The modern living room has sleek lines, bold or neutral color choices and a sense of uncluttered balance. Choosing colors and finishes for modern living room walls are a matter of personal taste, and consideration for existing decor, such as the colors of floor coverings, furniture and window treatments.
Bright Colors
Choose a bold shade of orange or red for the walls, or a shade of chartreuse. Create balance for your bold colors by painting window frames, door frames and moldings in off white or white. Keep the decor simple with occasional touches of the wall color in decorative pillows and accessories.
Faux Denim
Be the first to paint your walls with the look of faux denim. It's easy to do. Paint the walls in cream or white for a base color, and let them dry. Next, mix a denim blue paint with a clear glaze, one part paint to four parts glaze. Roll the glaze on in two foot square sections, and follow with a linen brush (available at home improvement stores) to create the look of fabric. Move the brush from left to right, and then follow with a top to bottom to create the criss-cross illusion of fabric. Finish with a check roller for added fabric effects (see Resources). Always keep a wet edge when doing this technique.
Neutrals
Another way to go modern is to paint walls in neutral colors. Paint them a sandy brown or taupe, or paint one wall off-white and a facing wall in a light shade of moss green. Paint window frames, molding and wainscoting in neutral colors that are lighter than the wall colors.
Accenting
Modern interiors have painted architectural features to create accents and contrast. Paint them in shades that complement the base color. Paint the underside of soffits in one color, and its upper section in another. Choose off-white and putty or a muted salmon and beige, or apply paint to the inside of an alcove or fireplace feature. Choose color that contrasts strongly with the walls, but is in neutral earth tones.
Whites
Pure white walls can look very modern if not only the walls are painted white, but also the floors, the window and door frames, the moulding and baseboards. It should be balanced with simply designed dark furniture pieces and colorful window treatments that include bold colors and splashes of white.
Explore Options
Visit a paint manufacturer's website, such as the 'digital painter' at Valspar.com (see Resources). This site and many others like it allow you to explore modern living room color choices.The furniture won't be exactly like yours, but you'll be able to see the interplay of your color choices with trims and accessories.
