The 12 Best Places in Your Home to Try Out Trendy Paint Colors

Coveting the hues of some of the year’s trendiest paint colors? We know the last thing you want is another project on your to-do list, but with only a few hours of work, you can transform areas of your home with a splash of paint.

Consider painting somewhere unexpected, offering peekaboo statements around your home instead of painting entire walls. With some ingenuity and a can-do attitude, you can update your home with the year’s most stylish paint colors. The best part? These small projects can be redone as often as your tastes change.

Painting one wall in a room is not a groundbreaking style choice. Consider moving the accent wall somewhere unexpected, such as the back wall of a pantry. This oft-neglected area of the home could use a makeover, and how great would it look having a bold color, like a brilliant aqua, in an otherwise muted space?

Whether you want to offer more curbside appeal or warm up a room, painting your front door a vibrant color sure makes a statement. There’s an added benefit beyond style with a bold color choice. A signature color makes it easy for you to give directions to visitors; just tell them you live at the house with the orange door—it stands out much more than plain address numbers.

Experimenting with paint colors on your cherished items may not be ideal. Thrift stores are a terrific place to source interesting items for DIY projects. If you come across a knickknack you like, such as a vase, bust, or decorative bowl, bring it home. Adding a couple of coats of paint in a stylish or impactful color, like magenta, makes these inexpensive home goods pop.

If you’re stuck between keeping your familiar color scheme but want an accent wall, it can be hard to reconcile the two looks. For indecisive folks, we have a way to test out an accent wall or geometric paint pattern temporarily. Pick a small wall in your home and instead of painting the wall directly, add removable wallpaper and paint over that instead. We like this textured wallpaper from The Home Depot that looks amazing with the year’s most stylish paint hues.

There are plenty of unexpected places to experiment with color in a home. One area to consider is the front of the stairs—providing you have flat, non-carpeted stairs that you don’t mind transforming. If you select a color that blends elegantly with the rest of the room, this can look sensational. The right color choice is key, so it may be worth painting some squares of canvas to get an idea of how it will look before painting the stairs directly.

If you keep a fairly neutral color scheme in your bedroom, small changes can make a big impact. Your headboard usually draws the eye in a bedroom and helps tie the decor of the room together. Giving your headboard a makeover with a cornflower blue color adds some charm and peaceful vibes to your space. 

Over the years, you may become a little disenchanted with some of your older furniture. Rather than give it the old heave-ho, add your new favorite paint color and turn your unloved side table or desk into furniture you adore again. Go big and mix it up with rich colors like a deep red, which adds warmth and coziness to a room.

When repainting a wall is too daunting a task, consider adding trendy paint colors to the back of a bookshelf. Painting only one surface of the shelf takes mere minutes; it’s a makeover you can do before lunch. Once the paint’s dry and your books, plants, and other tchotchkes are back on the shelf, you’ll see a tremendous difference in a room as a result of minimal work. Paint with vibrant or subtle colors, depending on what appeals to you and fits into the style of your home.

There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to painting around your home. If you have a window box or ledge that’s visually lacking, pick a paint color that will really pop since these small areas don’t usually get enough attention. For a dramatic change, opt for a deep gray or black darker. If that’s too much change for you, keeping it light and airy with a softer color is a classic choice that’s always in style.

You may have a color you absolutely love, but it may not fit with the carefully cultivated color palette of your home. This doesn’t mean that cherished colors don’t belong in your living space. Instead of keeping them out in the open, hide some paint colors in everyday rooms, and still get the enjoyment of seeing them every day. For example, try painting the inside of your kitchen pantry. Whenever you retrieve a snack or ingredients for dinner, you’ll brighten your own day with a quick burst of a favorite color.

Over the years you may have amassed a collection of framed photos. Some frames age poorly, but rather than replacing them, turn it into a small crafting project. Paint all your outdated frames the same color, or use two or three colors and create a photo wall in your home. This looks amazing for a wall going up the stairs or stand-alone frames on a side table.

Even the tiniest addition of color can change how you feel, especially if it’s a color that has positive associations for you. Why not pass that positivity along to your pets too? Adding a splash of bright color to the inside of Fido’s favorite napping space or around his feeding area will inspire smiles (and tail wags) all around.