Calming Bedroom Colors: 6 Color Ideas and Feng Shui by Direction

Home PlannerApp Team · December 17, 2022

Six bedroom color ideas — grey, blue, beige, green, brown and two-color mixes — the shades that pair with each, and feng shui colors for each direction.

You have one wall behind the bed, a few quiet hours in the room each evening and a stack of paint cards. The color you pick is the last thing you see before you sleep. Here are six calming bedroom colors, what to pair with each, and what feng shui says about each direction of the room.

People noticed long ago that the color of a room changes how they feel. Folk healers used color to treat their patients. Today this idea has a name, chromotherapy. Its followers describe color as an active element that acts on the body through light waves of different lengths, and some claim it can cure diseases. Those claims are not proven. The simple part most people agree on: some colors help you relax, and some keep you alert.

This holds whatever you buy, Behr, Benjamin Moore or Farrow & Ball, and whatever the shade, soft grey or purple. The shade matters more than the label.

So choose the colors around you with care, from the walls to the bedding. The bedroom deserves the most attention of all the rooms in the house. It is where you recover after work, and for a couple it is the room that should help the relationship, not strain it. Color affects more than mood: it can also change how you perceive a space, how you behave and even how well you work.

What are popular bedroom paint colors?

Six shades lead:

• deep grey;
• calm blue;
• a premium beige range;
• a mix of several colors, including black;
• shades of green;
• strong brown.

What color bedroom is best for sleep?

A calm, muted one. Bright, colorful shades irritate, so keep them off the walls.

Many people find it hard to choose a bedroom color, because the room has one job: rest after the working day. Go through the main options below and keep the one that fits you.

Which bedroom color combinations work?

Pair one main color with one or two supporting shades: grey with pink, blue with sand or cream, beige with orange, brown with white. Here is how each main color behaves.

Grey: a neutral base that lets the rest lead

Many designers like a grey such as Johnson gray. It is fully neutral, so the bed, the textiles and the art make the statement, and the same room can take many looks. Add pink for contrast.

With grey, you build the whole picture from several colors. Mix cool and warm items. Follow your own taste and mood, and change the accents with the season if you like.

Blue: calm and timeless

Some people think crisp blue is too formal, a color for an office or a hallway. It is your room, so it is your call. Blue is timeless, its popularity is not falling, and it is easy to feel at ease in a blue bedroom.

Blue comes in many current shades. To make the room cozier, bring other colors in through the furniture, the accessories and the small details. Sand, chocolate, cream and marsala work well with it.

Beige: the most common choice

Most bedrooms today are light beige. Powdery shades dominate, and they give a sense of peace and comfort. Beige suits rooms that face north or south, and it is an easy base for other shades. With a good eye, a mix of beige tones can look rich rather than plain.

Two or three shades together

Many bedrooms use two or three shades at once, sometimes with black among them. One pair to consider is orange with beige. Use the darker areas to pick out one element of the room, so the eye stops there.

Dark green: noble, with natural wood

Dark green is considered a noble shade. Complete it with furniture in natural wood of any tone. It suits rooms with many windows: there, the dark walls do not make the room feel heavy.

Brown: chocolate with a white accent

Brown shades have many variations, and they have become popular recently. Chocolate brown looks especially good in minimalist and high-tech rooms. The trade-off: a lot of brown can feel gloomy. The fix is simple: add a white accent.

That is a lot of options. How do you choose the one that suits you? Feng shui offers one answer, based on where the room is.

Photo by Festoon lights

Which feng shui bedroom colors suit each direction?

It depends on where the bedroom sits: green in the east, earth tones in the center, orange and yellow in the south, blue in the north, and white, grey and silver in the west.

Feng shui pays attention to details that look small, and color is one of them. Its aim is a home that looks good, feels comfortable and feels balanced. One factor it weighs is where the bedroom is in the home:

• East: shades of green, the color of the Wood element. Wood brings energy, so mix green with other colors.
• Center: natural colors of the Earth element.
• South: the Fire element, with soft orange and yellow leading. In Chinese tradition, a touch of red helps to warm the relationship of a couple.
• North: blue and light blue, the colors of Water. Do not let Water take over the room: in excess, it is said to be destructive.
• West: the colors of Metal, white, grey and silver. They help to steady the couple's state of mind.

Common mistake: following one element all the way. A bedroom full of bright green is hard to fall asleep in. Mix the main color with others.

See the colors on your own bedroom first

A paint card is small and a wall is not. Before you buy paint, draw your bedroom in Home Planner, change the wall color and look at the room in 3D. You can measure your space, build 2D and 3D floor plans, furnish the room with products from real brands, create realistic images of it, and take ideas from ready-made layouts for bedrooms, bathrooms, living rooms and more.

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