Best colors for small spaces

Here’s one decorating principle we know to be true: Treating a small space to the right coat of paint can have a big impact. So for our August Living Large in Small Spaces Issue, we asked interior designers to share their most trusted hues for small spaces. Dress your entryway, powder room or bedroom in these designer-approved hues and behold the room-changing effect.

From left to right:

Angie Pache, senior designer, Associates III, Denver, CO:

âPeople often think that bold color will make a small space feel even smaller. I think the opposite is true. Using a chartreuse color like Petal 02 by Yolo Colorhouse can give a powder room, alcove or even a tiny house warmth, character and pow!â

Kristi Dinner and Susan Schwab, co-owners and interior designers, company kd, Denver, CO:

âWe love Thunder by Devine Color because itâs warm, rich and inviting, evoking images of the Colorado mountains at dusk. We envision it in a small bedroom with wonderful views of the Rockies out the window, so the color continues out to the horizon.â

Elisa Chambers, principal designer, Snake River Interiors, Jackson, WY:

âSlipper Satin by Farrow & Ball is a strong neutral color that works as a wonderful backdrop for any small interior space. It complements strong, saturated colors, artwork and natural materials like wood and stone. When used with other neutrals it becomes very sophisticated.â

Steffany Hollingsworth, principal designer, HVL Interiors, Santa Fe, NM:

âI love Gentlemanâs Gray by Benjamin Moore. Itâs an expansive color that creates an abyss thatâs soothing and mystical. Itâs also the perfect backdrop for any color under the sun!â

KD Fikso, architectural color consultant and interior designer, Denver, CO:

âThe lively orange Bellissima by C2 Paint [topmost hue pictured above] falls somewhere between a soft pastel and a bold citrus. The hue works well with charcoal grays and has a bit of a retro feel.â

Robyn Scott, principal designer, Robyn Scott Interiors, Basalt, CO:

âShaker Beige by Benjamin Moore is great on the walls and ceiling of a small room like a bedroom, powder room or living space. It reads as a neutral, yet it blends perfectly with a gray or beige palette.â

Laurie Waterhouse and Cynthia Slavens, co-owners and interior designers, Laurie Waterhouse Interiors, Jackson, WY:

âWe just repainted our showroom in Van Buren Brown by Benjamin Moore and weâre in love. Browns can be milky or purple-y, but this is almost a black brown. It looks great against a white trim, or paired with a gold frame or antique mercury glass, and it has a lot of depth, which weâre sort of crazy about.â