Paint colors for your home, inside and out
Teal · Bedroom · colors from 3 paintings
The best teal for a bedroom is a muted, cool one, and the three here were measured from paintings by Renoir and Cezanne. They range from mid-tone to deep, with LRV between 16 and 21, so they make a calm, enclosed room. Below you will find where each one works, the closest paints, and the colors that go with them.
Quick answer
Use the mid-tone teal #4A8987 on walls, the deeper #4F7577 on furniture, and #287886 in textiles or on one accent wall. Pair them with the pale green #D1D7BA on the walls.
A mid-tone teal with a cool blue undertone and an LRV of 21, the lightest of the three. It is the most comfortable choice for bedroom walls, and it comes from Renoir's By the Seashore.
From By the Seashore, Auguste Renoir
A deep, grayish teal with an LRV of 16 that suits a bed wall, a dresser or a painted bed frame. It is measured from Cezanne's Standing Bather, Seen from the Back.
From Standing Bather, Seen from the Back, Paul Cezanne
The bluest of the three, with an LRV of 16, so it works best as an accent wall, curtains or a duvet rather than on four walls. It comes from Renoir's Lucie Berard (Child in White).
From Lucie Berard (Child in White), Pierre-Auguste Renoir
A light green with an LRV of 66 that bounces light and sits well beside the teals. Use it on walls or trim-adjacent areas; it is measured from Renoir's Lucie Berard (Child in White).
From Lucie Berard (Child in White), Pierre-Auguste Renoir
A mid-tone with a warm yellow undertone and an LRV of 22, good for one bold piece such as an armchair or a cushion. It warms the cool teals and comes from Renoir's By the Seashore.
From By the Seashore, Auguste Renoir
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 By the Seashore.
All three teals here are cool and sit between LRV 16 and 21, so they read mid to deep. On walls, that makes a bedroom feel enclosed and calm rather than bright. The mid-tone #4A8987, from Renoir's By the Seashore, is the easiest to live with. At LRV 21 it is the lightest of the three, though still near the dark end of the scale.
The deeper #4F7577 comes from Cezanne's Standing Bather, Seen from the Back. It is grayer and quieter, a good choice for a bed wall or a full room with plenty of daylight. The deepest blue, #287886 from Renoir's Lucie Berard (Child in White), has the strongest blue pull. It suits a single accent wall, a headboard wall or a set of curtains better than four walls in a small room.
If you are looking for turquoise or aqua, know that these are muted, cool teals, not bright ones. They give you the sea-water tone with a softer, more restful feel.
A teal bedroom scheme can be built from these five colors. Use the pale green #D1D7BA (LRV 66) on the walls. It is light, bounces light, and its green undertone sits well beside teal. Put the deep teal #4F7577 on the main furniture, such as a dresser or a painted bed frame, and use #287886 in textiles like a throw, curtains or a duvet.
Add warmth with wood in a mid brown, close to #8B6B4A, for a nightstand or a floor. Then use the olive gold #8B8244 for one bold piece, like an armchair, a lampshade or a cushion. Its warm yellow undertone contrasts nicely with the cool teals.
For trim and ceiling, keep it simple. A soft white trim and a ceiling one shade lighter than the walls keep the room from feeling heavy. Choose whites that do not look yellow or gray next to the pale green. A wood floor or a warm neutral rug grounds all the cool color.
Because these colors are cool and low in LRV, they tend to change more with light than a pale color does. In a room with little daylight, they look deeper and bluer. In a room with strong sun, they look more open and a little greener.
Evening matters in a bedroom. Warm bulbs add yellow and pull teal toward green, while cool white bulbs push it toward blue. Pick one bulb color before you judge a sample. The mid-tone #4A8987 stays the most readable at night because it is the lightest. The deep #287886 can look close to dark once the lamps are low.
The pale green #D1D7BA, at LRV 66, helps bounce light back into the room. Using it on the walls, with teal on furniture and textiles, keeps a small bedroom from closing in. If you paint all four walls in a teal below LRV 20, plan on an extra lamp or two so the room does not feel cave-like.
Paint a sample at least two feet square on two different walls, or on poster board you can move around the room. Tape it up next to your trim color, curtains and flooring so you see the real combination, not the teal alone.
Look at it in the morning, at midday and at night with your usual lamps on. Check it beside the bed, where you will see it most. Deep colors can look different next to a white ceiling than they do on their own, so view the sample near the ceiling line too.
The paint matches on this page are the closest ones measured, not exact copies. For #4A8987, Sherwin-Williams SW 6480 Lagoon is near-identical. For #4F7577, Behr 740F-5 Myth is near-identical. For #287886, Sherwin-Williams SW 6495 Great Falls is near-identical. Screens and paint batches vary, so always confirm with a real sample.
The mid-tone #4A8987 (LRV 21) is the easiest choice for walls. For a quieter, grayer room, try #4F7577 (LRV 16).
These teals are all below LRV 22, so they read dark. In a small room, use one on an accent wall or on furniture and pair it with the pale green #D1D7BA (LRV 66) on the other walls.
Pale green, soft white trim, mid-brown wood and a warm olive gold all work. The olive gold #8B8244 has a warm yellow undertone that contrasts with the cool teal.
The colors here are muted, cool teals rather than bright turquoise or aqua. That makes them calmer for sleeping, and a pale green on the walls keeps the room light.
Sherwin-Williams SW 6480 Lagoon is near-identical to #4A8987, and Behr 740F-5 Myth is near-identical to #4F7577. Sherwin-Williams SW 6495 Great Falls is near-identical to #287886.
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.
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Painting images: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 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.
