Just about any color can work for a family room. After all, family rooms are all about fun and shared activities.
They aren’t at the top of any list for interior design. But there are some very good reasons that blue is the most popular choice for painting family rooms.
Different shades of blue can create very different moods in a family room. One shade of blue will send out a calming tone for a cozy family room Another shade of blue will generate an outdoorsy wake-you-up vibe for a family game room.
Blue can be serene or evocative, or bold and energetic. It can wake you up, but it can also calm you down.
The secret to using blue shades of paint to their desired effect is choosing blues with the right undertones. Or you can just choose a bold blue and let your paint color choice drive the rest of your interior decorating choices.
There are blue paint color options that complement any other choice you make from your color palette. From uber-modern to super-traditional, there is a blue tone for every choice in family room décor. Here are our 25 best blue paint color options for family rooms.
Related: Green Paint Family Rooms | White Paint Family Rooms | Beige Paint Family Rooms | Gray Paint Family Rooms | Red Paint Family Rooms | Blue Paint Guest Bedrooms | Blue Paint Primary Bathrooms | Blue Paint Kids Bedroom | Blue Paint Dining Rooms | Blue Paint Primary Bedrooms | Blue Paint Living Rooms
1. Alpha Blue (M520-5)
Source: Behr
Here is a bold shade of blue paint. It’s the shade of blue paint you choose if you want your room to shout, “I’m blue!” Behr Alpha Blue is not the most versatile shade of blue paint, but if you are starting with the walls and adding décor, it will simplify your decorating process.
2. Cayman Bay (PPU14-03)
Source: Behr
Does your family room have a low ceiling? Here is a shade of blue that creates a feeling of depth. It draws your attention away from low ceilings to walls and cabinets. This assumes, of course, that you don’t use it to paint the ceiling.
This shade of blue can help the taller members of your family feel comfortable in their family room, but it’s too dark for use on the ceiling unless you have good lighting.
3. Charcoal Plum (T16-15)
Source: Behr
Ordinarily the rule for choosing the right shade of blue paint for a family room is something on the lines of “Brighter is best.” But when your family room is also your media room, darker is OK. If you want a large flat screen to be the focus of attention, this shade of almost-plum shade of blue will be just bright enough to keep the mood upbeat.
If your family room doesn’t have windows or a skylight for natural light, Behr Charcoal Plum T16-15 will seem less charcoal and more plum, but in any kind of light it will give your family room a “cave” feel that helps the family focus on the viewing experience. It enhances a feeling of togetherness around the TV.
4. Essex Blue (S500-2)
Source: Behr
If your family activities involve young children, Behr Essex Blue S500-2 is a great blue paint color choice for a happy, energetic vibe. This shade of blue keeps kids calm but stimulates interaction and play. Parents will enjoy it, too.
5. Falling Snow (PPU18-07)
Source: Behr
It is hard to tell whether this shade of blue is a very light blue or a very blue white. Either way, it is a good choice for adding light to a family room with no windows, such as a finished basement.
This shade of light blue encourages communication, so it may not be the best choice if your family activities involve a lot of games that require concentration. But it is a great choice for brightening a room that has no natural light.
6. Gem Turquoise (500B-4)
Source: Behr
Behr Gem Turquoise 500B-4 is a shade of blue that encourages emotional connections. It can help loving families feel even more loving, and it can cause feuding families to feel even more antagonism for each other.
Either way, it can be a therapeutic color, depending on the activities that go on in the family room. There are reporters among interior decorators that this shade of blue stimulates appetite, so it may not be the best choice for dieters. On the other hand, it’s a great choice if a lot of your family activities involve snacks.
7. Luxe Lilac (N560-3)
Source: Behr
Lilac is the color of spring. If you live in a climate where winters seem to go on forever, Behr Luxe Lilac N560-3 is a good choice for bringing a springtime feel to your family room all year round.
Pair this shade of blue with houseplants and understated purples, greens, and yellows. It also works well with floral patterns.
8. Antiguan Sky (2040-60)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Is your family room a place where you calm the kids down so they can join in sedate family activities? Or does your family spend a lot of time in the pool or on the water so you would like the same feel in your family room?
Benjamin Moore Antiguan Sky 2040-60 is a shade of aqua that evokes water. It’s also a shade that brings out beautiful skin tones, so people look good in rooms painted with it. Teal, red, pink, and Prussian blue work well with this shade of blue.
9. Blue Veil (875)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Here is a shade of blue that has different effects depending on whether you use it to paint the ceiling or to paint the walls. (You shouldn’t use it as the only blue paint for your family room.) On a ceiling, Benjamin Moore’s Blue Veil 875 has a subtle, cooling effect.
There is less light at your ceiling, so this shade suggests a tall glass of a cold drink on a hot day. On the walls where it can reflect sunlight, however, Blue Veil 875 is energizing, particularly if it is painted to a high gloss.
10. Early Frost Blue (CSP-590)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Here is a blue that looks pale gray at first glance, but it has purple and blue undertones. It’s a blue that captures the first rays of sunlight peeking through clouds and fog. It’s a great choice for family rooms with outdoor access in damp, rainy, and foggy climates, like the Pacific Northwest.
When the sun comes out, the purple in the paint comes forward to produce an active but calm mood in the room. Early Frost Blue CSP-590 is only available as interior paint.
11. Jet Stream Blue (814)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Does your home have a mural wall? More and more families are choosing to record their stories and their dreams with walls that aren’t just painted, they are paintings.
Benjamin Moore Jet Stream Blue 814 is a good choice for accents and framing family murals. It is also a good background color for wall art of all kinds.
Benjamin Moore Jet Stream Blue 814 is also a terrific color choice for family rooms that open to a deck, a swimming pool, or an expansive back yard. Even more than Benjamin Moore Blue Veil 875, it brings the sky into a room even on a cloudy day.
It complements greens and whites in the landscape and in the room. But it’s another shade of blue that isn’t a great choice if your family room doesn’t have windows, or for a family room in the basement.
12. Mysterious (AF-565)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Here is a shade of blue for people who need to have a sense of order in every room in the house. It is not a cheery, welcoming color, but it conveys a sense of safety.
It makes all kinds of objects in the room stand out, so they are easier to find. With the right lighting, it may be accommodating for visual impairments or comforting for autistic spectrum disorders.
13. New York State of Mind (805)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore New York State of Mind is a rare shade of blue that is compatible with blues, greens, and shades of orange. It is a good choice for a tropical theme, or for a family room in home in a tropical location. It’s also a shade of blue chosen by a large number of cannabis dispensaries, so we’re letting you know, whether you consider this a good thing or bad.
14. Polo Blue (2062-10)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Is your family room also a trophy room? This deep, dark, matte blue will absorb as much as light as possible so you can highlight trophies, mementos, children’s artistic creations, or vacation souvenirs and let them shine.
By itself, Benjamin Moore Polo Blue 2062-10 evokes the feeling of being in the deep, dark North Atlantic. It’s best used to complement brighter, lighter, shinier objects of interior décor. It’s also a good shade of blue for a man cave.
15. Santa Monica Blue (776)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Have you ever gone snorkeling in the Bahamas? Benjamin Moore Santa Monica Blue 776 captures the blue of the ocean at low tide. It is a great complement to coral, sunny yellows, and whites.
If you have a home by the sea or you have happy memories of family vacations on the ocean, this color is a great choice.
16. Thunderbird (675)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore Thunderbird 675 is a shade of turquoise that works well with sky blue, green, white, and even purple furnishings and accents. It’s a calming choice for a family room decorated on a Southwestern theme, and it’s also a great choice for family rooms dedicated to conversation and cerebral activities.
17. Van Deusen Blue (HC-156)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Benjamin Moore Van Deusen Blue HC-156 is the color of choice for family rooms for families that deal with addiction issues of all kinds. This shade of blue kills appetites. It’s not nausea-provoking, but it definitely counteracts any kind of urge to consume.
18. Water’s Edge (1635)
Source: Benjamin Moore
Does your family room open to the outdoors? Here is an icy blue that is great for bringing clear blue skies indoors. It gives the illusion of bringing the outdoors in, as long as you have a line of sight leading out of your family room.
Benjamin Moore’s Water’s Edge 1635 is not a great choice for family rooms without windows, and it’s not the best choice for family rooms that don’t have patio doors.
19. Alabaster (SW 7008)
Source: Sherwin-Williams
Here’s a shade of blue that looks white on a wall by itself but blue or even purple next to sofas, lamps, and wall art. It’s a good choice for family rooms with minimal wall decoration and subdued lighting. It is blue for a family room that doesn’t have windows.
20. Charcoal Blue (SW 2739)
Source: Sherwin-Williams
Do your family activities involve a wet bar? Sherwin-Williams Charcoal Blue SW 2739 is a dark navy blue that complements dark marble countertops and white cabinets behind a bar.
It works best in good lighting. With enough light, this shade of blue stimulates conversation and social interaction. It’s not a good choice for a basement family room that doesn’t have any natural light.
21. Luxe Blue (SW 6537)
Source: Sherwin-Williams
Here’s a shade of blue that blends with rattan furniture and textured fabrics. If you wanted to do your family room on Sponge Bob theme (you wouldn’t be the first), this would be the blue color choice for you.
It’s also a great shade of blue paint for any whimsical, fantasy theme. It sets the mood for the serendipitous and the joyful.
22.Major Blue (SW 6795)
Source: Sherwin-Williams
Would you like your family room to have a tropical vibe? Some shades of blue take you immediately to the feeling of a tropical island. This is one of them.
It’s not a glaringly bright one. It’s calming. But it’s vibrant enough to make you feel happy as soon as you come in the room, and it works with accents of lime green and tangerine to reinforce the tropical feel.
This shade of blue works best in family rooms that have windows, but with enough lighting, it can give a cheery feel even to a basement converted to a family room.
23. Searching Blue (SW 6536)
Source: Sherwin-Williams
Sometimes you want a calming vibe for your family room. Sometimes you want an energizing vibe for your family room. This shade of blue works for both moods.
Just turn the lights up or down. Some designers refer to this color as a “painterly blue,” which is to say, it is used a lot, but it is the kind of blue that helps your family focus on activities rather than architecture.
24. Sky High (SW 6504)
Source: Sherwin-Williams
If you are looking for a blue for color coordination with reds and browns in your existing family room décor, you can’t go wrong with Sherwin-Williams Sky High SW 6504. This shade of blue is dark enough to be calming and relaxing, but light enough even for painting a ceiling.
25. Snowbound (SW 7004)
Source: Sherwin-Williams
Is your family room a work in progress? Here is an alternative to the pure-white walls that are so often painted in not-quite-ready-for-prime-time family rooms.
It is bright enough to give even a basement family room a friendlier vibe, but it is not a pure white, so it is also relaxing. You probably won’t stay with Snowbound indefinitely, but it is a good choice for family rooms you intend to finish decorating later.
