Best Bedroom Paint Colors for Atlanta Homes
By Dunwoody Painters ·
Muted blues, soft greens and warm whites are popular bedroom choices, and the right one depends on which way the windows face. For a north-facing room, Benjamin Moore suggests warm whites such as White Chocolate OC-127 (LRV 86.83) [1] [9]. For a primary bedroom, our bedroom palette lists Benjamin Moore Constellation AF-540 (LRV 72.73), with Hale Navy HC-154 (LRV 8.36) for the wall behind the bed [9].
How does a bedroom’s light change the color you see?
The direction a window faces sets the light a color is seen in. Benjamin Moore says a north-facing room tends to get consistent, muted light and may be a bit darker than a room with southern exposure [1]. Southern light tends to be strong and casts a warmer tone [2]. A west-facing room tends to get indirect, somewhat muted light in the morning and stronger direct light after noon, with a warmer cast [3], and Sherwin-Williams notes that east-facing rooms run the other way, warm in the morning and cool toward evening [4].
Atlanta adds its own filter. Light here is warm, bright and filtered through a lot of trees, which can push a showroom gray toward green and a cream toward yellow, while north rooms cool everything down. Our guide to the best interior paint colors for Atlanta homes covers the other rooms in the house.
Light reflectance value, or LRV, is the percentage of light a surface reflects, on a scale from 0 for absolute black to 100 for pure white [9]. It matters most where light is scarce. Sherwin-Williams advises looking at colors with a higher LRV for north-facing rooms [4], and says soft whites, pale grays and gentle beiges with an LRV above 65 make a space feel expansive [5].
Which colors work in which bedrooms?
Start from the row that matches your room and sample one or two of its colors.
| Bedroom | Color family | Colors to sample | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| North-facing or dim | Warm white or warm greige | Benjamin Moore White Chocolate OC-127 (LRV 86.83) or Tapestry Beige OC-32 (LRV 66); Sherwin-Williams Repose Gray SW 7015 (LRV 58) | Warm undertones offset cool northern light, and the two Benjamin Moore picks have high LRVs that reflect more of what light there is [1] [4]. Repose Gray is the north-facing pick on our color consultation page. |
| Bright south- or west-facing | Blue-toned or cool gray | Benjamin Moore Wickham Gray HC-171 (LRV 67.87) | Benjamin Moore says a blue-toned gray can help neutralize the warm tones of southern light, and cool-toned colors even out western light [2] [3]. |
| Small guest room | Soft white or muted green | Benjamin Moore Pale Oak OC-20 (LRV 68.64); Saybrook Sage HC-114 (LRV 45.46), the guest-room color on our bedroom palette | Pale Oak’s LRV is above the 65 that helps a small room feel larger [5]. Saybrook Sage, from Benjamin Moore’s Green family, is deeper and reflects less light [9]. |
| Primary bedroom | One quiet wall color and one deeper headboard wall | Benjamin Moore Constellation AF-540 (LRV 72.73), with Hale Navy HC-154 (LRV 8.36) behind the bed | Most walls stay quiet, the depth goes behind the bed, and a warm white carries across the ceiling and trim. |
| Nursery | Neutral | Benjamin Moore Smoke 2122-40 (LRV 56.39) | The nursery color on our bedroom palette, painted in a low-VOC, low-odor product. |
Each color’s LRV is taken from its manufacturer’s color page [9] [10].
What sheen should bedroom walls and trim be?
Matte or eggshell on the walls and semi-gloss on trim and doors, the same split Benjamin Moore gives for walls and trim [7]. Its finish chart lists both matte and eggshell for bedrooms and runs from the sheens most forgiving of imperfections to the most durable [6]. Matte sits at the forgiving end and still withstands frequent washing, and Benjamin Moore calls eggshell easy to clean [6]. Keep gloss off anything that is not completely smooth, because a gloss finish reflects light and can accentuate blemishes [6].
Here is the sheen schedule we use in bedrooms:
- Ceilings: flat
- Primary and guest bedroom walls: matte or eggshell
- Nursery and kids’ room walls: eggshell or satin
- Headboard accent wall: matte
- Trim, doors and baseboards: semi-gloss enamel
- Closet interiors: eggshell
For the other rooms in the house, see the sheen schedule on our interior painting page.
How do you test a bedroom color before committing?
One Benjamin Moore sample jar covers about a 2-by-2-foot area in two coats, and the company advises brushing out at least two coats for the most accurate color [8]. It also suggests painting the sample on a white foam core board, so you can move it around the room and see it in different light through the day [8]. Check it in morning, afternoon and evening light, and live with it for a few days before you buy [7].
Look again at night. A bedroom is used most under lamp light, and warm bulbs can turn a soft blue gray or a pale green muddy, so we paint large samples on the wall you see from the bed and check them after dark before anyone commits.
On one exterior repaint, our crew picked up several Sherwin-Williams samples and painted them on the wall so the homeowner could choose. The homeowner found that far more useful than picking from small paper swatches.
What our bedroom painting includes
Our bedroom painting covers walls and ceilings, trim, doors and closets, with furniture moved and reset and low-odor, low-VOC paint, and one bedroom or every bedroom upstairs is covered at one quoted price. With that paint and proper ventilation, most bedrooms are ready the same evening, and we advise based on your project. Headboard walls and two-tone splits are finished with a crisp line where the colors meet.
If you are stuck between two samples, our color consultation is free with every painting project. It happens on site, with large sample boards viewed against your flooring, cabinetry and natural light at different times of day, and you leave with a written palette for every surface.
Every project carries a written 2-year workmanship warranty, the estimate is free and on site, and there is no payment until the job is complete. More room-by-room advice is in our painting guides.
Book a free bedroom painting estimate, and the color consultation that comes free with it puts your shortlist on your own walls as large samples.
Sources
- North-Facing Room Paint Colors, Benjamin Moore.
- South-Facing Room Paint Colors, Benjamin Moore.
- West-Facing Room Paint Colors, Benjamin Moore.
- Choosing Paint Color by Room Orientation, Sherwin-Williams.
- How to Make a Room Look Bigger, Sherwin-Williams.
- Choosing a Paint Finish, Benjamin Moore.
- White Paint Colors, Benjamin Moore.
- Choosing Paint Samples, Benjamin Moore.
- Benjamin Moore color pages, each with the color’s LRV: White Chocolate OC-127, Tapestry Beige OC-32, Wickham Gray HC-171, Pale Oak OC-20, Saybrook Sage HC-114, Constellation AF-540, Hale Navy HC-154, Smoke 2122-40 and White Dove OC-17.
- Repose Gray SW 7015, Sherwin-Williams.
- Volatile Organic Compounds’ Impact on Indoor Air Quality, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Choose a light color with a high LRV. Sherwin-Williams says soft whites, pale grays and gentle beiges with an LRV above 65 make a space feel expansive. Carry a warm white across the ceiling and trim too; our bedroom palette lists Benjamin Moore White Dove OC-17 (LRV 83.16) for trim and ceilings.
Yes, especially a soft gray in a bright south-facing room, where Sherwin-Williams says most colors work. It can shift, though: Atlanta light filtered through trees can push a gray toward green. Paint a large sample and judge it in your own light before you commit.
A warm white or warm greige. Sherwin-Williams advises avoiding cool undertones in north-facing rooms and choosing colors with a higher LRV, and Benjamin Moore suggests whites with a hint of yellow to counter the cool northern cast. Cool, even north light shows every undertone, so a gray that looks warm on the chip can read blue on the wall.
Matte or eggshell. Benjamin Moore lists both for bedrooms: the lower the sheen, the more forgiving it is of imperfections, and eggshell is easy to clean. Trim and doors take semi-gloss enamel.
There is no single best one, but Smoke 2122-40 (LRV 56.39), from Benjamin Moore’s Neutral family, is the nursery color on our bedroom palette. We paint nurseries with low-VOC, low-odor products that are well suited to nurseries and kids’ rooms. The EPA lists paints among the sources of VOCs and advises increasing ventilation when using products that emit them.