Choose the Perfect Paint Colors to Harmonize Your Open Living and Kitchen Space

Having an open floor plan connecting your living room and kitchen creates a spacious, airy feel. But it also presents a decorating challenge: how do you pick paint colors that will unify these adjoining spaces instead of clashing? The secret is choosing a coordinated color palette that creates a smooth, seamless look throughout your open concept home.

With some planning and expert tips, you can choose paint colors that enhance your living room and kitchen area beautifully. Read on for advice on selecting hues that will help you achieve a stylish, cohesive look.

Benefits of a Coordinated Color Scheme

When you opt for a coordinated color plan between your living room and kitchen, you'll enjoy several advantages over haphazard paint choices.

A purposeful palette creates visual harmony between the rooms, providing a polished, sophisticated look. The space will appear larger and more open without the disconnect of clashing colors. Your eyes can move smoothly around the adjoining rooms without being jarred.

Choosing colors within the same family, whether soft neutrals or bright accent shades, makes for a peaceful, easy flow. This cohesive approach is easier on the eyes than disparate hues competing for attention.

Factors to Consider When Choosing Paint Colors

Many elements come into play when selecting paint colors for an open concept living and kitchen area. Here are some of the most important factors to keep in mind.

Amount of Natural Light

The quantity and quality of natural light your rooms receive should guide your paint choices. Darker shades like deep grays or forest greens work beautifully in rooms drenched with sunlight. The rich hues will make the space feel cozier.

For living rooms and kitchens with little natural light, embrace light, bright colors like airy yellows or serene blues. These cheerful hues will open up the space and make it feel larger and airier.

Color Psychology

The psychology of color can assist in choosing paint shades that create the desired atmosphere. Warm earth tones and peach shades evoke comfort and relaxation - perfect for a living room.

Cool blues and greens have a soothing, tranquil effect so they are ideal for bedrooms and bathrooms. Think about the mood you want to cultivate in your home.

Room Size

Take the dimensions of your living room and kitchen into account when selecting paint colors. Bold, dramatic shades like cobalt blue or scarlet red can inject life into a large space and make a cavernous area feel cozier.

For smaller rooms, stick to paler, more subtle shades like pearl gray or buttery yellow. These light colors will make the space appear larger and airier.

Architectural Elements

Consider accentuating architectural details like accent walls, the fireplace, ceiling beams or trim with paint. Tying the living room and kitchen together using one signature color on an accent wall or island can create nice continuity.

Furniture and Decor

Scan your existing furniture and decor for colors to pull into your new paint scheme. Neutrals like warm white, beige and gray provide flexibility to work with whatever pieces you already own.

If you have colorful furniture or rugs, choose coordinating wall colors that complement them beautifully. But limit accent colors to keep things cohesive.

Personal Preference

While staying on trend matters, personal preference is key. Choose colors you are naturally drawn to and that make you feel happy and peaceful when you see them.

Popular Paint Color Schemes

When trying to settle on paint colors, a structured color scheme can help tremendously. Here are some foolproof approaches.

Matching Hues

Selecting two shades of the same color is a simple way to connect your spaces. Try seafoam green walls in the kitchen with sage green cabinets. Or medium blue living room walls with a deeper navy accent wall.

Complementary Colors

Colors directly across from each other on the color wheel provide striking contrast. Blue and orange is a classic pairing. For the living room and kitchen, soft blue walls could complement a peach or terra cotta accent wall or backsplash.

Analogous Palette

Using three colors beside each other on the color wheel creates harmony. Try light green, muted teal and sky blue throughout the adjoining rooms.

Neutral Backdrop with Pops of Color

For a flexible, livable look, paint most walls and cabinetry in neutral whites, grays or beige. Then layer in splashes of vibrant color through accent walls, bar stools, rugs and decor.

Mistakes to Avoid

When deciding on paint colors for your open concept space, steer clear of these common mistakes:

• Picking colors with zero relationship, like navy and lime green. This creates jarring, visual whiplash.
• Choosing too many different colors. Stick to two or three colors maximum in each space.
• Forgetting to look at paint colors in both natural and artificial light. Lighting completely alters shades.

Tips for Choosing Perfect Paint Colors

Follow this advice to effortlessly choose paint colors you'll love:

• Gather inspiration from photos, Pinterest, home tours and color combination tools.
• Build a palette around 2-4 colors in the same color family for harmony.
• Buy sample sizes and paint large swatches on the walls to see the colors in your space and lighting.
• View paint colors at different times of day as natural light shifts.

Picking the perfect paint colors for a cohesive look in an open concept living room and kitchen comes down to choosing harmonious hues in the same color family. Considering light, color psychology, room size and your existing decor also helps in creating a beautiful, united space you'll adore.

You can easily land on a color scheme with some pre-planning. Then sit back and enjoy the seamless flow between your stylishly coordinated rooms.