Adding an accent wall is a wonderful way to boost the visual impact of your home. Even better, if you’re only painting one wall, the mess and disruption will be minimal.
Before you look for an accent color, take a look at the other colors in your space.
Trendy Accent Paint Colors
Is your current color scheme cool? If you have white trim, gray flooring, and black or blue furniture, it’s likely. If your current color scheme is warm, you might have ivory trim, tan carpet and brown furniture.
Your accent wall should match and support your current color scheme. A cool charcoal gray accent wall will make your black or blue furniture look new.
Against tan carpet or a brown couch, the charcoal accent wall may actually appear blue.
Here are my choices for trendy accent paint colors.
- Darkroom
- Raspberry Blush
- Gentle Violet
- Pewter Green
- French Beret
- Peppercorn
- Fair Isle Blue
- Terra Rosa
- Fatigue Green
1) Darkroom
Darkroom from Sherwin-Williams reads a rich gray-brown. However, by the numbers, this wall color is actually in the purple family.
Purple is, of course, a combination of red and blue. Sherwin-Williams changes this up by adding enough green to dull the red and subdue the blue.
If you need an accent wall where you can display antique books, this color is a great option. It would also be an excellent backing color for pen and ink drawings on yellowed paper.
Darkroom is a color that will be a terrific foil for antiques and old woods. Avoid pairing it with anything that is obviously blue. This color may go muddy if you try to cool it down.
RGB: 69, 61, 64
Hex Code: #453D40
2) Raspberry Blush
Do you have a room in your home that needs some heat? Maybe you have an office that really needs a pop of color to increase your creativity.
Raspberry Blush from Benjamin Moore will heat up any space. It’s a beautiful way to add some new life to ivory or beige color schemes.
Be very careful when pairing Raspberry Blush with cool colors. Your porch blue ceiling in the family room may not play well with this shade. Cool colors will draw out the pink.
This color is actually a hot coral or salmon. It needs warm tones to draw it out.
RGB: 215, 95, 86
Hex Code: #D75F56
Paint Color Samples
Would you like to sample these paint colors? I recommend using a peel and stick paint sample from SAMPLIZE. Peel and stick paint samples are very affordable and easy to use. They are also clean and environmentally friendly!
Advantages of using peel and stick paint samples:
- EASY TO USE: Simply move your SAMPLIZE paint sample around the room to test under a variety of lighting conditions.
- AFFORDABLE: Budget-friendly solution and no more buying inaccurate swatches, rollers, wasted paint.
- SUPER FAST DELIVERY: Depending on your location, 1 day delivery is possible.
- ORDER FROM HOME: Save a trip to the store looking for samples.
- NO MESS: SAMPLIZE uses real paint samples with zero-mess
- NO WASTE: No leftover cans or wasted paint.
3) Gentle Violet
Not every accent wall needs to be boisterous. If your current color scheme is white or a silver gray, Gentle Violet is a subtle, pale purple that can add just the right touch of contrast.
Subtle Violet is nicely balanced. If you’ve been using minimalist decorating tips for a while and want just a bit more color to warm up a space, try putting Gentle Violet on one wall.
Even better, put it on one wall and the ceiling. Your current white shelving and paint will be much fresher and you’ll have a nice touch of warmth and comfort on your accent wall.
By putting this slightly muted shade of very pale purple on the ceiling as well, you can start to break away from the “white box” mindset.
RGB: 226, 223, 226
Hex Code: #E2DFE2
4) Pewter Green
One of the nicest things about shades of green is that they tend to serve effectively as a foil for many other colors.
Pewter Green from Sherwin-Williams offers home decorators the chance to add a wall of background color that will not only boost your colors. Pewter Green is also a wonderful foil for different metals.
Put this on your kitchen walls and change out your cabinet hardware with something in the chrome family. Brushed nickel would also work.
If you like darker hardware, try cast iron or a rubbed bronze, but use a satin or semi-gloss wall paint. Painting your cabinets can be quite an investment, both in time and tools.
Painting your kitchen walls and changing up your hardware can radically change the look of your space in a much shorter time.
RGB: 94, 98, 89
Hex Code: #5E6259
5) French Beret
Fans of gray will find something to love about French Beret from Benjamin Moore. If you were ever going to create yourself a sample of any color, do it with French Beret. In cool light, this color is gray.
In warm light, it may just read green.
The shadow tones off of this color appear black. To keep things from getting too dark and sooty in your home, avoid using this color on walls where you plan to put bookshelves or hang display shelves.
Do pair this color with black fabrics or artwork trimmed in black.
RGB: 76 79 82
Hex Code: #4C4F52
6) Peppercorn (7674) – Sherwin-Williams
Peppercorn from Sherwin-Williams is a beautifully balanced gray that could be an ideal addition for anyone looking for a dark accent. Because this color is so beautifully balanced, you can also play with this color by changing up the sheens.
For best effect, you will want to paint the whole wall in the flat shade. Once it’s completely dry, you can experiment a bit. A good masking tape will make it possible for you to add intermittent stripes.
You can get a bit more daring and create diagonals. Whenever possible, do try to create random stripes. Very few spaces are actually square.
You don’t want to get to the last 1/3 of your striped wall and realize your corner is not going to line up from ceiling to floor.
Peel-and-Stick Paint Sample – Peppercorn (7674) – Sherwin-Williams
RGB: 89, 89, 90
Hex Code: #59595A
7) Fair Isle Blue (CSP-715) – Benjamin Moore
If you’re in love with the idea of green but you’re not keen on olive tones, check out Fair Isle Blue from Benjamin Moore. This luscious shade of green-blue reminds me of a cool shady spot under a canopy of summer leaves.
This color is a wonderful tone for homes that are on the cool side but need something to pull them all together.
This color would also be wonderful as the background for your children’s favorite books or their collection of puzzles and games. For those who love pastels, let your favorite gentle shades sparkle against this green.
Peel-and-Stick Paint Sample – Fair Isle Blue (CSP-715) – Benjamin Moore
RGB: 73, 110, 115
Hex Code: #4A6F72
8) Terra Rosa
The smoky terra cotta shade from Dunn Edwards is a wonderful way to gently warm up your home. Terra Rosa is a warm color but doesn’t press.
As long as you can pair it with other warm shades, you let this color anchor a large room or serve as a terrific background for collectibles.
If you want to get more oomph for your accent wall investment, try pairing this color with charcoal gray. A charcoal gray carpet or a gray suede sofa will boost the contrast and Terra Rosa will push back.
Add a little black to the mix and you’ve got some terrific visual energy.
RGB: 187, 101, 105
Hex Code: #BB6569
9) Fatigue Green
To be fair, Fatigue Green from Benjamin Moore is much more attractive than the name suggests. True, it’s a deep olive green. There’s a lot more red than blue in it, which gives it a sooty tone.
However, this green could be exactly what your beige walls need. In addition to painting yourself a sample, try painting a sample of plain yellow and placing it next to your existing beige or ivory walls.
The more yellow in your wall paint, the better this green will look. It will also look wonderful against brown fabrics and rugs.
RGB: 76, 74, 62
Hex Code: #4C4A3E
