How to pick a calming paint colour

In the bedroom of Annabel Bevan's London home the walls are painted in ‘Aquamarine’ by Little Greene. This gentle, fresh spring colour diffuses the light perfectly but also picks up the brighter hues of the bed frame.

Paul Massey

Picking a paint is not merely a question of aesthetics. Of course, a certain shade should aim to bring beauty, add a theme, create symbolic associations or send a message about your character – feminine, minimalist, maximalist, etcetera. But the effect of a particular paint doesn't end there. Colour always creates a certain mood or ambiance, the effect of which is deeply psychological, even if it is working at a subconscious level. In recent columns, our interiors expert Fiona Mckenzie Johnston explored the notion of ‘colour therapy’, and how colour, as far back as Ancient Greece, chromatics were used for curative effect, to treat depression and even cure pain. Colour psychology is a well-explored area, with studies showing that the colour red stimulates conversation (so perfect for dining rooms and living rooms), whilst yellow promotes positivity (perhaps due to associations with sunlight). In another, more recent column, Fiona explores the other end of the spectrum (pardon the pun): chromophobia, whereby colour creates such strong emotional attachments, can even cause extremely negative affective responses in the beholder, and how such colour can be gently reincorporated into a home to make it bearable and even pleasurable.

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Flash forward to 2023 and it's perhaps no surprise that one of the most frequent questions we hear when it comes to picking paint is ‘what is the most calming colour?’ In a chaotic, increasingly uncertain world, when, following the pandemic, we are spending more time at home than ever, it is not surprise that we are increasingly seeing our homes as sanctuaries, with colour selected for therapeutic effect. Your initial reaction might be to grab a tin of blue paint: a famously calming tone, it is generally used in clinical settings and studies have shown it can literally lower a heart rate. “Light blue is a mindful colour – it's calming and mentally soothing, so it works perfectly in larger spaces such as bedrooms, kitchens, and living rooms," says colour consultant Alex Glover. "Dark blues are more mentally stimulating; so they work perfectly on the walls in smaller spaces such as studies, utility rooms, even a bathroom if that's where you choose to ponder.” “I have used Papers and Paints' very subtle ‘Fenching Blue’ a lot,” says interior designer Octavia Dickinson, “as it’s incredibly calming and amazingly ’un-cold' for a light blue.” Tom Morris goes for ‘Stone Blue’ by Farrow & Ball, when he's searching for a calming shade. “It has an artificial quality that makes it work in Modernist projects, but a warm flatness that suits older homes too,” he explains.