Best Blue Paint Colors: The Colors I Keep Coming Back To

OK, let’s talk about blue. Not just one blue, the whole spectrum, from the barely-there whisper of Farrow & Ball Skylight to the moody, near-black depth of Benjamin Moore Mysterious. Blue grounds a room. It makes a space feel intentional, like someone really thought about how it should feel.

Over the past couple of years I’ve reached for a handful of blues across four projects, and I get asked about them constantly. Here’s the full breakdown: every color, every room, and why I chose it.

Project 01

Cottage on Berkey

A cozy cottage renovation where we leaned all the way into moody, layered, and lived-in. Blue was the backbone of the whole thing.

The Bedroom: Riverway

Sherwin-Williams SW 6222 · Shiplap Walls

Riverway is a dusty blue-teal with just enough warmth to feel cozy while still reading clearly as blue. On shiplap it’s extraordinary — the texture catches light across every groove so the color is never quite the same depending on where you’re standing. The key is pairing it with warm neutrals: an antique wood bed frame, plaid linen bedding, a rattan lamp shade. The blue does the drama; the warm elements do the comfort. This is the room I show clients who say they’re scared of color.

The Bathroom: Hale Navy

Benjamin Moore HC-154 · Beadboard Wainscoting

Hale Navy is a classic for a reason. It’s deep, confident navy, not trying to be black, not hedging toward gray. We painted the beadboard wainscoting in Hale Navy and kept the upper walls soft cream. The contrast gives the room a waistline, a structure. Add a warm wood mirror, brass sconces, and a marble countertop and it looks like it belongs in a magazine. Bold works here because everything else is soft.

Project 02

Mediterranean Chicago

A stunning Chicago home with dark wood ceilings, arched doorways, and brass everything. The architecture was already doing so much — my job was to honor it and add depth.

The Kitchen: Mysterious

Benjamin Moore 2062-20 · Upper Cabinetry

Mysterious refuses to be just one thing. In morning light it reads rich teal, in the afternoon it shifts toward charcoal, under incandescent light it’s pure moody navy. On the upper cabinetry against a dark stained wood ceiling, the two tones create a layered contrast that shouldn’t work — but absolutely does. Pair with brass pendants, cement tile, and a thick marble island and you get a kitchen that feels like it’s been there forever. If you want moody without going full black, this is your color.

The Butler’s Pantry: Black Pepper

Benjamin Moore 2129-20 · Cabinetry

Technically a deep blue-gray, but on these pantry cabinets with lattice front doors and brass hardware it reads beautifully in the blue family. Using a slightly different shade in the pantry than the kitchen creates a moment a subtle shift in atmosphere as you pass through. The kitchen is the main character; the pantry is the hidden, moody bonus room.

Project 03

1121 Bathroom Renovation

The best example I have of layering blues. Two values of the same family, working together to create depth that a single color can’t achieve alone.

Skylight Walls & De Nimes Beadboard

Farrow & Ball No. 205 + No. 299

Skylight barely reads as a color, it’s more like the walls are exhaling, gently tinted with the memory of blue. De Nimes on the beadboard below comes in and anchors everything: steady, grounding, the structure Skylight alone couldn’t provide. Together they create a tonal palette that feels sophisticated without trying too hard. Farrow & Ball is worth the investment for a bathroom. The pigment depth is unreal, and they hold up beautifully in humidity with the right primer.

Project 04

Riverview Project

I might love this entry more than any room I’ve ever designed. It’s the kind of space that makes people stop in their tracks.

The Entry: Rocky Coast

Benjamin Moore 2060-30 · Trim, Wainscoting & Paneled Walls

Rocky Coast sits in a perfect middle zone — rich without going dark, saturated without going bright. It’s on all the trim, wainscoting, and paneled walls here, and then a botanical leaf wallpaper covers both the walls and the ceiling for a fully immersive effect. The blue grounds the pattern; the pattern gives the blue context. What I love most is how it bridges warm and cool — it doesn’t fight the wallpaper’s warm cream or the teal leaves. It just anchors everything.

My Best Blue Advice

Sample, then sample again.Blue shifts more dramatically with light than almost any other color. Look at it in morning light, afternoon sun, and evening lamplight before committing.

Don’t be afraid to go dark.My favorite blue rooms are the ones where we went deeper than the client initially imagined. If your instinct says darker, listen to it.

Layer your blues.The 1121 bathroom proves it: two blues create more depth and intention than one ever could. You don’t have to pick just one.

Trust the warm neutrals.Brass, warm wood, linen, cream — these keep blue rooms from going cold. They’re essential partners to the color, not afterthoughts.

If you’re working on a project and want help figuring out which blue belongs in your space, I’d love to chat. best blue paint colors

— Shalmai, Shalmai Interiors