Home office paint colour? Post your rooms please!

Haggisman

Haggisman

Haggisman

Soldato
Joined
6 Oct 2004
Posts
18,723
Location
Birmingham
Getting close to finishing redecorating my home office, but I'm really struggling with what colour to go on the walls.

It's quite a small room (~2.4m x 2.4m) so could do with a lighter colour to make it feel bigger and not too imposing. It was quite a strong blue before (think royal blue rather than navy), and it felt quite enclosed - I've gone over that with a few coats of white and that made the room feel a lot bigger.

I though I'd settled on a nice pale grey/blue colour (Dulux Ocean Stone) but having done the walls, I'm not feeling it. It's just too blue - it's a lovely colour... for my 4 year old's room! Not really the grown up "sophisticated" look I was going for :(

I was thinking maybe something a bit more green/brown/beige/terracotta type earthy tones for a more natural feel, but not sure how that would work.

Doing a google search for "home office colours" gives lots of results with really strong dark colours, which I think would make the room feel too claustrophobic :/

Could do with some suggestions & photos of your home setups to get some ideas please :)
 
Last edited:
I have recently finished decorating my office and a thread can be found here.

It is a southwest-facing room 3m x 3m, so does get a fair bit of light, and therefore I only went one with an accent wall with a dark colour (Dulux - Proud Peacock) and the remaining Jade White, again Dulux.
 
Thanks - that proud peacock is a lovely colour, IIRC we were considering that for our hallway at one point!

I like the idea of the panelling suggested in that thread, but not sure how well it would work in a mundane 1950s terrace, rather than a nice Georgian/Victorian townhouse! :p

I picked up a stack of tester pots at lunchtime, gone for some warmer tones than the blue, so I'll see how those look.
 
My small box room aka home office is steel grey. It's too cold a colour I don't like it.

You're right though it's very hard to get suggestions other than very dark colours these days. They look good on pictures or in brochures or on YouTube channels with lots of lighting and nifty accessories, but not the same when you're in the room with it.
 
Last edited:
Blackvault said:
I have recently finished decorating my office and a thread can be found here.

It is a southwest-facing room 3m x 3m, so does get a fair bit of light, and therefore I only went one with an accent wall with a dark colour (Dulux - Proud Peacock) and the remaining Jade White, again Dulux.
Click to expand...

I absolutely love that proud peacock colour. I'm in the process of decorating my office after building a sound deadened and isolated stud wall and was considering a very similar colour for the feature wall. The room is quite small so I was going to go with white on the other walls but after seeing yours with the jade white, will consider something with a slight colour tint.

What a great looking room you have! I can't wait to get mine finished (it's been a LONG ongoing project).
 
Last edited:
danlightbulb said:
My small box room, aka home office,, is steel grey. It's too cold a colour I don't like it.

You're right, though. It's very hard to get suggestions other than very dark colours these days. They look good in pictures in brochures or on YouTube channels with lots of lighting and nifty accessories, but they are not the same when you're in the room with them.
Click to expand...
Lifted directly from Google AI. I would agree with it. If I didn't go for a teal colour, I would have picked sage green. While my room isn't dark, the one across the hallway is, as it's north-facing, and I might suggest that to the misses.
  • Darker colours: Darker shades absorb light and retain heat, making a room feel warmer. Deep red is the least reflective colour.
  • Earth tones: Earth tones are often used in living rooms and family rooms, and can create a warming and inviting mood.
  • Yellow: Yellow is a warm colour that can make a room feel bright and welcoming. Golden hues create warmth, while pale hues can make a room feel expansive.
  • Sage green: Sage green has warm yellow undertones that can add heat to cold rooms.
  • Dusty pink: Dusty pink can add warmth to a room, especially when paired with deep teal or turquoise blue shades.
  • Warm white: Warm white paint colours can create a cosy atmosphere.
  • Distant grey: This neutral colour reflects the warmth of the objects around it.
  • Wood: Wood has a natural warmth to it, so incorporating it into your design can increase the warmth of the room.
 
agw_01 said:
I absolutely love that proud peacock colour. I'm in the process of decorating my office after building a sound-deadened and isolated stud wall and was considering a very similar colour for the feature wall. The room is quite small, so I was going to go with white on the other walls, but after seeing yours with the jade white, I will consider something with a slight colour tint.

What a great-looking room you have! I can't wait to get mine finished (it's been a LONG ongoing project).
Click to expand...
Thanks very much. I'm really pleased with the outcome and it is exactly how I imagined it.
The Jade White did look very blue when only the bright white ceiling was contrasting against it. The colour needed a darker teal colour to provide the contrast and give the white a greener tint.
 
Tried a load of testers... honestly I'm not 100% sure on any of them - front runners so far would be either the lightest green colours (the 2 top left), or the light stone colour (middle bottom), although the darker brown is OK too (bottom left).

AEDHikq.jpeg


0E8vct5.jpeg


bswulbn.jpeg


16kfLUX.jpeg


However, now thinking maybe just be boring and go for a creamy white instead :rolleyes:

Furniture and fittings wise, I'm aiming for a lot of natural wood - my desktop is oak, and I've been looking at some nice oak coloured floating shelves, which would like nice on a lighter background, and probably not great with brown. Also hoping to add several plants to the room, and some nice wall art, so I guess that would provide the much needed colour.

Could also do with any ideas on what to do with this stupid pointless alcove space!:

2LHmroO.jpeg


JdmOtxL.jpeg


Existing/previous floorplan as below - desk is probably going to stay in the same place (only other place it will fit is in front of the window), bookshelf is a big Ikea billy ( the ~2m one), which is probably going to go as it's taking up a lot of space, and blocking off the alcove so it essentially became a dumping ground of "stuff" to get out of the way :cry:. I'll still need some space for books, so to be replaced with aforementioned floating shelves. I was thinking of putting these in the alcove, but given how narrow it is, I'm not sure how much space that would leave me to actually get in to grab the books!

Along the wall with the radiator, I'm hoping to put some kind of narrow tall table/standing desk for my music stuff.

Yes... the room is a strange and annoying shape :mad:

ZfUPbPq.png
 
My first thought was that it looked like a dirty protest! :cry:

I would choose, the second in from the left on the top and the third in on the bottom row.

What are the paint names? Often Dulux etc, show complimentary colours.

I'd maybe paint the green colour along the wall with the radiator and the rest, given their shape and the lighter, cream colour.
Having the white radiator will also provide another bit of accent against the green colour.
 
Blackvault said:
My first thought was that it looked like a dirty protest! :cry:
Click to expand...

Haha, yes, the brown under the light switch looked really nice on the sample card in the shop, but on the wall it looks like someone has smeared a turd :cry:


Blackvault said:
I would choose, the second in from the left on the top and the third in on the bottom row.

What are the paint names? Often Dulux etc, show complimentary colours.
Click to expand...

Yeah, those are my favourites so far as well

Those ones are:

Ancient Sandstone (from the Heritage range) and Dried Sage

Blackvault said:
I'd maybe paint the green colour along the wall with the radiator and the rest, given their shape and the lighter, cream colour.
Having the white radiator will also provide another bit of accent against the green colour.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that could work - also means you get the colour when first entering the room, but it's not too imposing over all

The tester pots are quite big, so I'll try a bigger area of those 2 later on/over the weekend
 
I can't find Ancient Sandstone on their site, but Dried Sage gives these colours as combos:

Neutral
City Fog
Dried Sage
Spiders Web

Tonal Combination
Sea Nettle
Dried Sage
Tea Tree

Designer
Berry Pop
Dried Sage
Rose Trellis 5

Dried Sage - Green - Find products in this colour | Dulux

Discover Dulux's Dried Sage paint a beautiful, distinctive and versatile shade of Green perfect for every room. Learn more at Dulux.
www.dulux.co.uk www.dulux.co.uk

I think Dried Sage painted on the accent wall, and Spiders Web for the rest would look best.
What colour are you doing the ceiling, brilliant white?
You could always be brave and do a wall Berry Pop!
 
Blackvault said:
I have recently finished decorating my office and a thread can be found here.

It is a southwest-facing room 3m x 3m, so does get a fair bit of light, and therefore I only went one with an accent wall with a dark colour (Dulux - Proud Peacock) and the remaining Jade White, again Dulux.
Click to expand...
I have Proud Peacock as the accent wall in my current office as well. Its a lovely colour
 
Blackvault said:
I can't find Ancient Sandstone on their site, but Dried Sage gives these colours as combos:

Neutral
City Fog
Dried Sage
Spiders Web

Tonal Combination
Sea Nettle
Dried Sage
Tea Tree

Designer
Berry Pop
Dried Sage
Rose Trellis 5

Dried Sage - Green - Find products in this colour | Dulux

Discover Dulux's Dried Sage paint a beautiful, distinctive and versatile shade of Green perfect for every room. Learn more at Dulux.
www.dulux.co.uk www.dulux.co.uk

I think Dried Sage painted on the accent wall, and Spiders Web for the rest would look best.
What colour are you doing the ceiling, brilliant white?
You could always be brave and do a wall Berry Pop!
Click to expand...

Yeah, just white on the ceiling (and skirting), Spider's web looks OK, although possibly a bit cold - I'll pop to the shop and take a look in person :)

Think I'll give the berry a miss :p
 
Last edited:
GarethSouthgate said:
I'd go for something light over dark, you want a light an airy room not something that sucks all the light out of it. Dark paint will also make the room feel smaller.
Click to expand...

Thanks - yes, as soon as I went over the previous blue with the white, the room felt a lot bigger - I'm liking @Blackvault's suggestion of the green wall by the radiator and the rest of it a lighter colour. It gives some colour whilst (hopefully) not making the whole room too dark.

I'll go and have a look at some lighter colours at lunch
 
Last edited:
Haggisman said:
Thanks - yes, as soon as I went over the previous blue with the white, the room felt a lot bigger - I'm liking @Blackvault's suggestion of the green wall by the radiator and the rest of it a lighter colour. It gives some colour whilst (hopefully) not making the whole room too dark.

I'll go and have a look at some lighter colours at lunch
Click to expand...
Have a look at Dulux Pebble Shore as a starting point. It's fairly neutral. Don't think it will go with green though, but a starting point for sure.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom