25 Calming Paint Colors to Soothe Your Southern Home in 2022

With work-from-home, the home office has become a fixture in 2022. To distract from the stress of answering e-mails and talking on Zoom, we suggest painting your home office a shade that makes you happy and calm no matter what your calendar throws at you. Interior designer Liz Carroll accomplished this in her North Carolina home by painting the walls and bookshelves in her husband's office Benjamin Moore's Sea Haze (2137-50).

Looking for an unexpected neutral? Take a hint from this North Carolina home and paint your bedroom walls a pale, pale shade of gray (this is Cromarty, No. 285 by Farrow & Ball). The color feels soft, welcoming, and can work to highlight white furniture and accents, as shown with the iron headboard and side tables in designer Whitney McGregor's bedroom. 

Peach may just be our new favorite color. Our inspiration: Dallas-based Melissa Smrekar's colorful cottage. Inside, light walls are a calming contrast to her bold, graphic furnishings. "Farrow & Ball's Setting Plaster (No. 231) is my all-time favorite color and reminds me of crumbling Italian villas," she tells Southern Living. "When the sun is shining, it's undoubtedly pink, but at night it softens to a cathartic neutral."

Homeowners often have a go-to shade of white—and for this young Texas family, that color is Sherwin-Williams' Alabaster, SW 7008. We love how they've used a muted color to highlight the white trim of their window-filled kitchen and sitting room. "A kitchen creates its own clutter, so it's nice to keep the look clean," says designer Mia Brous of the hit home boutique Madre in Dallas. 

Inside Tori Rubinson's Fort Worth, Texas, home, the walls are painted in Benjamin Moore's Wickham Gray (HC-171), and the trim is in Sherwin-Williams' Alabaster (SW 7008) at 80%. So light, this wall color almost doesn't appear gray in photos, making you question, "What color is this?" Which, in turn, makes us love it all the more. 

It's hard to beat classic white, especially in an entryway or kitchen. It maximizes natural light and feels like a breath of fresh air. Just make sure to pick something that isn't too bright. Your home should still feel cozy—not like a modern art gallery.

You can't go wrong with forever-favorite Benjamin Moore White Dove (OC-17). It's soft and vibrant without being blinding.

Give your home an earthy tone by going with a pale green. It makes a more interesting backdrop when decorating with a mix of neutrals.

In this Kentucky home, designer Hanna Seabrook chose Vert de Terre (No. 234) by Farrow & Ball for the perfect aged green.

Don't be afraid to "think pink," especially when outfitting your personal spaces. In this case, it was Holly Williams—Nashville shop owner, musician, and the granddaughter and daughter of the famous Hanks—who coated her closet and dressing room in a warm blush pink that feels both calming and luxurious.

To get the look, go for Pink Ground by Farrow & Ball. "It brings a ladylike elegance to the edgier items I'm drawn to," Williams says.

Every Southerner knows that brushing your porch ceiling with a pretty haint blue keeps the wasps (and bad spirits!) at bay, but we've also been known to use it for a screened-in porch ceiling, too. Why? Not only is it tradition, but it instantly makes the space feel more charming.

In this Florida beach cottage, the porch ceiling was coated in Embellished Blue (SW 6747) by Sherwin-Williams.

Make your living space both comforting and stylish with a warm-toned gray (including the trim!). You'll find a soothing pick with Dunn-Edwards Bay Salt (DET642).

This isn't your typical khaki. Warm up any living or kitchen space with an island-inspired creamy tan color, especially when pairing with sand or cocoa hues.

In Southern Living's 2017 Idea House, we paired tan Wellborn cabinetry in Dormer Brown (SW 7521) by Sherwin-Williams with a tanned cream wall color, such as Sherwin-Williams Whitetail (SW 7103).

When designing a bedroom, choose a dark and cozy palette to complement your place of rest and relaxation.

In this Fairhope retreat home, you'll see Abigail Borg's Laburnum Teal paper on the back wall of the primary bedroom—but we're taking note of the complementary deep teal on the surrounding walls: Scarborough 501-5 by Pittsburg Paints.

There's nothing quite as serene as blue-green. If you're not into all-over color, instead opt for a painted trim, like seen here.

Decorator Heather Chadduck Hillegas covered this bedroom's windows and baseboards in Sherwin-Williams Jasper Stone (SW 9133) to contrast walls painted in Alabaster (SW 7008).

While pale lavender certainly makes a soothing choice for a bedroom, we can't get enough of the unexpected color for a dining room.

In this formal dining room, designer Andrew Howard wanted to use a romantic palette that would glow in the dim light of dinner parties, which led him to choose a dusty mauve shade. (We love Sherwin-Williams Dressy Rose (SW 6024).) To keep the color from feeling dated, pair with modern accents.

While people often associate neutrals with calm, we'd like to make a play for a warm coral color. Not only does it give a fun pop of color, but the deep rusty shade feels cozy enough to cover your bedroom walls.

In this Florida Cracker-style home, the guest room was covered with rust-colored grass cloth wallpaper, but you can find a similar paint color in Sherwin-Williams Spicy Hue (SW 6342).

"Sherwin-Williams Quietude (SW 6212) is a deep celadon that's perfectly calming for a bedroom," says designer Meredith Ellis of the peaceful pop of color she gave the primary bedroom of Southern Living's 2018 Idea House.

Think more "golden vanilla" white than "printer paper" white. That's what you get with a cream-white paint color. It feels just as fresh and crisp, but creates a warmer ambience.

In the natural light-filled dining room of Southern Living's 2019 Idea House, decorator Heather Chadduck Hillegas used Sherwin-Williams Zurich White (SW 7626) on the walls and trim, and then later paired it with Misty (SW 6232) (on the ceiling) and Naturel (SW 7542) (on the window flange) to create checkerboard motif on the floor.

Sage green is like a breath of fresh air, lending an earthy antique feel to any room. In this South Carolina cottage, decorator Whitney McGregor gave the dining room a more formal look to match her antique furniture by adding panels of molding to the plain drywall and hanging her art inside each panel.

Find a true sage green in Dunn-Edwards Belize Green (DEC782).

Interior designer Phoebe Howard advises keeping guest bedroom spaces relatively neutral in order to ensure your guests have an easier time slipping into it and making it their own. A classic beige color (paired with an uncluttered design aesthetic) can bring instant warmth to the space without needing much else.

You'll find a warm beige with a hint of yellow in Palo Santo by Backdrop. "Beiges tend to get labeled as boring, but I think they can be really beautiful when done right," says Backdrop co-founder Natalie Ebel. (This is one of her all-time favorite beiges.)

Let's take things coastal, but keep it classic. Julia Berolzheimer's (@juliaberolzheimer) Savannah home hit the mark with the perfect balance between crisp and calming shades, and no place is that more evident than her kitchen.

You might think the rattan pendants, stunning La Cornue range, and patterned backsplash would be the stars of this space but, for us, it's those cabinets in Farrow & Ball Parma Gray No. 27.

Decorator Grace Kaynor believes your kitchen should be "a quaint and happy place." To make room for a bold statement (like these hand-painted blue-and-white floor tiles) or to keep with a neutral palette, a cool gray will do the job. It's light and airy without being stark-white.

For a soothing pale gray, go with Clark+Kensington Sheer Mist N-C9; for something a touch warmer, try Benjamin Moore Gray Owl (OC-52).

Subtle shade nuances create a warmth and comfortability in what could otherwise seem an overwhelmingly spacious room.

The walls, painted in Sherwin-Williams Classic Light Buff (SW 0050), are complemented by a ceiling in Pure White (SW 7005). The result is a stunning backdrop for layered patterns, textures, and finishes that doesn't feel an ounce too busy.

Furniture-like details on kitchen cabinetry only means one thing: A major attention to detail has been paid. This kitchen is no exception.

This kitchen forgoes the backsplash in favor of extending the wall paneling, in Sherwin-Williams Creamy SW 7012) all the way up from the countertops to the ceiling. Cabinet-front appliances painted Sherwin-Williams Austere Gray, SW 6184, give dimension to the easy going palette.

There's nothing more refined than a dining room that dares to go just bold enough.

This soothing shade, Benjamin Moore Beach Glass (1564), gives the historic room complete with a 100-year-old marble mantel and extravagant chandelier a regal feel.

If you want to make a statement without picking a bright color, charcoal gray comes off warm and inviting without looking like a typical neutral.

Pratt & Lambert's Black gave a moody twist to decorator Fran Keenan's cottage, but we suggest going with a bluish charcoal, such as Sherwin-Williams Inkwell (SW 6992), to give the room a softer finish.