Color Palettes

Vintage Paint Colors and Palette Home Style Guide

White would be the go to choice for a classic vintage wall paint color. White walls let you create a blank canvas for your room, from where you can style it with vintage decor and furniture. Some other vintage paint colors include:

Off white – a very light cream
Light grey
Dark blueish grey
Royal Blue
Light Green/Mint
Pastel blue

A muted and neutral vintage color palette would be ideal in the main living spaces (the living room and bedroom). Because these are meant to be relaxing spaces, washed out and toned down colors would help create that relaxing feeling. Whereas the kitchen, dining room and maybe even the bathroom can have a brighter color scheme. Check out the paint examples of vintage colors below.

Mint Wall Paint Color: Fresh Mint (closest match)

Teal Wall Paint Color: San Clemente Teal (closest match)

Peach Wall Paint Color: Intense Peach (closest match)

Royal Blue Wall Paint Color: Bold Blue (closest match)

Dark Grey Wall Paint Color: Newbury Port Blue HC-155 (closest match)

Light Grey Wall Paint Color: Gray Cloud 2126-60 (closest match)

Off White Wall Paint Color: Ivory Tusk 2153-70 closest match)

White Wall Paint Color: White Dove OC-17 (closest match)

Remember: To get a real feel of what a paint color would look like in your room, you have to test it. The colors of photos you see on your computer can look much different in real life because a) different computer monitors show colors differently, b) the lighting in the room of the picture can change the colors, and b) the way the room was photographed can distort the colors.

Get a sample of the vintage paint color you want and paint a small portion of the wall. Or an alternative is to prime and paint a sheet of wood, or cardboard and hang it up on the wall.

Decorative Elements

Here are some decorative elements you can add to your walls to create subtle vintage styling:

Vintage style crown molding (3 Unique Vintage Ceiling Design Ideas)
Decorative wainscoting
Paint over embossed antique styled Anaglypta wallpaper (Vintage Style Wallpaper Patterns and Designs)
Wall trim can create simple vintage style patterns on the wall (check out my shabby chic paint colors link below to see an example)

Have a look at my shabby chic paint color schemes post for more color inspiration and combinations: Room Styling: Shabby Chic Paint Colors.

image credits: 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

More Vintage Home Style Posts:

February 29, 2016 in Color Palettes, Design Styles

Dining Room Colors and Paint Scheme Ideas

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Chantilly Lace OC-65

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter HC-172

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Bleeker Beige HC-80

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Kendall Charcoal HC-166

Similar Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Tea 2091-10

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Terrapin Green 2145-20

Wall Color: Benjamin Moore Caribbean Teal 2123-20

Creating a Living Room Color Palette

You can see from the pictures above that the color palette of the rooms are made up of more than just the color on the walls. You’ve got the floor, the ceiling even, the main furniture pieces, curtains – and the walls. What this means is that you’ll need to look at your whole room (floors, ceiling, furniture pieces, etc.) and coordinate all the dining room colors to create a well designed space.

3 Ways to Create a Color Scheme in a Room

I see 3 ways to go about co-ordinating the colors in a dining room:

Paint all the wall in a neutral color like white, off white, cream or light grey. This creates a blank canvas for you to decorate the dining room with colorful decor pieces.
Paint all of the walls in the color of your choice. One thing to remember when doing this is that your color choice will determine how the room feels. Light colors will make a dining room feel large, spacious, and bright. Dark colors will make the dining room feel smaller and more intimate.
If you feel painting all the walls in a color might be a bit overwhelming, then you can opt for a feature wall – just like the dining room in picture (A) below. A feature wall is one wall that you paint in a color (such as red, blue or black). You then paint all the other walls in a neurtal color (white, cream, light grey). The one wall with color stands out, and becomes a focal point in the room. It also adds color to the space, but in a subtle way.

Popular Dining Room Paint Colors

Neutral shades such as off white, light and dark grey, and cream are popular modern dining room paint ideas. Other popular wall colors include light yellow and light olive.

Color Guide: Purple Dining Room Decor Ideas

Test and Experiment

You will want to go out and get paint samples and take them home. This is the best way to get a clear idea of what your space will look like. It is hard to trust pictures, because the rooms can easily look different in real life (different computer screens show different colors, the camera settings can make the space look different in the picture, etc.). Also the lighting your dining room, or the texture of your walls can play a role in how the paint color will turn out. You’ve also got major furniture pieces, the floor, even the ceiling that you want to consider when choosing the paint color for your walls.

Breaking Up The Look of Solid Flat Walls

If having a flat solid painted wall seems a bit dull or you have a large dining room, you can add some design elements to break up the design of the wall. One idea is to use wainscoting. By adding wooden panels you add depth to the walls and wainscoting also divides the walls into different sections and colors – seen in picture (B). Wall trim is another way to add some decoration and depth to the walls.

Other ideas include hanging up floating shelves, artwork, or planters.

Finishing Touches

Once you’ve painted your dining room walls, you might like to add a few extra design touches such as:

Crown molding (C)
Base molding
Framing any entryways – just like in picture (D)

1/2/3/4/5/6/7 A/B/C/D

Inbetween Rooms: Hallway Paint Colors

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Barren Plain 2111-60

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Edgecomb Gray HC-173

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Ivory White 925

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Golden Straw 2152-50

Similar Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Gentleman’s Gray 2062-20

The hallway can be easily overlooked when it comes to home design. It is a shame really, since the first thing you see when you leave your bedroom will be what you have in your hallway. Here are some ideas for hallway paint colors and design elements.

For A Modern Look

The modern color scheme consists of neutral colors such as light grey, off white or cream – just like the hallways in the first four pictures above. But you’ll need to add extra design elements to create a well designed combination, otherwise your halls will looks quite plain and dull. Adding floor trim for example. Crown molding is another design element, along with wall trim, decorative columns, and wainscoting. Another way to break up a solid wall is to hang up framed pictures – check out the hallway below.

The hallways in pictures (4) and (5) use non modern hallway colors.

Narrow vs Wide Hallways

In my Leave No Space Dark: Hallway Lighting Ideas post I talk about how you want more than just one ceiling light, lighting up the hallway. You want to have enough lights spread out to leave no space dark. If you are not able to redo the lighting, then it is best to go with a light colored wall paint. This will help make the area feel more spacious. Hanging up a mirror in the hallway will also help make a dark or narrow space feel larger and brighter, as it reflects light and adds depth.

If you have a wide hallway, any paint color, include dark ones will look good. For wider hallways you’ll definitely want to add some of the design elements mentioned above (crown molding, wall trim, wainscoting) along with wall lamps and side tables to break up the solid looking walls.

Creative Hallway Ideas

If you want a more decorative looking hallway, then check out my painting textures post (Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects) for ideas such as using a brush to create a linen paint effect, or a sponge to create a marble look.

There is always wallpaper, though an expensive option. But check out the anaglypta style wallpaper below. It adds style to a wall but in a subtle and understated way.

Left: Richard Anaglypta from Wayfair $2.91 | Right: Armadillo Anaglypta from Wayfair $5.56

1/2/3/4/5/6

Room Styling: Shabby Chic Paint Colors

Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Blue Bonnet 2050-70

Wall Paint Color: Country Dairy by Ralph Lauren

Similar Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Blue Lace 1625

Similar Wall Paint Color: Benjamin Moore Cloud White 967

The classic shabby chic paint scheme is white – just white walls. This gives you a blank canvas to then decorate the space with a pastel color palette: cream, yellow, mint, pink, and light grey. In most of the pictures above, you’ll see white or off white painted rooms. In my room specific mood boards, you’ll also see the white/off white walls:

Other shabby chic paint colors include painting the walls mint, light blue or light grey.

A Textured Look

For a more rustic style, why not go for a textured wall. This can be done with rough plastering, Italian style (seen below in picture (A). There are also ways of creating a textured look just by using paint effects (Textured Wall Painting Ideas: From Faux Wood to Linen Effects).

Check out my mood board here for different shabby chic wallpaper designs. My favorite designs are the textured ones, called Anaglypta wallpaper. You can even get wallpaper that looks like lace (B).

For me, the best shabby chic combination would be white walls with decorative wall trim, seen in picture (C) above. You can also get some pretty fancy crown molding that would go well in a shabby chic styled room (D).

To really get a shabby chic style in the room, you’ll want to use as much fabric as possible. This includes on the walls. Have a look at my post here for ideas on how to decorate the windows: Window Treatment Style: Shabby Chic Curtains, Rods, and Tie Backs.

1/2/3/4/5/6 | A/B/C/D