Dear A.I. Robots/Santa, can you please create a building where we color-loving humans can walk through and experience every single paint color (in both natural light and dark) before we commit to it on our walls? Now that I’ve designed a fair amount of houses and painted many a room, I feel extreme confidence in certain colors, even as my fear of trying new ones and getting them wrong runs deep (and at times keeps me from taking some color risks). Wouldn’t it just be magical if the big paint stores had a physical room for every single color??? So I could stroll in, grab Brian’s arm, and say “Ooh, I love how this feels!! This is perfect for our family room” instead of painting the room, say, multiple times? Because while the amount of light, direction of the sun, location on the planet, and your hard finishes, of course, can change the tone of the paint color, for the most part, the fear of getting it wrong lies in whether the color itself is one that you like enough to be surrounded by while enjoying the room. But until that day comes, Samplize has created the next best thing – extra-large, peel-and-stick paint samples.

It may not feel the same as painting an entire room, but it sure is a lot better than holding up a small paint store sample and hoping for the best. Not to mention, you can easily move these large-scale stickers around to get a better feel for how the color changes with different lighting. But with so many great paint colors to choose from, I thought I’d help you out even more by rounding up some of my favorites we’ve used (and loved) in various projects (with some “good to knows” about a few). You liked our similar white paint post, so today I thought I’d round up my favorite blue paint colors. These are colors that I’ve personally experienced, and would ABSOLUTELY use again.

Mantra by Sherwin-Williams

Starting off…not very strong (in saturation that is) Mantra is a beautiful, barely-there blue that complements the cooler white of our millwork in the living room. We painted the walls this subtle blue color because the Extra White we had originally painted them felt too cold, and weirdly, adding a blue tone on the walls helped shift the white on the millwork so it didn’t read so stark. Mantra is from the Designer Color Collection at Sherwin-Williams, and it adds such a nice tone that works with everything we have. Sometimes it looks light blue, sometimes robin’s egg, sometimes gray.

Dutch Tile Blue by Sherwin-Williams

This blue comes from a more recent project, our farmhouse garage doors, and I just love how it turned out. It’s one of Sherwin-Williams’ historic colors, and since we chose a garage door style that felt a little more vintage, this blue just felt right. It’s soft but rich and stands out nicely against the white siding.

Debonair by Sherwin-Williams

I LOVE this color and have it in my bedroom, obviously. Now, the only thing I’ll warn you about is that I think it’s better in a room with less natural light so that the moodiness is embraced. It has a lot of undertones in it that play differently throughout the day, and it’s so cozy at night or when it’s cloudy. Now, sometimes when the light hits it, the pigment pops in a way that is jarring, which is why I think this is best for a room with less direct natural light – a room that is meant to feel cozier (dining, office, den, family room). I’ll use it again, but not in a room that has 4 windows and 4 skylights (and if I could snap my fingers I’d change it right now to Eventide – a color we used in my bro’s house that is INCREDIBLE, also on this list, and has the exact amount of blue pigment I want while remaining light and still neutral).

Smoky Blue by Sherwin-Williams

photos by kaitlin green | right from: our stair carpet runner

We painted our original (but very very worn/beaten) stairs Smoky Blue, and it’s really happy. It’s bright enough to feel colorful without going too bold.

Slate Tile by Sherwin-Williams

Such a great blue – I wanted it multiple places after I painted this room. While the trend seems to be greener blues right now, this grayed-out blue is super timeless, not bold, and has a point of view without being risky at all (IMHO). Also best for rooms with less natural light.

Blue Note by Benjamin Moore

So dark and cool and definitely best for a room that has some but not too much natural light. Blue Note can go almost black, in a really good and elevated way.

Dew Drop by Sherwin-Williams

Soothing, light, and airy, with some green in it – this super light blue is so dreamy, especially in a lot of natural light. I think in a dark room it might not read as a “color” per se, but here against the white and wood it’s so good. My friend painted her teenage son’s room this color, and he LOVES it. It’s not baby nor does it feel pastel, just light if that makes any sense.

Eventide by Sherwin-Williams

For my brother’s laundry room, we chose Eventide, the most soothing and refreshing blue tone, for the walls and cabinets. I’d say it’s powder blue without any of the “baby” vibes to it (this is the color I actually wish I could change my bedroom to).

Rain Cloud by Sherwin-Williams

photos by kaitlin green | right from: river house color palette

If you are in the market for a good navy, this one is fantastic because it is more complicated than your typical “dark navy” that often looks one-note. Rain Cloud is deep and rich, then cut with enough gray that it doesn’t look too bright.

Grays Harbor by Sherwin-Williams

Clearly, I’ve got a type…this darker moody blue is SO GOOD. I’ve almost used it so many times and it’s always one of the top contenders, and now seeing it here I remember why. What a lovely dark yet still happy shade of a moody blue.

Stiffkey Blue by Farrow & Ball

For those willing to go more bold, Stiffkey Blue is incredible. It’s not “BRIGHT BLUE” but it sure has a lot of solid pigment that makes it pop regardless of being in a well-lit room or a darker space. It reads as blue no matter what. Gosh, I love it so much and hadn’t thought about it for a while, but it’s for sure one of my favorites ever for rooms like this that can handle a lot of color (Ginny executed it perfectly, of course).

I used Stiffkey Blue in our old primary bathroom in LA, which, by the way, I hadn’t seen in a while, and I love it SOOOOO MUCH. I have a bunch of that leftover wallpaper that I’m kinda inspired to put in our little tiny hallway heading into our bedroom now. It’s just so good! Anyway, so is Stiffkey Blue. A solid choice, my friends, and great for small rooms like this, especially if only on the bottom (it could have worked all the way up, but also might have felt a little overwhelming for a small bathroom.

Hague Blue by Farrow & Ball

Hague Blue is one of my all-time favorites that I haven’t used in a while! It has the slightest tint of green in it, making it a super dark indigo? I painted the exterior of The Fig House this color as well. Farrow & Ball is always a splurge (and color matching can be tricky because their pigmentation process is extremely sophisticated and nuanced), but if you have the budget for certain special rooms, I love this color.

Upward by Sherwin-Williams

Upstairs, we painted all the doors of the landing and kids’ room in Upward – a really light, almost periwinkle, happy blue. We are EXTREMELY happy with the color both in photos and in person. It’s happy and pretty, closer to a pastel than we normally go, but everyone is into it!

Sleepy Blue by Sherwin-Williams

Now, for this no-natural-light laundry room, we chose something more saturated (than our well-lit room), which was the right call because it needed to have more pigment to really show up (I’ve had to learn this lesson a bunch of times!). Sleepy Blue is definitely more on the pastel side, thus being so happy and bright. Less grayed out, sophisticated, and more clean/fresh, and happy. I think this color would be awesome in a well-lit room as well, but test it out because it might read more pastel and bold baby blue, or it just might be a bright, happy sunny blue.

Still Water by Sherwin-Williams

Now this color, Still Water by Sherwin-Williams, has a lot of green in it, but it still falls more in the blue category for me. This color is so unbelievably perfect in here because it’s meant to be a dark room, so it still really reads as this dark blue/green/teal. If it were in a room with a ton of natural light, it would have probably read extremely bold and TEAL (when we have the overhead lights on, it’s a bit too much for me), but in the cozy lamplight, it’s perfect. So yes, just make sure that if you have a really bright room, you like the boldness of the pigment. Here, it’s so perfect (THANK GOD).

Inchyra Blue by Farrow & Ball

Arlyn perfectly executed this super dark blue-gray-green. I love how its color drenched on the ceiling, and she added all the art with white borders to break it up and add so much life.

Mount Etna by Sherwin-Williams

photos by kaitlin green | right from: my best friend’s dining room reveal

Mount Etna reads far bluer than black (but not so blue that it looks “BRIGHT”), which we were so glad about when designing my best friend’s living/dining rooms. We painted the built-ins of both spaces this color, and it’s absolutely perfect. This deep blue paired so well with all the other jewel tones, wood, and leather going on in the space. It is DARK, but when the light hits, there is so much blue and green in it. It’s a powerful, not super bright, saturated color – just a moody tone.

French Beret by Benjamin Moore

Now I didn’t choose this color (the architect William Hunter did), and it’s just so good. Certainly muted and leaning towards charcoal, this French Beret blue does have a lot of gray in it, helping it read muted, sophisticated, and wonderfully moody. We LOVED it in person so much, and it was great for this darker space (the doors lead to a covered patio) and made this smallish bedroom feel bigger. Kudos to him for doing the closets (see below) and curtains in the same color.

It’s clear I love blue (and it’s coming back to be even bigger than ever, although I don’t think green ever fully overtook it). All colors are “in” in the right context or home style, and I love how so many of these companies are leaning into more complex pigmented colors that create more interesting rooms. But y’all, I can’t stress this enough, Samplize is a game changer, and having the larger sticker for your top colors will help you so much to avoid paint color regret.

If you are into this color round-up, check out our other Samplize post where we break down our go-to white paint colors. Let us know what color family we should round up next. xx

Opening Image Credit: Photo by Kaitlin Green