Should Furniture Match Walls? [A Complete Guide]

It's no mystery that synchronizing furniture with wall color is an important part of a good interior decor scheme. But, are you feeling stumped about coordinating your furniture and wall color, trying to decide whether everything should match? For your convenience, we created a guide that will help you naturally create visual balance and unify furniture and walls to tie a room together.

When you need to synchronize your walls and furniture in a room, there are a few things to consider. Whether you have a home with an industrial, traditional, farmhouse, or bohemian style, the following points will guide your choices:

Choose accessories for sofas, accent chairs, and tables in colors that complement or match the wall color.
Paint one signature piece of furniture in the same color as the wall to create a focal point.
Stick to a combination of a neutral color, an accent color, and one to two base colors to coordinate elements.
When in doubt, consult an interior decorator for professional assistance for trickier color schemes that are monochrome or would otherwise require an overhaul of a room.

If you are in love with your wall color or desire a specific look for a room, you don't have to drastically change or replace your furniture to make it work. Learn how to apply color and accessories and follow some common-sense design rules to achieve an enviable and enjoyable home. Just keep reading!

Let Colors Be Your Guide

When you have a fantastic space with an attractive wall treatment, your furniture should echo or complement the wall's color and anchor the room. Look to the wall for inspiration for what colors will work best when selecting furniture, accessories, and wall art.

Typically, you want to consider the wall color as the foundation you are building off to guide your aesthetic choices. Next, choose two to three colors in a similar color family displayed in accent pieces, signature furniture, lighting, and decor to create unity, balance, and repetition for visual interest.

Here we'll provide some visual examples to give you a better idea of how to coordinate furniture with wall color.

Go Neutral

Create a charming and serene living room with an oatmeal-colored sofa paired with an eggshell white wall. Also, look at how the touch of color on an adjacent wall is an airy silvery-blue coat of paint.

The end table and coffee table are transparent glass, allowing the flowers to mirror the clean, polished look throughout the room. The throw pillows on the couch pick up on the walls and the curtains surrounding the windows, utilizing oatmeal, bright white, and pale, silver-pastel blue notes.

Embrace Warmth

Gathering together in the dining room is a welcome event with a warm color palette. Look at how the rich, red color is used to create a sense of depth and warms the room. The wall's color works well with cherry tones in the dining table, chairs, sideboard, and china cabinet.

Additionally, the area rug under the table mirrors the dominant colors and designates the room's center. The gold curtains offer an equally warm accent and are also visible in the lighting in the room. A few neutral dining chairs at the respective heads of the table help offer some visual relief.

Cool Down

When you don't want to go with a neutral or warm color, a nice cool shade of blue creates a sense of calm. A minimalist yet slightly boho-style bedroom is a welcome oasis to lounge and slumber. Neutral shades of sand and beige in the accent chair and area rug create visual interest alongside the dresser's earthy browns.

Note the woven bedside table and planter with a touch of natural greenery to carry the room's set mood. The sky-blue bedcover gives contrast to the room but still stays within the same palette as the wall.

Bold & Vibrant

Vibrant colors work well in a room with furniture or a wall painted in a neutral, light, or darker color. In this example, the couch pops out beautifully against a clean, bright white wall. The hints of electric yellow in the contemporary area rug play off the couch amidst structured black lines and white spaces.

A throw pillow in the same brilliant yellow rests atop one powder blue ottoman with a neutral white throw. The other matching ottoman sits unadorned while mirroring the throw pillows on the sofa in a similar shade.

Tie It All Together

Bring a room's elements together with the wall color as the foundation of your aesthetic choices.

Choose a sofa that either matches the wall's color exactly or stands alone as a dramatic focal piece. Add accent furniture, area rugs, wall art, and tables in one or two colors that complement the wall and main furnishing in a space. The whole goal is to place items in a room that work well together visually to create balance, harmony, and visual interest throughout the room.

You don't have to start from scratch with existing furniture. Cover all of your furniture in the same paint or color family as your wall. Add accessories that anchor your space and mirror the dominant colors. Explore color psychology, color theory, and utilize decor tricks to make your space feel warmer, cooler, larger, or cozier.

What Color Walls Go With Wood Furniture?

Wood furniture is classic, versatile, and looks elegant when paired with a complementary wall color. Usually, darker furniture is paired with a lighter wall color in neutral white, tan, beige, or ivory for contrast.

Lighter wood furniture is often matched with a darker, grounding paint color in dark green, brown, blue, or red. Look for red, orange, or yellow tones in wood that can be celebrated with a wall color in the same or opposing color family for visual harmony.

Should Sofa Match Wall Color?

The sofa is the most important piece of furniture in a living room, so it's important to understand how the color will make an impact. Many interior decorators love choosing a sofa that matches the wall color for a few different reasons.

First off, a sofa that matches the wall color will make a room look larger, and it helps to unify the room. If you choose to forego matching the wall color, choose a bold design or color sofa to be a showstopper piece. You can also opt for a sofa in a neutral color that plays well with the wall color and works with other accents and accessories.

Should You Paint All The Furniture The Same Color?

If you want a clean, uniform look for all of your furniture, painting them all the same color is an excellent choice. When all of your furniture is painted the same color or is painted the same color as the walls, it makes a room appear larger. Utilize this home decor trick when you want an inexpensive way to breathe new life into old furniture without replacing it.

Check out this 11-piece home painting kit on Amazon.

What Is The Best Color(s) For Furniture?

Ultimately, the best colors for furniture are a matter of personal taste and preference. However, if you want a safe bet, choose furniture in neutral colors that pair well with most wall treatments. Furniture that is white, brown, black, or silvery-gray looks chic in every room. Any furniture can be embellished with colorful or patterned throws, a table runner, accent pillows, and an area rug for visual appeal.

Check out this Pantone color guide on Amazon.

In Closing

If you are committed to your wall color and don't imagine changing it anytime soon, pairing furniture in a matching color makes your space look chic. You don't have to match your furniture to the wall, but understand your space and decide on two to three colors that work best with your wall color to accomplish your desired aesthetics and vision for a room.

Additionally, don't underestimate the power of accessories, accent furniture, and home decor touches to unify and balance visual elements in your room.