Color drenching a bedroom is arguably one of the best places to test out this monochromatic paint effect. Whether you want to make the room look bigger, or exaggerate its cozy, cocooning qualities, it's a simple trick that can have a huge impact.
'Color drenching works especially well in smaller bedrooms and can have the effect of making a room feel bigger,' explains interior designer Whitney Romanoff, owner and principal designer of Northwest Arkansas-based studio Meet West. 'We also love color drenching in a bedroom when we want to create a moodier vibe in a room that may not have the best natural light.'
While color drenching a bedroom is absolutely the right choice for spaces right now, it can feel like a bold move. To help you feel more confident in choosing to drench your bedroom in color, we've found five ways designers have embraced the trend to varying degrees — whether that's working in wallpaper to the overall scheme, playing with different textures or the way they've styled the finished space.
Here's how to color drench a bedroom the right way.
1. Create interest with texture
Choosing to paint ceilings and walls in the same color does risk the space feeling flat, so it's a good idea to bring a bit of dimension into the room through the use of different textures and finishes.
In this all-baby blue bedroom by New York and Los Angeles-based architecture and design firm Charlap Hyman & Herrero, a limewash wall paint and velvet bedcover ensures the space still has an element of depth and plenty of visual interest even though it's all one hue.
You can also play around with different paint finishes, using a mix of gloss and matte to create a subtle change across different surfaces, adding more dimension to the space.
2. Incorporate more than just paint
The client selected a navy grasscloth wallpaper for this room, so interior designer Whitney Romanoff and the design team at Meet West decided to really lean into it as inspiration for the overall bedroom color, departing from 'the typical soft neutral bedroom' and instead embracing the moodiness.
'We matched the trim and ceiling with the grasscloth walls and added vintage velvet drapery in a similar shade to continue the tone-on-tone effect on the soft finishes,' explains Whitney, noting that when color drenching bedrooms, it doesn't have to just be about paint.
3. Don't be afraid to be adventurous
While people often jump to soothing or calming hues like blue and green when color drenching bedrooms, sometimes it can pay to be a little more adventurous. In this bedroom, Whitney's team chose a drench the room's vertical wood wall paneling and ceiling in a surprising wall color: deep oxblood red.
'This created an all-over mood that felt transportive,' she explains. 'It also provided a great contrast to the wooded green landscape outside. The deep red tone is dramatic, but applying it all over creates more of that restful cocoon effect we were going for.'
While you may not think it, color drenching has a way of neutralizing a color, which means it's the perfect opportunity to go for a bold and dramatic color that you wouldn't necessarily think to use in your home. Who knew there could be such thing as a calming red room?
4. Match wallpaper to the palette
For a less all-in approach — but one that still packs plenty of punch — you can introduce a patterned wallpaper to break up the solid use of one color. It carries on from Whitney's argument that color drenching a bedroom doesn't need to only be about the paint color you use.
In this bedroom by San Francisco-based interior designer Aubrey Maxwell, the ceiling and trims are painted the same color (albeit, different shades of green) and the walls have been covered in a verdant patterned wallpaper to tie the whole scheme together.
Price: from $80 (2 x 8ft)
Finishes: Peel & Stick, Traditional, Grasscloth, Matte Performance Vinyl
5. Try color blocking
Another impactful yet relatively simple bedroom paint idea is to contrast the walls to the mouldings or ceiling, while still drenching both of them in color. This technique can especially help to make bedrooms feel taller and larger, drawing the eyes up and blurring the boarders of the room.
While color blocking like this usually involves an accent color on the walls paired with a white ceiling, embracing color drenching means choosing complementary shades for all surfaces, giving the space energy, life and plenty of impact.
What are the best colors for drenching a bedroom?
'For bedrooms, earthy, restful tones always work,' says Meet West's Whitney, 'but we've also been known to go for a deep blue or oxblood, for a departure from the typical neutral bedroom feel.'
And it really does depends on the impact and feeling you're looking to create in the space, as well as personal preference. It seems you really can't go wrong no matter what color you choose, as long as you commit to it.
'Some people look to softer, relaxing colors for the bedrooms to create a tranquil space,' says Arianna Barone, color marketing manager at Benjamin Moore. For that, she recommends soothing shade from their range including 'Hollingsworth Green', 'Beach Glass' and 'Edgecomb Gray'.
'It is important to remember that deeper colors can create cozy, inviting spaces as well when used on all walls,' she adds. 'Colors like [Benjamin Moore's] 'Briarwood', 'Blue Note' and 'Amazon Soil' can bring feelings of warmth and comfort.'
For bedrooms where you want to create an uplifting and cheerful space to start and end each day, she recommends some of their more playful shades like 'First Light', 'Palladian Blue' and 'Glade Green'.
Price: $55.99
Description: A gray undertone brings versatility to this calming blue.
Price: $55.99
Description: A sumptuous, smoky plum that brings instant ambiance to a space.
Price: $55.99
Description: A refreshing alternative to white or beige, this soft, airy pink flatters any space and plays well with other colors.
