Choosing the right color scheme for your home is no easy feat. That’s why Color Theory is so valuable.
Color Theory analyzes the behavior of colors, including the harmony or contrast between different shades and the symbolism of different palettes, to create something aesthetically pleasing.
However, many myths about Color Theory and home decor, as well as ever-evolving interior design trends, can make decorating a minefield.
So we’ve unveiled the most and least popular colors for different rooms and offered tips on curating the best color scheme your home, including decor pieces like framed photos and artwork.
Magnolia tops the list as the most popular home decor color
Magnolia
Magnolia is the most sought-after home decor color, with over 55,000 Google searches from US homeowners over the last year. The warm, buttery-yellow color is making a comeback, with many seeing it as the perfect shade of cream due to its versatility and ability to pair well with other colors.
Magnolia also provides a great neutral backdrop for wall art, including framed artwork, framed photos, and other hanging decor - it doesn’t distract from these focal pieces, making them stand out even more.
Pink
Pink home decor follows in second place with 16,700 searches over the last year. Following the release of the Barbie movie and its box office success, it’s no surprise the phenomenon has brought about a pink revival. Pink paint gives any room a unique character, whether you use gentle shades like nude-toned pinks and soft blush or bolder choices like fuschia.
Black
Interestingly, despite the color myth that black is a depressing color for a living space, darker hues have become more popular in the world of home decor due to their dramatic and sleek, modern look. Black paint completes the top three with 13,680 searches in the past year. Black works well not only as a wall color but also for decor elements like bold picture frames or other hanging items, to create contrast and make a statement.
Varying shades of blue, including duck egg and cobalt, fall in last place
Despite blue being among the top five most popular home decor colors, specific shades, including cobalt, cerulean, duck egg, and steel blue, all fall within the bottom five, each with 120 searches or less.
Cobalt is the only blue pigment with good opacity and, as it’s a key ingredient in cerulean, both shades have good lightfast properties. However, these hues don’t receive as much attention in home decor, possibly because they are rarer and often more costly to source.
Duck egg and steel blue, though beautiful subtle shades, also lack popularity compared to more vibrant and traditional hues like navy, royal, and sky blue, due to their reduced versatility when it comes to creating bold statements within a space.
Green is the most popular bedroom color, with over 168,000 searches
Green Bedroom
Popular among traditionalists and modernists alike, green is a favorite for bedrooms. From forest to emerald shades, it’s one of the most sought-after paint colors of the year, with a whopping 168,380 Google searches for bedroom inspiration in this color palette. Its evergreen and calming feel blends to help promote a restful and rejuvenating atmosphere.
A relatively easy color to coordinate with, green works well in bedrooms when paired with cool tones and classic greys. You can also couple green with metallic hints like modern, metal photo frames for a more sophisticated feel.
Blue Bedroom
Blue ranks second for bedrooms, with 110,790 searches in the past year. Despite the myth that blue is a soothing color, this often depends on the shade, as there are shocking blues that create a more electric atmosphere.
Some shades can be paired with other colors to create different moods and styles. For example, light blue creates a more light and airy feel, while more intense tones of teal can create a more contemporary finish.
Gray Bedroom
As another popular bedroom color, gray has a timeless appeal. With varying shades of gray to choose from, its powder or pastel hues can transform spaces into cozy, relaxing havens. It's also perfect for a more refined, minimalistic, and clutter-free bedroom.
The muted tone can be paired with classic design staples like pure white and black accents. It also pairs nicely with yellow or turquoise blue pops for brighter and bolder combinations.
More unique shades of the most popular bedroom colors revealed
The classic colors blue, green, and white are all popular for bedrooms, but how do rarer hues of these umbrella colors fare?
More unique shades, such as denim blue (200 searches), pistachio green (220 searches), and origami white (310 searches), rank among the least searched bedroom colors.
This could indicate the progression of some homeowners' color research into the niches of their chosen bedroom color. These shades are, evidently, less common, likely due to their more limited versatility compared to traditional counterparts. They are also more trend-sensitive and likely to go in and out of fashion.
Green, black, and blue rank as the most popular living room colors
Green Living Room
Green is the most popular living room color, with 61,630 Google searches in the last 12 months. For anyone looking to breathe life into their living space, this nature-inspired color brings a vibrant feel. Varying shades like sage and dark green are becoming more popular in 2024 and also rank among the top 10 for living room designs.
Black Living Room
Although black is one of the boldest design colors for a living room, it has proven to be rather popular this year, with over 42,000 searches. Black adds a touch of elegance while being a low-maintenance option, giving any living room a more contemporary edge. A dark backdrop can make lighter accessories or a framed gallery wall really pop.
Blue Living Room
Blue often brings a refreshing and welcoming feel to living spaces. It’s also versatile and offers many design and style opportunities. From a sleek and modern atmosphere to a dark and cozy ambiance, there’s a shade for every interior design choice. With 38,500 searches in the last year, it’s clear that blue continues to be a trendy living room color option.
Harsh color combinations rank as the least popular living room style
There’s no denying that some questionable color combinations exist and are off-putting to most in home decor - navy blue and mustard yellow take the top spot as the least popular color scheme for living rooms, with the lowest level of search interest (760 Google searches).
While, in theory, this combination works well together due to blue and yellow being complementary colors, search interest indicates a polarizing effect where most modern homeowners sit on the ‘hate’ side of the fence.
Other unique colors, such as dusty rose (770 searches) and charcoal (950 searches), didn’t make a lasting impression on home decorators, following in second and third place, respectively.
Green and dark green are the best home office colors
Green Home Office
With 5,820 Google searches, green is also considered a top color choice for home offices. The natural color is said to help you maintain focus and boost productivity. Color psychology suggests that beige greens and yellow greens are the most stress-reducing shades, making them ideal for a home working environment.
Dark Green Home Office
Dark green follows closely behind, with 4,570 searches. This deeper shade offers a more sophisticated and professional look, creating a calming work environment. Dark green also pairs nicely with a range of other colors and textures, such as wood tones, metallics, or lighter accent colors.
White Home Office
White is a classic color that gives you a fresh, blank canvas feel. So it’s no surprise it ranks in the top three with 3,130 searches.
White presents the perfect backdrop for getting creative with various wall art and decor forms, from framed vinyl records to framed photo collages, which can add personality into your space. White also makes small rooms feel larger and more tidy, allowing for a more relaxed working environment.
Duck egg is the least popular home office color
With just 20 Google searches last year, duck egg blue is the least favored color for a home office. As a soft and subtle color, this hue is not typically associated with promoting focus and productivity - it’s a more calming and relaxing shade suited to bedrooms and other living spaces. Or, for many, left out of decor entirely, as one of the least popular shades overall.
A common color misconception is that white rooms are boring, causing some variations of white offices to rank among the least searched-for, such as ‘white and gold’ (80). However, the versatility makes white a great backdrop for almost any room.
For example, adding a few dark or contrasting elements can make any white living or home-working space pop, especially when paired with accent pieces such as gold frames.
Mirrors, artwork, and posters are among the most sought-after home wall decor
Bedroom wall decor
Living room wall decor
Home office wall decor
Due to their versatility, functionality, and aesthetic appeal, mirrors are the most popular wall decor item in both bedrooms and living rooms, while pictures and posters are more popular for home offices.
There are numerous Feng Shui rules around the placement of mirrors in homes, including warnings against placing them in bedrooms. However, this overwhelming popularity shows that many homeowners don’t buy into the myth.
Framed artwork and framed posters are also extremely popular for all rooms of the home, including sub-divisions of these decor elements like tapestries, canvases, pictures, paintings, and murals. This shows how versatile these types of wall art are in adding interest and personality to your space.
Blue grabs the top spot as the most popular photo frame color
Framed photos offer a focal point by contrasting against their backdrop while adding a personal touch to your interior design, making them another popular choice for home decor.
Interestingly, blue tops the list as the most sought-after frame color this year, with 18,600 searches, suggesting a potential resurgence in the old-money and regal celebration of this traditional shade.
Due to their bold look and wealthy connotations, gold frames are perfect for a sleek and modern look, ranking in second place for popularity with 15,900 searches.
Black frames are also a staple, with 11,540 searches in the last year. Whether plain or paired with gold for an extra touch of luxury, multiple variations of this elegant theme make it to the top five most sought-after frame styles.
Other more traditional styles also ranked highly, however, with classic walnut and oak frames also in the top 10. This goes against the grain of ultra-modernization in home decor and shows the resilience and lingering charm of a more rustic look for many homeowners.
Color Theory summed up
There are various misconceptions surrounding Color Theory and certain Feng Shui myths related to decor, making it hard to know where to start when designing your home. For example, it’s widely believed that experimenting with darker colors makes a room feel smaller.
On the contrary, darker colors are making a comeback, with black and darker shades of blue and green at the forefront of interior design trends this year. Search results have shown these to be the top three most popular colors for general home decor, home offices, and living spaces.
While darker colors can create a ‘cave-like effect’ if not designed properly, the way colors interact with the room’s lighting and furnishings matters more. Navy or dark green walls often complement a white ceiling or trimmings and can brighten up the right room. Plenty of natural light in a room can make it still look big and bright, giving a sense of open space.
Another common color myth is that every room must be painted the same color for the home to feel in harmony. Different colors can work beautifully in different rooms, especially when layering shades that complement one another and seamlessly blend to create a unique but synchronized flow within the home.
And many ideas regarding Feng Shui are also taken out of context. Feng Shui is the practice of arranging pieces in living spaces to create a natural balance. A popular myth is that it’s just about placing furniture in the right location, such as your sofa, wall art, or accent pieces.
However, it goes beyond that; Feng Shui principles focus on how energy moves through a space to ensure a smooth flow influenced by the color, lighting, design, and overall layout of the room to create harmony.
Both Color Theory and Feng Shui offer an interesting dynamic to interior design and home decor, and can help you create more effective designs. But always remember to follow your instincts and not get too bogged down in the theories while creating your dream space!
About our methodology
To reveal the most popular colors across different rooms of the home, we used Google Keyword Planner from August 2023 through July 2024 to gather US-specific search data for the following:
- Home decor colors
- Bedroom decor colors
- Living room decor colors
- Home office decor colors
- Types of wall art for each key room of the home
- Color of wall art
We created a seed list of popular home interior colors for the home decor section using sources such as Homes and Gardens, Livingtc, and Nordic Nest, searching terms such as "home decor [color]."
We used sources such as Improovy, HouseBeautifu, and Lick to create a seed list of bedroom decor colors. We then searched for terms such as "bedroom decor [color]."
To determine the best living room colors, we used articles such as Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful, and Better Homes & Gardens to create a list of popular paint colors. We sourced Google searches for terms like "living room decor [color]".
Using sources such as Forbes Home, Elle Decor, and Ideal Home we compiled a list of home office decor colors and used search terms such as "home office decor [color]."
We gathered data from Stone & Gray, Gelato, and Society6 on the most popular types of wall art for different rooms of the home. Using search terms such as "bedroom canvas" and "living room mirrors", we sourced the annual Google searches for each wall art type. We also looked at the most popular colors for each kind of wall art, e.g., "pink acrylic print" and "black poster."
Using sources such as Sivoris, Houz, and Happy Home, we found some of the misconceptions surrounding color decor. Similarly, we used articles like Dynamic Spaces, Patricia Lohan, and The Times of India to find common Feng Shui myths.
Thanks for reading!
