed or main furniture. Both come from the same era of painting and sit well together, and the warm chalk white trim ties them together.
What trim color goes with pastel bedroom paint colors?
Warm Chalk White (LRV 75) is lighter than all three pastels, so it reads as crisp trim without a stark edge. Use the same color on the ceiling for a clean, quiet look.
Which pastel wall colors for a bedroom suit a room with little sun?
Choose Soft Parchment or Pale Straw. Their warm yellow undertones offset cool, flat daylight. Dusty Sky Blue can look grayer in a north-facing room, so test it there before committing.
Save these colors
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 Metropolitan Museum of Art, 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.
From Mountainous Landscape at Tivoli, Simon Denis
