Ideas to Add Pops of Color to a Neutral Living Room

Honestly, who doesn’t love a good, neutral color palette for their living room? Beige, cream, tan, and gray are universally loved shades because they provide a clean backdrop to any space. In this article, we’ll share six ideas for adding pops of color to your neutral living room. We’ll also include suggestions for incorporating each of the seven rainbow hues in your interior design with pieces from our favorite local Bay Area home stores.

6 Ideas for Adding Color to Your Neutral Space

1. Get inspired by a specific focal point.

Is your favorite painting hanging above your mantle? Do you have a rug with a bold pattern in the center of your room? Maybe you have a vintage coffee table that guests gush over?

Find that focal point in your living room that draws attention from everyone who walks in, and identify the pops of color that can inspire the rest of your decor. Once you’ve found pops of color in your room’s focal point, let them shine by adding throw pillows, side table ornaments, and wall art that contain the same hues.

2. Bring the outdoors in.

Maybe your focal point is also made up of entirely neutral tones. In this case, you may like to bring in some calming, natural elements by using plants to add pops of color to your room.

If you don’t have a green thumb, check out Good Housekeeping’s list of 30 indoor plants that are almost impossible to kill.

3. Adopt the “opposites attract” mindset.

If your living room already includes one bright shade, such as green, spice things up by using colors on the opposite side of the color wheel. For example, try mixing some red and orange throw pillows in with the green.

4. Bring some light to the darkness.

Does your living room lack light? Whether your space simply doesn’t have much natural light or you’ve decorated with darker neutral tones, consider incorporating pops of color by bringing more light into the room.

One way to add brightness is by choosing shiny, metallic pieces. Find light fixtures, side tables, and vases plated in gold, silver, and bronze. Hang a few mirrors on the wall. Embrace the sparkle!

 

5. Reflect your surrounding environment.

Take inspiration from your surroundings to build a colorful color palette. If your home is located in a forested area, you may want to bring shades of pine green and sky blue into your living room. If you live in the middle of the bustling city, find pops of color on the sides of nearby buildings. You may even want to choose textures, fabrics, and shapes that reflect those you see out your windows.

6. Consider the season.

One of the best parts of having a neutral color scheme is it serves as a blank canvas to decorate for each season. You can switch out throw pillows, rugs, and knick knacks to coordinate with the four seasons of the year and your favorite holidays.

How to Add Each Color From the Rainbow to Your Home Decor

Red, Scarlet, Crimson, and Berry Tones

Here are some of our favorite shades of red from local Bay Area home stores:

• A custom sofa — Wondering what a red sofa would look like in your home? You can customize Sofa Creations’ sofas to your preferred color and dimensions, but check out our red Dante Sofa to picture a bright pop of crimson in your living room.
• Candle holders — Add a dash of brick red to your coffee table, mantle, or shelves with these candle holders from ATYS.
• Coasters — These scarlet cork coasters from Anyon Atelier would make both a practical and a luxurious edition to your end tables.

Orange, Bronze, Apricot, and Honey Tones

Here are some of our favorite shades of orange from local Bay Area home stores:

• A custom sofa — Like we mentioned earlier, you can customize Sofa Creations’ sofas to any color you like! Picture what an orange couch would look like in your living room with our Logan Sofa.
• Dyed rug — Want to be really bold? Try out this tango-dyed cowhide rug from San Francisco’s Hudson Grace.
• Tray — This burnt orange faux crocodile tray from Anthem in San Francisco brings a fun-yet-sophisticated look to your room.

Yellow, Amber, Cold, and Lemon Tones

Here are some of our favorite shades of yellow from local Bay Area home stores:

• Of course, a custom sofa — We can’t resist showing off our yellow Dayton Sofa, but you can customize the style, color, and dimensions of any sofa or sectional you love from Sofa Creations!
• Planters — These geometric, bumblebee yellow planters from San Francisco’s March bring light to any living space.
• Wall art — Looking for something a little more abstract? Check out this quirky, canary yellow painting from the Bay Area’s Super Simple.

Green, Lime, Seafoam, and Olive Tones

Here are some of our favorite shades of green from local Bay Area home stores:

• A new sofa — What do you think of this mossy Barcelona Sofa? (Not your style? You can customize the design, dimensions, and color of any Sofa Creations sofa or sectional.)
• Throw blanket — This subtle, forest green alpaca throw blanket from S16 Home is soft, warm, and exquisite to look at.
• Candles — Lighten your room with color and scent when you get soy wax candles from San Francisco’s EI Home store.

Blue, Indigo, Navy, and Steel Tones

Here are some of our favorite shades of blue and indigo from local Bay Area home stores:

• A blue or indigo sofa — Clients love our soft blue Easton Sofa, but we can customize any sofa or sectional with your favorite shade of blue.
• Bench/coffee table — Is it a bench? Is it a coffee table? No need to choose! This gorgeous handmade wood piece from the Bay Area’s Sierra Living Concepts is the pop of turquoise you’ve been looking for.
• Glass bottle — This twilight blue, handblown bottle from the Bay Area’s Heath Ceramics home store could be used as part of a coffee table centerpiece or to brighten up a bookshelf.

Violet, Purple, Lavender, and Plum Tones

Here are some of our favorite shades of violet from local Bay Area home stores:

• A violet or purple sofa — Can you picture our eggplant Chandler Sofa in your living room? Or would you customize a different sofa style with another shade of purple?
• Buffet cabinet — Store your bar supplies, books, blankets, or any other living room accessories in this distressed purple-painted buffet from Sierra Living Concepts.
• Rug — Add some literal softness to your room with Anthem San Francisco’s fuchia sheepskin rug.

 

About Sofa Creations — California’s Custom-Made Furniture Company

We’ve been California’s most trusted family-run custom furniture company since 2010. We love working with clients like you to design the perfect custom-made sofa, sectional, or sleeper sofa for your home. Please contact us to learn more about our customization process, or visit us in San Francisco or San Rafael to see some of our favorite styles in person.