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Colours for your living room: ideas and inspiration

The best way to find some inspiration for living room colours is to take a look at living room images and ideas. So, here at IKEA, we've put together a collection of images to show you the endless possible combinations of furniture and wall colours that you can find.

The key is to know how to combine all the different elements — sofas, tables, lamps and rugs — with your favourite colours.

Listen to Maria Martin, one of the IKEA interior designers, who gives us her top tips for decorating a living room.

Turquoise living room with leather sofas

Video: How to decorate your living room in six steps

Choose the dominant colour for your living room and add splashes of complementary colour from the opposite side of the colour wheel. Try not to combine too many colours or the result will look chaotic.

Jenny Gyllensten, Interior Designer.

Here at IKEA, we have countless ideas to help you create the room that you want. Get comfortable and let's take a look at all the living room colours that you could possibly imagine. Find the living room of your dreams!

1. White living room

A white living room is a fail-safe classic that never goes out of style.

White living room with natural timber accents

White walls work really well in elegant, industrial designs and those with a nautical theme.

That's how they're used in this living room, where the white contrasts with the dark furniture and flooring and the natural colour of the bookcase, chair and baskets.

White living room with contrasting dark furniture and floor

Another example is the industrial-style living room. Here, the light-coloured floor is used to showcase the furniture.

White living room with industrial-style furniture

We can almost smell the sea breeze in this white living room with natural fibre furnishings. A white sofa can also bring balance and calm to your living room. Fancy a nap?

Mediterranean-inspired white living room

A white living room can act as a canvas on which to showcase bright, cheerful prints.

White living room with bright, cheerful prints

2. Grey and white living room

Grey and white is one of the most elegant, peaceful and harmonious colour combinations you can use on your living room walls. These colours are very flexible and work well with a huge variety of furniture,

as shown in this grey and white living room. Here, the eye is drawn to the white sofa, which is inviting you to have a well-deserved rest.

Very bright grey and white living room with white sofa

3. Grey living room

Grey was always going to make the list of colours that we recommend for your living room. If you opt for a light grey like this, you can make your walls a backdrop for your works of art.

Light grey living room with decorative pictures

4. Beige living room

If you don't want to go wrong, a beige living room is the safest bet. Beige walls and furniture pair very well with reds, which create a pop of contrast when used on furniture or rugs, as this living room shows to great effect.

Beige living room with beige and red furniture

Beige is also the colour of natural materials, which can create a cosy living room like this one.

Beige living room with natural materials

5. Orange living room

Warmth and energy are the hallmarks of an orange living room. Orange pairs very well with blue-toned rugs, as in this living room.

Orange living room with blue and red accents

6. Red living room

You can choose red as the main colour in your living room or you can use it for pops of colour to make it really unique. Here at IKEA, we recommend that you use furniture, decoration and accessories to show off this vibrant hue, as in these two examples.

7. Green living room

Green is the colour of hope, and your living room is guaranteed to be an oasis of calm and tranquillity if you combine green walls with matching green furniture.

Green living room with green walls and monochrome green sofa

However, if you don't want to risk everything on one colour, you can always use green on key pieces like your sofa to give your living room some real personality.

Living room with green sofa and wall details

8. Blue living room

A blue living room is very versatile and goes very well with neutral or pastel colours as shown in the room below.

Blue is also a great foil for dark furniture and timeless and sophisticated décor.

9. Black living room

A black living room can be very dramatic, but as it's a neutral colour, it will also go very well with your chosen furniture and is the perfect canvas on which to decorate.

Finish off your black living room with a natural leather sofa and surprise your guests.

We hope that all these ideas have helped you to choose the colour that you want to take centre stage in your living room. If you need more inspiration, remember you can find lots more examples in our living room gallery.