Color Ideas & Inspiration for Small Rooms

Get creative with color in small spaces, from studio apartment ideas to making the most out of your home’s painted accent walls, hallways, alcoves and other nooks.

Smaller spaces are easier to repaint with greater frequency. Enter ben^®, a Benjamin Moore paint that delivers beautiful results anyone can achieve. With a special formulation that delivers quick-fix drips and smooth touch-ups, ben is a reliable go-to for first-time homeowners, apartment dwellers and DIY-ers.

Go High

As color is always highly personal, there is no single recommendation when it comes to paint colors for small rooms. However, choosing a lighter color above your eye level creates an airy effect that can visually heighten walls.

Lighter colors can also make a room look larger and taller, especially in a small room or a room with a lower ceiling. Simply paint the ceiling with a lighter shade, or a slight variation, of the wall color. The subtle contrast brings depth and dimension without breaking the unity of existing colors. Generally speaking, a flat finish is a common choice for ceilings.

Little Bathroom, Big Look

A pint-sized bathroom offers an opportunity to use strong color and transform a modest space. You can overlook room-to-room color flow thanks to the bathroom’s innate closed-door policy, making it the perfect place to get creative with color.

No natural light? No worries. Vivid, rich colors like Peach Parfait 2175-70, Lavender Mist 2070-60 and Sapphireberry 2063-60 can complement artificial lighting sources to make a powerful style statement. Don’t be afraid to create color contrast: the backsplash seen here in Trout Gray 2124-20 lends a cool industrial edge to this small bathroom when juxtaposed with a cheerful blue wall.

Apartment living room walls painted in the color aqua

Accent with Color

A painted accent wall adds a focal point to any room. If you live in an apartment, condo, studio or a home with several smaller-sized rooms, a bold color on one wall easily adds architectural interest to modestly sized space.

Consider accent wall paint shades that instantly add a happy vibe to any room. Blues like Clearest Ocean Blue 2064-40, Blue Danube 2062-30 or Cool Aqua 2056-40, pictured here, breathe a bit of outside sky into your home interior.

The Unsung Hallway

Many hallways are both narrow and dim, especially when it comes to townhouses and apartments. Lighter colors open up this particular small space. If you’d like to add both a soft glow and a feeling of warmth to what might otherwise be an overlooked area of the home, consider Subtle AF-310, Antique White OC-83 or Soft Satin 2164-60 for bright, light-enhancing hallway paint colors. These colors open up smaller spaces and reflect natural light, pulling it throughout your home.

Dark hallway? Consider creamy off-whites from our Off White Collection for a sophisticated look that elegantly lightens up dim passageways.

Light blue & white paint color for small kitchen

Color in the Details

Carve out color opportunities in small spaces to add a bit of playfulness and charm. Here, Covington Blue HC-138 provides a partial light blue frame to this diminutive open kitchen, instantly adding design interest.

Looking for a more dramatic flair for an alcove, built-in shelving or other cozy nook? We love Hunter Green 2041-10, Vintage Wine 2116-20 and Amherst Gray HC-167, paint colors that are perfect for small spaces–especially if you want a touch of drama in your color palette.