Do you paint your rooms in different colours?

[sorryIdidntmeanto]

Our downstairs is all white, which I love. I like a bit of warmth in bedrooms though. We have just painted our room palest pink and it is nice, but I can't decide if I like it enough for the upstairs hall. Is it better to be uniform? I think that might look more sophisticated. The kids will one day choose their own colours in their bedrooms, but right now most upstairs rooms are still a pale yellowish colour from when we moved it. It is ok but needs refreshing.

I find that colour-drenching makes small rooms appear larger. Some of the rooms in the cottage we downsized to in 2024 aren't large, but having everything painted the same colour creates a sense of spaciousness. Obviously that works with white too!

Personally, I feel white is terribly depressing particularly in north-facing or otherwise dark rooms. The hallway at our previous house (which was 400 years old with 18" thick stone walls) had a tiny window at the top of the staircase. It was a miserable space when we bought the house, despite being painted white. We tried lots of sample pots of bright colours but eventually embraced the dark by painting it F&B Inchyra Blue which felt so much warmer.

I’m still renovating mine but so far have gone with some white and neutrals mainly but different colours.
Ive used
F and B shadow white in hall office and downstairs loo
Dulux natural hessian in sitting room and family room
dulux timeless daughters room and bathroom
slaked lime is going in the kitchen which is currently being done
my room is shadow white again
Ds room white with black stripes painted on wall above his bed (his choice)
Ds room white mist dulux
DDs room and bathroom white mist dulux

Reading that back I have actually repeated quite a lot of colours!

I like colour and don't see the need to have rooms toning with each other. I enjoy the contrasts!
I have a sunflower yellow kitchen, burgundy study/ library and a colourwashed hall and landing in a sort of slate blue. The small inner landing is colourwashed navy blue, ceiling too; and my tiny loo is pink and green stripes. The bathroom is deep cream above dark half panelling.
Plans for the parlour include racing green walls and I think one bedroom will be the same. Other bedrooms are jade, powder blue and terracotta.

Feels fitting that I saw this thread today!

I grew up in a house with quite muted/ neutral tones throughout. As a homeowner now our hallways are all neutral (white) and our kitchen is white with accents of blue (I.e tiling). However I'm enjoying experimenting with bold colours in other spaces- so our toilet has navy and gold wallpaper and I'm literally spending today painting our living room walls ochre (the boldest shade I've ever used in my life 🤣). My hope is this makes the room feel warm and cozy/ have an identity. I wouldn't personally use dark or bold colours for our hall but I like the idea of different parts of the house feeling like their own spaces.

I love different colours for different rooms. Fresh bright kitchen, cosy living room, calm bedroom - all chosen to create the right mood for the room's function.

I quite like breaking it up, so colour on one or two walls and neutral on the others.

When we moved into our house, we had a really busy, floral, vintage-style wallpaper on all the walls, which was too much. I liked the pattern and colors though, so kept it on one wall and on the chimney breast, and painted the rest off-white. I think it looks much better and more calming.

Also, I have a north-facing kitchen which had way too much grey. We painted some of the walls warm yellow and added some touches to give it a Provençal flavour and I think it has warmed it up a lot.

I love colour but am also unsure of making a mistake. If you've got a pink you like in a room I would go to the brand website or google what paints complement this colour. It's best if you use the same brand in this case. For eg, I have a Little Greene neutral shade in the hall but I wanted to paint the rooms off it in different colours, so I thought of the colours I might like (pinks mainly) and chose the paints that Little Greene recommended would pair with my hall base colour, and it's worked really well. (This way, you know that the scheme works together as a whole and it feels quite harmonious).

"Is it better to be uniform? I think that might look more sophisticated."

These are slightly odd questions to ask when deciding how you want to decorate in your own house. What is "better"? What is "more sophisticated"?

If you like egg yolk yellow and shocking pink, paint your house in those colours.
If you like good old magnolia and white, paint your house in those colours.

What other people think of your home is none of your business (and they would be exceedingly rude to make that information known to you). Do what YOU like and enjoy it.

Our interior designer recommended all white (or Ghost’s Fart or whatever silly name Little Greene gave the paint shade) with different colours in upstairs rooms, which cast back to colours of soft furnishings downstairs. Master bedroom and guest bedroom have green and blue textured wallpaper on three walls and pain on the other wall. It’s beaut.

I think I am just overwhelmed with decision making at work every day, I couldn't even remember what I like. This has helped though, thanks.

I love the sound of your house!

I love colour! As I have got older and the more times I’ve moved, the braver I’ve become.
We moved a year ago into a true “doer upper”. I have created burgundy rooms, teal rooms, black panelled rooms, green rooms, neutral rooms, dark blue rooms. I’ve mixed paint and panelling and wallpaper and wall murals and I love it all.

Ours is a working progress but we also like colour. Our living room is a dark blue - denim drift, kitchen is a gorgeous pale pink and downstairs bathroom is a sage/green colour. The hall downstairs is white but the wall going up the stairs is an olive green. Upstairs is plain really, mostly white again but we have a dark been panelled wall in our bedroom and Egyptian cotton in the bedroom I work from. I’d like to add colour in the bathroom and spare room though! I like colours but still fairly neutral. I don’t want anything too bright either.

Another one who loves colour, I tried having cream/white walls throughout our Victorian house it made me a bit sad plus the front room is north facing & no matter what type of cream I used it still felt dark & dingy so embraced the dark it’s now a very dark green with blush/hot pink cushions/throws/lamps lots of artwork on the walls, currently knee deep in teal/pale pink paint samples for the hall & landings
my kitchen area is blue with mushroom coloured units the dining part of the kitchen has green/pink/blue flowery wallpaper combined with pink/green/blue painted chairs & table some random restored oak cupboards I use for extra storage & dgd’s toy storage.
the downstairs loo has a navy ceiling/green tiles & navy/green William Morris wallpaper, two bedrooms are creams/pink/mint green, third bedroom is very dark blue/cream the bathroom is half marble type tiles with green/plum foliage wallpaper although it’s colourful it I think flows well & the colours don’t ‘jar’ but I’m very much do what makes you happy in your home so if you prefer neutrals OP stick with it.

If the whole house, or a floor, is the same colour I'd think that was boring and not at all sophisticated. Ridiculous.

All different colours but relatively tonal. We have greens, pinks, one blue and then stone / off white but all the colours are muted and have that earthy tone to them to keep some consistency.

I don't have a single white or magnolia wall in my house, can't stand it. The lightest colour in the house is dd2 room as she chose Middleton pink, funnily enough I'm not very keen on that either but it's her room.

I have a blue and green palette so it looks considered but to paint the whole house one colour would be rather dull. The top floor is all very pale greens and blues except DD's room which is pale pink with green accessories that match the green walls in the room opposite and the bathroom which is white with a slate floor and black critall screen. The next floor is pale green, other than the bathroom that is the same as the one upstairs, the main floor is lightish blue and the basement is navy for the dining room and green for the garden room. Kitchen is white with quarry tiles and warm wood. Hall landing and stairs are a fairly strong blue green that changes with the light but ties it all together.

My house was entirely magnolia when I moved in. It is now various shades of pale green and pink, with some magnolia yet to be replaced. I'd like something lighter to brighten up an otherwise dark hallway and staircase.

I have a colourful house, but I choose calming colours, slightly muddy blues, pinks and greens. I think about them very carefully so they create a harmonious whole. My kitchen is a pale blue. I’ve changed the curtains from ochre to a red/blue print, and I’m bringing those colours in with accessories, swapping art about and just choosing a rug. It feels warm and cosy, but still calm.
I’m not mad keen on very dark colours. It’s good if carefully chosen, well executed and in quality paint, but look on Rightmove for lots of less than optimum examples. And I do agree that living in a house like that would not be restful.
I quite like 1 colour throughout as long as it isn’t grey. But I don’t think one pink bedroom will disturb your peace too much. I think brilliant white can look grey and feel like an office, or be bare and basic. Maybe you could choose a white with some depth and complexity if you want a grown up space . Texture also helps. But paint should be the last thing you choose for a room. You are absolutely right to consider how your house makes you feel. But calm peaceful spaces can also have colour.

And yet I loathe pale blue. Too cold and clinical for me. Deep colours in my kitchen bring me peace. We are all different obviously and I don’t worry about what happens when I sell my house. If necessary, I can paint it all a bland beige for those who don’t share my vision!

If you have a dark room (mine is a semi basement) then a very dark colour can be quite cosy and restful - as its a library/dining room navy walls works well.

Weirdly, I loathe pale blue too, except the one I have, which is somehow warm and soft. The original colour was discontinued and I had to spend hours in Brewers to find an equivalent. I think this is F& B Borrowed Light.I have it in the hall too and it somehow pulls my house together, including our deeply unsatisfactory utility corridor.
I agree that dark rooms can be restful. I have seen some beauties, but when it’s bad , it’s awful, and difficult to change. A friend of mine once had a flat completely painted, including ceilings, in red and dark blue gloss. She was a white or neutral sort of person. That flat affected her health.

All my rooms are different themes I love it .. Theirs to much nice colours to pick just 1

Ours is colourful but harmonious (coordinating F&B shades). We’ve just bought Borrowed Light. It goes on the walls of our back lounge/office/dining room tomorrow! After this summer we realised that the south east facing front room, (Stone Blue, F&B) with red velvet sofas was far too warm to be comfortable so we’re painting the back room (NW facing) to be as cool as possible. It will have pale oatmeal linen sofas, stripped wood floors, and white blinds/curtains. A muted beachy vibe as far as possible.