Blog Post

Best wall colors for artwork

  • By Liz Lidgett
  • 14 Jan, 2020
Styled living room
Let’s talk paint colors. We paint our white gallery walls over and over each month as we sell art and repair the nail holes on the wall. We’ve become experts in white paint and some beautiful accent colors that help show off your art collection.

At the gallery, we use on our walls Sherwin Williams Pure White. The undertones are a bit warmer than some very stark whites and end up complimenting the wide array of artwork that we display on our walls.
Sherwin Williams, Pure White
In my living room seen above, I went with Benjamin Moore White Diamond. Again, I love a warm white. It’s crisp and clean but doesn’t feel cold which is how some white paint can make you feel. Again, it compliments the very colorful artwork in my collection. Am I thinking too much about white paint? Who’s to say? But really, go with a warmer white, not an ivory or cream, and you’ll have success.
Benjamin Moore, White Diamond paint
Benjamin Moore, White Diamond
Now I also love a dark room, especially a dining room, that makes all of your artwork feel a bit moodier. For my dining room, I went with Baby Seal Black by Benjamin Moore. Depending on the light, it shuffles back and forth between black and deep navy. It picks up the most beautiful undertones in the several pieces of artwork I have in that room and and white just pops off the wall.
Benjamin Moore, Baby Seal Black paint
Benjamin Moore, Baby Seal Black
We have had a lot of fun painting our accent wall in the gallery though with off the wall colors. It’s been yellow, bubblegum pink and metallic gold so far. Our Benjamin Moore Pure Joy yellow accent wall, was our first color and a snap decision but it became very hard to part with once it was time. The bright yellow picked up beautiful pops in so many different pieces of artwork and was a gorgeous statement in and of itself.
Liz Lidgett Gallery, Des Moines, Gold wallpaper
Liz Lidgett Gallery, July 2019
And finally, I am itching to pair a loud wallpaper with some beautiful artwork for a client. What about pairing this gorgeous Red Poppies Wallpaper from Spoonflower with this Andrea Ferrigno drawing. How stunning would that be?
Andrea Ferrigno, Red Poppies wallpaper
Red Poppies Wallpaper, Spoonflower + Andrea Ferrigno, From Here, 50 x 38.5", $3200 ($320/mo)
Sure, there are beautiful paint colors in the white and black family that will help your collection sing, but let’s all get a little weird too and try the unexpected from time to time.
Liz Lidgett, gallery owner
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