Ready to upgrade your small living room? A fresh coat of paint can do more than you might think – especially if you choose one of the best paint colors for a small living room!
Choosing paint for a small living room can feel a little intimidating. The wrong shade can make the room feel darker, smaller, or downright cramped, but the right one can completely transform the space, making it feel brighter, bigger, and pulled together.
After years of working as a professional paint color consultant, I’ve learned an important lesson: you don’t need more space to make your living room stunning. You just need the right color strategy.
In this guide, we share 18 of our favorite living room paint colors for small spaces, and break down what to consider when choosing your perfect hue.
Let’s dive into the shades that truly shine in small spaces.
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Things to Consider When Choosing Paint for a Small Living Room
Before you fall in love with a paint color for your small living room, it’s important to take a step back and think about what you want the room to actually feel like. Color isn’t just visual, it’s emotional, and in a small living room, the right shade can completely shift the mood and proportions of the space.
Here are some things to think about when exploring the paint colors we’re sharing below:
Start With Your Goals
Ask yourself what you want the room to accomplish:
- Make the room feel larger? Light, airy colors can help visually expand the space.
- Create a cozy retreat? Warmer, deeper hues can make a small space feel perfect for curling up in.
- Feel more welcoming? Soft, muted neutrals and warm tones help create that inviting, lived-in look.
- Make the ceiling look higher? Use strategic contrast or even a darker ceiling to blur where the room ends.
- Showcase art or décor? Choose a backdrop that highlights — not competes with — your favorite pieces.
- Add more color? Mid-tone hues can bring personality without overwhelming the space.
Make the Color Flows With the Rest of Your Home
Even if your living room is a separate space from the rest of your home (as opposed to an open-concept area), it’s important that the color you choose works within your whole-house color palette.
Pick a color that matches the mutedness of the rest of your home, for example, and make sure the undertones align with the surrounding rooms. This preserves flow and prevents the living room from feeling like it belongs to a different house. An example of what I mean by mutedness is that you wouldn’t pair a lime green color with brick. Keep earthy colors separate from crisp, fresh colors.
Coordinate the Walls to Your Hard Finishes & Decor
Your wall color needs to work with your home’s hard finishes, including tile, countertops, wood tones, flooring, existing furniture, and decor. Even the perfect color falls flat if it clashes with the other hues in a space.
Placement Matters as Much as the Color
In small rooms, how you use color is just as important as the color itself. A sharp line between the wall and ceiling, with a clear color contrast, can make the room feel taller.
Wrapping the walls and ceiling in one color, on the other hand, can create a sleek, uninterrupted look. A darker ceiling can make the edges of the room disappear, tricking the eye into seeing more height.
When you strategically combine the right hue and the right application, even the smallest living room can feel thoughtfully designed without feeling cramped.
Our Favorite Small Living Room Paint Colors
Ready to find your perfect hue? Explore our favorite paint colors, all featured in real client homes from our years of professional paint color consulting.
White Paint Colors for a Small Living Room
It’s no surprise that a warm white paint color can help a small space feel light and airy. White walls can also help highlight art and decor you want to showcase.
Benjamin Moore Oxford White
Oxford White (Sample) is one of Benjamin Moore’s cleanest white paint colors. It’s soft, clean, and crisp, and truly a neutral paint color. With an LRV of 86.7, it has enough pigment that it won’t reflect the colors around it as much as some other white paint colors.
BM Oxford White (Article) looks gorgeous in my colleague Maddie’s living area, where it complements the home’s warm wood floors, terracotta fireplace tiles, and warm beige decor. It actually makes the room look more colorful.
Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa
Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa (Article) is a warm, off-white paint color perfect in just about any room of the house, including living rooms. This versatile color works well in a variety of lighting thanks to its LRV of 84, which makes it light but still with plenty of pigment.
Greek Villa’s subtle yellow undertones keep the color warm and inviting. In my client’s living room below, Greek Villa (Sample) walls are a wonderful complement to the warm blue accent wall painted with BM Britannia Blue.
Sherwin-Williams Pearly White
SW Pearly White (Article) is a muted, creamy white paint color that looks warm without looking yellow, thanks to its invisible green undertones. Pearly White is actually a complex cream, which is the warm version of a very light greige. It has an LRV of 76.5 and is plenty muted.
In the client’s living room below, Pearly White (Sample) walls bring this gorgeous living room to life! A few decades ago, this house was used as a recording studio, and famous musicians such as Lionel Richie recorded their songs in the living room. Today, the living room’s SW Pearly White walls look like a soft cream and help bring the home into the modern age.
Neutral Paint Colors for a Small Living Room
If you want your home to feel light and airy but don’t want something as light as a white hue, a neutral paint color could be your best bet. Here are a few of our favorites:
Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter
Revere Pewter (Article) is a medium greige paint color with green undertones. It’s warm, crisp and clean and perfect for many different interior and exterior paint projects.
The LRV of BM Revere Pewter (Sample) is 55, which makes it a medium gray. It’s light enough to use in just about every room of the house, but also has plenty of pigment.
Revere Pewter is a fantastic living room paint color! In our client’s room below, it pairs beautifully with the warm stone and natural wood floors throughout the space.
Benjamin Moore Natural Cream
Natural Cream (Article) is a beautiful, warm greige (almost beige) paint color that really doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Even though it’s a greige, it’s so clean and fresh that it can look like a darker creamy white inside.
Natural Cream (Sample) has an LRV of 64.78, which makes it a really beautiful mid-tone paint color. It has enough depth not to look washed out or stark in rooms with lots of bright, natural light.
Natural Cream works really well as a living room paint color because it can coordinate with a variety of hard finishes, furniture, and decor. It can add depth and warmth to a bright room with lighter finishes, but can also help brighten up a darker space (such as my client’s living room below).
Sherwin-Williams Mortar
Sherwin-Williams Mortar (Article) is one of the most gorgeous colors on the planet – and I say that as a professional paint color consultant!
Sherwin-Williams SW Mortar (Sample) paint is a light and airy warm greige (bordering on a light beige) with an LRV of 74. It can be used in place of a traditional white paint color in many applications, with soft green undertones that keep it looking warm and inviting.
We used this hue in my client’s living room, which also featured a unique SW Analytical Gray ceiling.
Sherwin-Williams Natural Linen
SW Natural Linen (Article) is a really interesting color. It is a warm beige hue with pinkish, peachy undertones, which give it a really unique look on the wall.
Natural Linen (Sample) is a warm, peachy beige paint color. It has enough pigment (LRV 66) that it will never look white and brings a cozy, inviting feeling to whatever space it’s used in.
In our client’s home below, for example, the undertone works great with the stacked stone fireplace in the family room.
Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige
We’ve recommended SW Accessible Beige (Article) to countless clients for interior and exterior paint projects. It is an excellent choice for a small living room because it’s more muted than many beige colors but warmer than most gray paint colors. It’s a perfect middle ground!
With an LRV 58, Accessible Beige (Sample) is darker than I typically prefer for a whole house paint color but is light enough to use in a small living space. Its warm green undertones keep it looking cozy and pair well with many hard finishes.
Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
Edgecomb Gray (Article) is a versatile neutral that looks great in both brightly lit or low-light living rooms. Soft green undertones let it pair well with just about any type of light.
The LRV of Edgecomb Gray (Sample) is 63, which makes it very light and balanced greige for interiors. In our client’s living room below, we paired Edgecomb Gray walls with BM White Dove trim for a gorgeous room transformation.
Benjamin Moore Pale Oak
BM Pale Oak (Article) is a light greige color and a versatile neutral that looks great in a bright or dark room. Soft taupe undertones and an LRV of 69 let it pair well with just about any type of light.
Pale Oak (Sample) is really nice with warm wood furniture and floors, and a great way to brighten a home that was previously painted with dark Tuscan colors.
In our client’s home below, for example, Pale Oak walls looked light and airy in our client’s small living room.
Dark Paint Colors for a Small Living Room
While it may seem counterintuitive, a dark paint color can actually make a small room feel larger. Here are a few of our favorite dark paint colors for small spaces:
Benjamin Moore Cambridge Green
Benjamin Moore Cambridge Green (Article) is a dark, warm green paint color that is perfect for accent walls and small accent rooms.
Cambridge Green (Sample) has an LRV of 20.99. It’s darker than some of the popular sage green paint colors, like SW Evergreen Fog, but not so dark that it risks looking black in low light.
Cambridge Green has warm yellow undertones, which give the color its cozy, inviting look. It looks so beautiful in the living room of this mountain home. With huge windows and lots of natural wood trim, it is filled with light and warmth.
Benjamin Moore Blue Spruce
Benjamin Moore Blue Spruce (Article) is a darker blue-green paint color that is perfect for small spaces within a home.
Blue Spruce (Sample) is light enough that it won’t risk being too dark in place. With an LRV of 16.81, it’s dark enough to look like a dark blue and light enough so that you can see the color.
I love the idea of adding a Blue Spruce living room or library to a home. My colleague Maddie helped her sister choose paint colors for her home and used Blue Spruce in the beautiful living room below.
Benjamin Moore Silhouette
Silhouette (Article) was the Benjamin Moore 2026 Color of the Year and is a wonderful color for a small living room or living room accent wall.
With an LRV of 10.18, it’s a deep, moody hue that brings both interest and comfort to any space. It’s really a dark brown paint color, but it’s so muted with violet undertones that it’s surprisingly cool.
The photo from Benjamin Moore below is a great example of what a Silhouette (Sample) accent wall could look like in a small living room.
Benjamin Moore Slate Teal
Slate Teal (Article) is a gorgeous, rich, and colorful teal paint. This paint color is like a priceless polished gemstone. It’s so beautiful that I painted my home gym with it, and it would look lovely in a small living room, too!
Even though this color is dark, with an LRV of 9, it is still vibrant and very colorful thanks to its green undertones. Just make sure you have lots of natural or artificial light so that you can see the color’s true beauty.
We used Slate Teal (Sample) in my basement home gym, pictured below. It would look very similar in a small living room.
Benjamin Moore Grand Sequoia
Benjamin Moore Giant Sequoia (Sample) is a rich terra cotta color that makes a bold statement in a living room.
We used this color for an accent room in a whole-house Simply White color palette (Article), and it made the room shine! It looks so beautiful next to the Simply White walls of the main level.
Bright Paint Colors for a Small Living Room
The last category of paint colors for a small living room are perfect for homeowners who want their rooms to feel bright and colorful.
Benjamin Moore Cornsilk
Benjamin Moore Cornsilk (Article) is a bright but surprisingly timeless yellow paint color that I love to use in living rooms.
BM Cornsilk (Sample) is muted enough to be easy to work with but still looks bright and cheery on the wall. With an LRV of 72 and soft red undertones, Cornsilk is light and bright while still having enough saturated yellow chroma to give it depth and warmth.
Our client’s home below features an open-concept kitchen and living room and we used Cornsilk throughout this space. The paint looks darker and warmer in the living room because of the lighting and is seriously gorgeous!
Sherwin-Williams Avid Apricot
Avid Apricot (Article) is a beautiful, warm, peach paint color and one of my favorites for small spaces within a home.
Avid Apricot (Sample) has an LRV of 62, making it a beautiful, saturated peach paint color. It has orange undertones muted with grays and lightened with white.
Although I consider it a relatively “fresh” color, it’s muted enough to look sophisticated and has enough saturation for the color to look rich. It’s the kind of room color that makes a house a home.
In my web designer’s home below, Avid Apricot looks beautiful paired with white upper walls and ceilings.
Sherwin-Williams Persimmon
The final hue on our list of the best paint colors for small living rooms is Sherwin-Williams Persimmon (Article). Named a Color of the Year in 2024, Persimmon (Sample) is an earthy, warm apricot color, slightly lighter than terra cotta.
It is happy and refreshing, but still sophisticated. It has an LRV of 39, which makes it light-absorbing but bright enough to be cozy and comfortable.
Below is a beautiful living room painted with Persimmon. It’s a great hue for this type of formal living room, which is a separate area in the home.
Bonus Tips for Painting a Small Living Room
Remember, even the perfect paint color needs to be applied properly to a space. As you’re preparing to paint your small living room, keep these paint color consultant tips in mind:
- Always test paint samples in the space you plan to paint and test in varying light throughout the day (such as morning vs evening). Peel-and-stick samples from Samplize.com make this easy.
- Paint the ceiling a lighter and brighter color than the walls. The added contrast can help make the space feel larger. When you have a white ceiling with a defined interface with a dark color, for example, it makes the ceiling look higher because it draws the eye up.
- Use similar undertones across the room for cohesion — if you choose a warm greige wall, avoid trim with cool, blue undertones.
- For small rooms with low natural light, lighter neutrals and warm whites help most. For well-lit rooms, you can go with a deeper color.
Sample the Best Paint Colors for Small Living Rooms
Not sure which living room paint color is best for your home? Use the links below to get peel-and-stick samples of your favorite hues from Samplize.com.
- Benjamin Moore Oxford White
- Sherwin-Williams Greek Villa
- Sherwin-Williams Pearly White
- Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter
- Benjamin Moore Natural Cream
- Sherwin-Williams Mortar
- Sherwin-Williams Natural Linen
- Sherwin-Williams Accessible Beige
- Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray
- Benjamin Moore Pale Oak
- Benjamin Moore Cambridge Green
- Benjamin Moore Blue Spruce
- Benjamin Moore Silhouette
- Benjamin Moore Slate Teal
- Benjamin Moore Grand Sequoia
- Benjamin Moore Cornsilk
- Sherwin-Williams Avid Apricot
- Sherwin-Williams Persimmon
Key Learning Points
The right paint color can make a small living room feel larger, so be sure to choose your hues carefully.
- Consider how you want your living room to feel before choosing a paint color. Whites and light neutrals can make it feel airy and inviting, while a dark, warm color can make a space cozy and welcoming.
- Pay attention to the other colors in your living room and your home as a whole. Choose a color that is similarly muted and has similar or complementary undertones to your decor and hard finishes.
- It may seem counterintuitive, but dark wall paint can actually help make a room feel larger – don’t be afraid to go bold!
No matter what, don’t forget to test your paint colors. Check out the SAMPLIZE website.
NEVER, EVER use paint matches from a different brand than the one specified. Results are poor and there are no standards for the sheens. Even though your painter may genuinely believe it can be done, don’t do it. See results from paint matching here (Article).
Online Color Consulting
Still looking for the best small living room paint color? Discover our Online Color Consulting Package.
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- Best Paint Colors for North-Facing Rooms
- Best Paint Colors for South-Facing Rooms
- Best Basement Paint Colors
- Best Sherwin-Williams White Paint Colors
- Best Benjamin Moore White Paint Colors
About the Author
Hi, I’m Michelle Marceny, founder, owner, and Principal Color Designer at The Color Concierge. I believe a fresh coat of paint can completely transform a space. The Color Concierge was born out of my drive to help clients fall back in love with their homes. My clients trust me to help them find the perfect paint color for their home – whether it’s a whole-house paint color scheme or ideas for a single room.
Since The Color Concierge was founded in 2017, we have completed over 3000 color consultations, both online and in-person. I am a Certified Color Expert with 7 years of experience creating interior and exterior color palettes throughout North America.
We love your comments! Please note that the blog is meant as general advice, and it is not possible to give specific answers to your paint questions. If you want more specific advice, our Online Color Consultations will help you pick your paint colors. Thank you for your understanding.
