How to Make Coral Paint [What Colors to Combine]

Making coral paint at home comes in handy if you can’t find the color in a store or if you didn’t think you wanted coral for the walls and have now changed your mind. What colors do you need to combine to get a beautiful coral color?

To make coral paint, you need yellow paint [two parts] and rose pink paint [three parts]. You can make a lighter coral color by mixing white [two parts] with rich red [one part] and clear orange [one part].

In today’s article, we’ll explain further how to create an elegant coral color at home using the paint you already have. We’ll even share some ideas of what to do with the paint, so make sure you keep reading!

Here Are the Color Combinations to Make Coral Paint at Home

Coral is an attractive, warm color that invokes a tropical atmosphere. That’s why it can be so frustrating when your local home improvement store runs out of coral paint.

Well, worry not! You can make your own custom coral color by combining a few basic hues. Here’s what you need.

Yellow Paint

Coral is, at the end of the day, only yellow and red.

Unsurprisingly then, yellow is one of the most important colors you need to get a custom coral hue.

In your disposable paint tray, add two parts of yellow.

Now, yellow comes in all sorts of shades, from darker brass or amber to pale canary yellow.

For the best results, your coral should have a bright yellow base, which is #FFEA00.

If you use a darker hue, then the coral will come out darker. A lighter yellow might dilute the color too much.

Rose Pink Paint

Now that you’ve got the yellow paint in the tray add three parts of rose pink paint.

Despite that, the name rose pink might invoke a very pale, baby pink, it’s actually a much darker, brighter hue akin to magenta.

The code for rose pink is #FF66CC. Rose pink is comprised of 80 percent blue, 40 percent green, and 100 percent red, according to the Encycolorpedia.

How to Make a Coral Color More Orange

If you compare coral to the colors in the pink spectrum versus orange, coral is technically more orange.

You can really see it in this image here, courtesy of Canva. The color code for coral is #FF7F50, FYI.

What if you made a custom coral color, but the shade is more on the pink side than the orange side? That can leave you a little disappointed, as you had a color more like the image above in your head that your paint has not lived up to.

You might want to go back to basics and buy different yellow and rose pink paint.

It really only takes yellow and red to get that vibrant orange that comprises coral, but the tint can change depending on the brand of paint.

Keep in mind that no matter the paint color you choose–customized or right out of the bucket–the color, once applied and dried on your wall, will not be the same color as it is in the bucket.

The color will be darker.

To get an idea of what the coral color will look like when dry, paint a test area and allow it the time to fully dry.

If you like the color, then it’s time to paint. Should you think the color could use something more, then tinker with the formula until you’re happy.

How to Lighten Coral Paint

After doing a swatch test, you thought the coral paint was a little too dark for your liking. Since you haven’t yet started painting your walls, you figured it’s not too late to lighten your coral paint.

You’d indeed be correct! You have two options here.

You can either add white to the existing yellow and rose pink color combination you made before or make a new mix. If you choose the latter, here’s what you need.

White Paint

White is what brightens coral and gives it more depth and vibrancy. You’ll need two parts of white paint in your disposable paint tray.

Rich Red Paint

You’ll skip the pink with this configuration and rely on rich red instead.

The color code for the right shade of red is #FF0000. This is a bright, vibrant red, which is all that rich red means.

Avoid brick red and darker shades of maroon, as you’ll end up with a far darker coral color than what you want.

Clear Orange Paint

You’ll also need clear orange, which is a specific shade of orange with the color code #EE8800.

Clear orange is still a warm orange, but it’s a bit of a darker orange with a brown base.

That said, clear orange is anything but a dark hue. When mixed with white and rich red, the brightest shades of clear orange will come through loud and clear, making a beautiful, bright coral.

How to Darken Coral Paint

You find bright coral to be a little too Day-Glo and off-putting for your liking and would prefer a darker hue, even while being fully aware that your paint will dry darker than it looks when wet.

How do you achieve a darker shade of coral?

All you need is some black.

Be sure to go very light-handed on the black, using only one part to the two parts of yellow and three parts of rose pink.

If you add too much black, the color will become dark and diluted. Then you’d add white to lighten it and black to darken it.

Before you know it, you have this vaguely pink color that is nowhere near coral anymore.

Take the less-is-more approach here. You can always pour in more black paint to darken the hue further, but you can’t take away what’s in there!

What Can You Do with Coral Paint? Five Great Ideas!

You’ve finally gotten your coral paint to the exact shade you were looking for. Now, what can you do with it? We’re so glad you asked!

Here are our top five suggestions for how to paint your home in lovely coral.

Paint Your Bedroom

A bedroom is a place of refuge, but in the morning, it can be where you feel your most sluggish.

A bright pop of color in the bedroom will surely put some pep in your step and help you get right up out of bed in the morning.

If the thought of brandishing every bedroom wall in bright coral is a little too intimidating to you, you can always start with a coral accent wall and see how you like that.

Once you fall in love, you’ll be eager to paint the other three walls!

Paint an Old Table and Chairs Set

Do you have a table and chairs set in the garage or the basement, gathering dust?

You’ve thought about finishing the wood, but why not give it a new life by painting it a bright coral instead?

The color will reinvigorate the set, inspiring you to decorate your home with it in new and exciting ways.

Paint Your Dining Room

The dining room is a more demure part of the house, but who says your only paint options are drab grays or beiges?

Foster the feelings of family togetherness by painting your dining room walls a vivid coral color.

If you choose to hang old black and white photographs on the wall as an homage to family, the monochrome shades will stand out that much more against the bright reds and oranges of the coral color.

Paint a Dresser and Add Coral Wallpaper

Perhaps instead of an old dining chair set, you have an old dresser that you’re not sure what to do with. The dresser is in good enough shape but just looks too worn and weathered to be displayed anymore.

A coat or several of coral will breathe some much-needed new life into the dresser.

The color will look especially at home if you opt to wallpaper the bedroom and select a wallpaper pattern that has some traces of coral in it.

Paint Your Little Girl’s Bedroom

If you’re having a daughter, bright and bubblegum-y shades of pink are typically the norm for her bedroom.

Why not buck tradition a bit and try a coral-colored bedroom instead? If you select a bright, vivid shade, it will stand out far more than any pastel pink ever could!