House Color Palette and Room-by-Room Floor Plan
Q: Hi guys! I was snooping around your blog to try and find a floor plan of your new home with the colors you used for each room (like you did in the post from Feb 24/2010) but I didn’t find one! I would L-O-V-E to see what your new house looks like now, with a visualization of the color scheme per room. Is this possible, or am I asking way too much? HAPPY NEW YEAR by the way! – Danielle
We’re so glad you asked—this has been on our to-do list for a while. When Danielle left that comment we moved this project to the top of the list and created an updated floor-plan-style color map for our current home so you can see the paint choices by room. We still have a couple of rooms left to paint (the guest bathroom and a spare room), but this version shows the palette as it stands right now.
One pattern we noticed while assembling the color map is how we balance bold wall colors with more neutral elements. For example, our kitchen walls lean toward a greenish-yellow, but white cabinets, light counters, a soft gray backsplash and brown cork floors keep the space grounded. Conversely, rooms with neutral wall colors often receive pops of personality through patterned curtains, bright pillows, geometric rugs, painted furniture and eye-catching artwork.
We also compared this house’s palette to our earlier home. The first house relied more on sea-glass blues, soft creams and tans, and lighter tones overall to make small rooms feel open and airy. In our current, larger house we’ve allowed ourselves bolder accents—plums, pinks, warm yellow-greens and stronger contrasts—while still using neutrals and soft grays as an underlying thread. The result is rooms that feel connected but not repetitive.
On the spectrum of home color strategies, some homes use a single color throughout, while others give each room its own distinct hue. We fall in the middle: a handful of repeating colors provide flow, while selective contrasts and unique accents avoid a cloned look. For example, the living room and dining room share a soft gray wall color, but the dining room’s built-ins are painted deep teal and a bright yellow door and colorful curtains add visual interest.
The living room uses the same soft gray as a base but layers in a green geometric rug, colorful pillows and tone-on-tone curtains. In rooms where the walls are neutral, we tend to add more patterned textiles and accessories; in rooms with brighter wall color—like the kitchen—we keep textiles and fixtures simpler to prevent visual overload.
One notable change since our first house: we no longer use white curtains in every room. We’ve embraced colorful and patterned window treatments throughout much of this house, which instantly warms and personalizes each space.
Whereas the first house favored softer, tone-on-tone layers and subtle color, our current home features more deliberate contrasts—dark beams, a darker sofa, and bolder rugs and pillows create more visual drama in shared spaces.
We also bring color in via art and painted furniture rather than relying solely on wall paint. The office, for example, pairs white cabinets and a wood counter with green chairs and a colorful gallery wall to create energy without overwhelming the room.
Handmade details like our painted headboards add pattern and warmth in the bedrooms, complemented by bold, geometric rugs and lively textiles that make each sleeping space feel inviting.
We’ve carried a few favorites forward from our first house—like a green guest-room headboard—but we’ve generally dialed up the color and pattern in the current home compared with the older one, which tended to be more neutral overall.
We still create calm, tonal moments to balance the brighter areas. Smaller spaces—like the sink nook, the hallway gallery and the laundry room—use gentler colors and neutral fixtures so they feel open and uncluttered.
Room size matters when deciding how much color and pattern to use. Small rooms often stay softer to avoid feeling crowded, while larger rooms can handle more contrast and bolder choices—like our hall bathroom, which has a subtle plum undertone in the gray paint, bright artwork and colorful accents.
So that’s our color-map update: a snapshot of the current house’s paint palette and the way we balance bold hues with neutrals, pattern and texture. We love these posts because they act as a time capsule—capturing how our tastes evolve from one home to the next.
How do you approach color in your own home? Do you prefer one or two paint colors throughout, a new color for every room, or a small set of colors that repeat in different places? There’s no single right answer—share what works for your space and style.
Psst—For a full visual tour of our past and current homes, check our photo galleries on the site for before-and-after shots and more color inspiration.