Paint colors for your home, inside and out
Victorian style · colors from 6 paintings
Victorian living room colors lean dark, warm and rich, with one pale tone to rest the eye. These six colors were measured from paintings and each one lists its LRV, undertone and closest paint match.
Quick answer
Put the pale cream #E8E4C4 on the walls and ceiling, then bring in forest green #495248, oxblood #522729 and antique gold #A48F5B through furniture, drapes and one accent wall.
A deep green with an LRV of 8, strong enough for a fireplace wall or built-in shelving. It was measured from Renoir's Young Girl in a Pink-and-Black Hat.
From Young Girl in a Pink-and-Black Hat, Auguste Renoir
A very dark warm red with an LRV of 3. Use it on drapes, an armchair or a small wall section. It comes from Degas's Portrait of a Woman in Gray.
From Portrait of a Woman in Gray, Edgar Degas
A mid-tone warm yellow with an LRV of 28, good for picture rails, frames or a velvet cushion. It comes from Aman-Jean's The Outskirts of a Village.
From The Outskirts of a Village, Edmond-François Aman-Jean
A very dark cool blue with an LRV of 2, close to black. It works for a door, window sashes or a ceiling medallion detail. It was measured from Renoir's portrait of Alfred Sisley.
From Alfred Sisley, Pierre-Auguste Renoir
A mid-tone with an LRV of 19 and a warm yellow undertone, suited to a sofa or a large piece of furniture. It comes from George Inness's Early Morning, Tarpon Springs.
From Early Morning, Tarpon Springs, George Inness
A very light warm yellow with an LRV of 77, the brightest color here. Use it on walls or ceiling so the darker colors have room to breathe. It comes from Daubigny's A River Landscape with Storks.
From A River Landscape with Storks, Charles-François Daubigny
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Antique Gold | ||||
| Pale Celery Cream |
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 Young Girl in a Pink-and-Black Hat.
This palette has one very light color and five dark or mid-tone ones, so the first decision is where the light goes. The pale cream #E8E4C4, at LRV 77, is the natural wall color because it keeps a room with heavy furniture from feeling closed in.
Then choose one dark color to lead. Forest green #495248 and oxblood #522729 are both strong enough to carry a room, but using both on large surfaces will feel heavy. Let one take a wall or the built-ins, and keep the other for fabric.
The gold, the brown and the ink blue are supporting colors. They work best in small amounts: frames, a lamp base, a rug border or a painted door.
For trim, there are two sensible routes. Use the pale cream on trim and walls for a soft, low-contrast look. Or paint trim in the deep green or ink blue for a more dramatic frame around the cream walls.
The ceiling can take the cream as well. A light ceiling over dark walls helps bounce light around the room, which a Victorian-style room often needs.
For flooring, dark stained wood fits this palette, and a worn leather brown like #847565 gives you a guide for rugs and upholstery that sit between the wood and the walls. Avoid pale, cool floors, since they will argue with the warm undertones in the gold, brown and cream.
Dark colors with an LRV under 10 absorb most of the light that reaches them. In a living room with a north-facing window, the green and the oxblood will look deeper and nearly black in the corners.
In strong south light, the same colors show more of their undertone. The green reads clearly green, and the oxblood shows its warm red.
Under warm evening lamps, the dark tones turn cozy and the gold glows. That is often the best time to see this palette. If your living room is mostly used in the evening, judge your samples then, with the lamps you actually use.
Dark paints change the most between a small chip and a full wall, so use a large sample. Paint a board at least two feet square with two coats, and look at it on the wall where it will go.
Check it next to the pale cream and next to your wood and fabrics. Very dark colors can look flat on their own and richer once they sit beside a light color.
Test at three times of day, and again with the lamps on. If a sample looks muddy in daylight but good at night, think about how the room is used before you decide. A living room used mostly after work can handle a deeper wall than one used in the morning.
This palette uses deep green, oxblood red, antique gold, ink blue, leather brown and a pale celery cream, all measured from paintings.
For most rooms, the pale cream #E8E4C4 is the easiest wall color, with LRV 77. Use the dark colors on one wall, the built-ins or the fabrics.
Yes, but keep them to one feature wall or the woodwork and keep the ceiling light. Very dark colors with an LRV under 10 make walls recede.
Either the pale cream for a soft look, or a deep green or ink blue for strong contrast against light walls.
Use a large painted board, two coats, and look at it in morning light, afternoon light and evening lamp light before you commit.
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.
