The colors you choose for your home can impact its overall design and feel. Warm colors can create a cozy atmosphere, and bold colors can help your personality shine through.
Depending on your preferences, you may want to play around with different colors in different rooms. You may also decide to incorporate one or more same-color rooms into your home’s design. However, you may want to choose your rooms — and colors — carefully, especially if you have plans to sell your home in the not-so-distant future.
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What Are Same-Color Rooms?
As the name implies, with a same-color room, all of your design elements feature the same color, or a variation of that color (for example, light blue and dark blue). In a living room, you might use the same color for your walls, rug, couches and accent pieces, like throw pillows. In a bedroom, you might use the same color for your walls, carpets and bedding.
Are Same-Color Rooms a New Thing?
Alan Berman, president of Archetype Architecture in New York City, says that same-color rooms aren’t necessarily a new trend. “It’s come and gone many times, like every style,” he says.
Alice Moszczynski, a New York-based interior designer at Planner 5D, has seen an increase in clients looking for same-color rooms. “Monochrome rooms are definitely becoming more popular,” she says. “People are leaning towards more cohesive, singular-colored spaces for a calming and sophisticated look.”
What Are the Benefits of Same-Color Rooms?
Same-color rooms offer a unique and clean look. They also can take some of the guesswork out of decorating. If you’re using the same color throughout the room, there’s less worry about your materials clashing with one another.
Moszczynski says that single-color rooms create a sense of harmony. “These rooms can feel more polished and intentional,” she says. “They are also easier to design because you’re working within a tighter color palette, which can eliminate the complexity of balancing too many tones together.”
Amanda Wyatt, founder of Design Insider in North Carolina, says same-color rooms can also help cover up the ugly.
“One of the biggest advantages is that it helps unattractive elements, like radiators, HVAC returns or outlets, fade into the background,” she explains. “When everything is painted the same color, these functional but unsightly items blend in seamlessly, making the overall space feel more polished and less cluttered.”
Which Rooms Are Best for a Same-Color Look?
Moszczynski says smaller rooms are a better fit for a single-color scheme. “A monochromatic approach in these spaces can make the room feel larger by eliminating visual boundaries,” she says.
In Berman’s experience, homeowners tend to go the single-color route in their favorite room of the home, whether it’s a bedroom or private office. However, he cautions that you do need to be careful with smaller spaces.
“Choosing a single dark color in a small room could make it look smaller,” he says. However, it’s often easier to pull off a single color in a smaller room than a larger room with multiple elements.
Moszczynski agrees. “It can be more challenging to maintain balance, as the space might feel overwhelming without texture and different tones,” she says.
Wyatt says single colors can work particularly well in rooms with a clear, focused purpose, like bathrooms or kitchens. “These spaces naturally lend themselves to a unified look because they’re already seen as having a singular theme,” she says.
Which Colors Are Best for Same-Color Rooms?
There’s no saying you can’t have fun with a same-color room and choose whatever color you want — even if it’s not the most conventional. But Berman says you do need to be careful with using offbeat colors from a resale perspective.
“When you’re looking at resale, people tend to want to go for the grays and beiges and whites,” he says. “Homebuyers don’t want to automatically take on a painting project.”
Moszczynski agrees that warm neutrals like taupe or soft grays are generally safer for same-color rooms. “Bold colors and jewel tones like navy, emerald or even rich earth tones can work,” she says, “but you need to play more with light and texture to avoid making the room feel flat and dark.”
Wyatt is also a fan of neutrals. “Neutrals have a timeless quality that keeps the room feeling calm and cohesive without the risk of overwhelming it, making them a great choice for someone who doesn’t want to take big design risks.”
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Could Same-Color Rooms Make It Harder to Sell Your Home?
The design choices you make for your home don’t necessarily have to be based on your home’s resale value. You may end up staying in your home for many years, so it’s OK to choose colors that are appealing to you, even though they may not appeal to a broad audience.
But Berman cautions that if resale is on your radar, you may want to choose your same-color room carefully. “If you do one room off to the side, it probably won’t hurt resale,” he says. “But in a main room, it might.” This especially holds true if you don’t choose a traditional or neutral color.
Moszczynski feels the same. “If you’re looking to appeal to a wider audience, then a neutral monochromatic room would appeal to more folks, while a bolder color choice might evoke more opinions,” she says. “Some people love dramatic spaces, but others might feel turned off if the color isn’t to their liking.”
However, if you’re willing to throw some money at the problem, you could always incorporate your color of choice and then make changes once you’re ready to sell.
“Paint is an easy fix,” Moszczynski says. “I support making a space your own, and when you eventually sell, you can paint it to a neutral.”
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Are Same-Color Rooms the New Trend? originally appeared on usnews.com
