The Best Autumn Colors To Paint Your Room

English novelist George Eliot once wrote, “Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it,” and is there any wonder? Between the brightly painted leaves, farms bringing in the harvest, and colorful baked goods, autumn truly is a cornucopia for the senses. That makes it the perfect inspiration for one’s interior décor. Whether you want to call to mind apple orchards or pumpkin pie, these are the best autumn colors to paint your room.

Yellow

At other times of the year, yellow is a gentler, paler color that speaks of gentle sunlight and flower petals. In the autumn, yellow takes on the darker, bolder hues of goldenrod and tree leaves. It is closer to orange than white. Among our odorless* interior wall paints, you may find our “Dandy Lion,” “Warm Fuzzies,” or “Sun Drop” come to mind.

Red

Autumn reds speak of blazing red maple leaves and apples picked fresh for the farmer’s market. It is a pure red, untouched by hints of pink or purple, more like our “Party Time” hue. It’s perfect to use as an accent wall, or you can paint the whole room for a more dramatic room look.

Orange

There is no color as closely associated with autumn as orange. Not only does it speak of changing trees, but of different size and shaped gourds. Because it is almost universally associated with autumn, almost any shade of it will conjure up the image you want. Our “Orange You Happy?” will drop you right in the middle of a pumpkin patch, while our more muted “Japonica” will hint at the leaves that have already fallen from the tree.

Brown

Most of the year, brown is underappreciated, but in autumn it takes the spotlight. It’s the final color leaves turn as they carpet the lawn, the dried wheat and corn stalks swaying in the breeze. It may even make you think of wicker baskets full of autumn goodies. Like orange, you can use nearly any shade of brown and still call autumn to mind, whether you’re using a warmer shade like our “Tan Hide” or a cooler shade like our aptly named “Fall in Season.”

Blues and Greens

When most people think of autumn, their mind doesn’t immediately go to cool tones. But even though warm colors take center stage in fall, there is still usually a little hint of green in the trees as the leaves change. And the gentle blues of the sky are just as much part of the autumn landscape as the changing leaves.

It’s all about choosing the right shade of the color. Autumn greens should be closer to the yellow side of the color wheel, like our “Cactus Valley.” There are a few possibilities for blue. You can go darker like our “Ocean’s Spray” or a lighter like our “Enchanted Evening,” and both could work depending on the other colors in the room.

Creating a Color Scheme

But when we think of the colors of fall, we rarely think of them in isolation. Usually, they work together, complementing each other. To get the full effect of fall in your room, often the best thing to do is to create your own personal autumn color scheme to use for your home. There are several ways of creating a color scheme for your room even without studying the intricacies of color theory. One way you can do it is by calling to mind an image you would associate with fall and basing your color choice off the colors you would find there.

You will want to be cautious about choosing too many colors, though; too many colors may lead to a room becoming busy and chaotic, so often it’s best to pick one or two colors to feature in a room, ground them with a neutral color, and then have another color to use primarily as accents. We have a few examples of autumn color schemes for your room below.

A Trip To a Pumpkin Patch

This is a straightforward color scheme for those who want the fall colors to be prominent in the room. When you think of a pumpkin patch, you think of orange first, so for this scheme orange is put on display usually as a wall color. Orange is then grounded by brown and accented of green. Bringing in brown through your furniture pieces and wooden flooring and then adding green pops of color through plants or art brings this theme home.

A Bountiful Harvest

This color scheme is a more understated, autumn-inspired approach. It calls to mind fields of wheat and corn and focuses on browns. For the walls, you focus on a paler brown or olive color, and tan and wooden furniture and accessories throughout. From here you can bring a few pops of a bolder color like red or yellow to draw the eye.

A Hike Through the Woods

This is a color scheme for those who want the full range of colors autumn has to offer, and can look vastly different depending on what colors you would rather focus on. Usually, you will pick one or two of the “autumn leaf” colors such as red and yellow or orange and red. One of these will be your walls, the other will be highlighted through accents throughout the room such as the curtains. Those with molding in their space have also been known to make one color their wall and the other their ceiling.

As with the other schemes, you’ll want to ground these colors with earthy browns. If you want the room to have a cooler feel, you can use greys as well. Then you’ll want to add a splash of one of your cooler tones in the room, like a green art piece or a blue throw pillow.

Autumn is truly a beautiful time of year, and for those who feel their souls “wedded to it” like George Eliot, bringing it into their interior décor is a great way to enjoy it all year. At ECOS Paints, we’re here to help you beautify your space, no matter the season.

*Odorless - no traditional paint (polyurethane) odor, which can cause headaches, nausea, and respiratory issues.