The Most—and Least—Soothing Paint Colors, According to Interior Design Pros
AS WE CLOSE in on a year of living claustrophobically, Americans continue to look for strategies that can quiet the jitters—and don’t involve thousands of calories. One solution: calming decor. To help you out, we asked hundreds of designers what they consider the most soothing interior paint colors.
Nature-inspired palettes of pale blue and olive green were mentioned often. Notably absent? Pigments such as fire-engine red and neon green, which the experts view as invigorating at best and anxiety-inducing at worst. “As a rule of thumb, the more saturated and pigmented the color, the more it is associated with excitement and stimulation,” explained Palo Alto, Calif., architect Mary Maydan.
Here are the four specific paint colors that were most frequently cited by our expert panel, followed by four hues that designers generally agreed jangle the nerves.
