<p>I am helping my parents pick wall paint for the bedroom; in their old home they had a medium blue room that was hideous, it was just very chalky & stark. Over the years I have not seen a nice blue room that was not too cold & too stark. Any ideas how to pick a nice shade of blue that is not out dated and cold?</p>
<p>It sounds like you really do not want a blue room. Is it possible to pick another color?</p>
<p>Barring that, go to a stronger blue, not light. Good luck.</p>
<p>Somemom, ask any interior designer, and they will tell you that blue is not recommended for bedrooms. However, my DD had a very good luck painting 2 of her bedroom walls very light blue (“Silly Old Bluebirds”) and the other 2 light lemon yellow (“Dandelion for Roo”) - both Disney paint colors. The result still looks great, and I remember the colors because of their goofy names 
[Disney</a> Paint Home](<a href=“Disney.com | The official home for all things Disney”>Disney.com | The official home for all things Disney) I’m not saying that you have to rush to HD and pick up cans of Disney paint, but maybe you can break up “too much blue” by painting one wall some other color?</p>
<p>Perhaps talk to them about the gorgeous blue comforter for the bed and blue toned artwork for the walls and blue accented rug and how wonderful it will all be against a subtle yellow or tan.</p>
<p>I really love blue, especially navy blue but never on the walls. Talk to them about finding just the right canvass for their marvelous blue possessions.</p>
<p>Though I do have to admit to a love of the french blue walls in the movie Marie Antionette…robins egg blue?</p>
<p>Take a look at the Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware websites – enter “paint” in the search field. Pottery Barn has a range of paint colors available through stores that sell Benjamin Moore paints. Their “Wedgewood Gray” looks blue in photos and is a very pretty shade, though it might not be what you’re looking for. According to PB’s catalog paint guide, pages 28-29 of the spring 2010 catalog show a room painted in this color. View this room online by typing in “spring catalog” and clicking on the “view catalog online” option. Of course the color wouldn’t look exactly like this, but seeing it in a room helps me get a feel for the color. Restoration Hardware’s line includes three blue paints in their “shore collection”. I think they sell mini sample cans. They used to let you check out an open can of paint and take it home to paint a swatch on the wall, but I’m guessing this policy is long gone. Both stores offer swatches. Good luck!</p>
<p>Our bedroom is a lovely blue with a hint of purple; my office is a marine blue with a hint of green. It took many samples to find the colors I wanted–five or six samples for the bedroom alone. Find colors you think you like. Paint a section of wall in each color. Live with the colors for a while.</p>
<p>Sherwin Williams sells you a test sample for $5. You can use the testers for primer later.</p>
<p>I’m not too fond of blue, but my brother used to have a robin’s egg blue room. He had National Geographic maps on the wall with the same shade of blue for the oceans and it looked pretty good. I had a periwinkle blue room in the same house that I adored. But it was closer to lavender.</p>
<p>The Benjamin Moore color picker is pretty cool. This link might take you to Bahaman Blue which is similar to what my brother had: [Personal</a> Color Viewer® from Benjamin Moore](<a href=“http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&_windowLabel=portletInstance_2&portletInstance_2_actionOverride=%2Fbm%2Fcms%2FContentRenderer%2FrenderContent&portletInstance_2cnp=public_site%2Farticles%2Fmain_page_articles%2Ffh_home&portletInstance_2np=public_site%2Farticles%2Fapplication_article%2Fapp_personal_color_viewer&_pageLabel=fh_home]Personal”>http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&_windowLabel=portletInstance_2&portletInstance_2_actionOverride=%2Fbm%2Fcms%2FContentRenderer%2FrenderContent&portletInstance_2cnp=public_site%2Farticles%2Fmain_page_articles%2Ffh_home&portletInstance_2np=public_site%2Farticles%2Fapplication_article%2Fapp_personal_color_viewer&_pageLabel=fh_home)</p>
<p>Benjamin Moore also sells sample bottles, but not for every color. (At least not at my local store.)</p>
<p>I agree with many of the suggestions above. French blue can be very nice, it is a sophisticated color and should be accessorized as such. Wedgwood blue has a very traditional and classic feel, I used to have a dining room that color, with lots of white trim and mahogany furniture, looks good with a touch of brighter pink in say a flower arrangement. My guest room is a slightly less intense version of Tiffany blue, I have some black accessories in there and LOTS of white, it is very nice. I am planning on painting my bedroom a muted shade of robin’s egg blue I have a mahogany 4 poster and will use white trim and white bedding and white drapes. I love periwinkle blue but have never lived with it, I think it tends more toward the feminine. I think the trick with blue is to use lots of white with it, using other colors tends to muddy it up, my 2 cents.</p>
<p>My best advice is to buy a sample size of each of the shades you’re considering (more and more manufacturers are selling these), then buy an equal number of large posterboards and paint each of them one of the shades. Then you can try placing the samples you’ve created in different sections of the room–in and out of shadow, behind furniture and next to windows—and in different conditions–daylight on a cloudy day, daylight on a sunny day, overhead electric light in the evening, lamplight in the evening, etc.—to get a sense of how each shade appears in “real life”. You’d be amazed how a color can look completely different under different lighting conditions, and the new forms of fluorescent light bulbs will create a different impression from conventional bulbs. Even the trim color you plan to use can affect how a wall color appears. I’ve learned (expensively) never to rely on those little chips to choose paint.</p>
<p>mommaJ’s idea is a good one. If posterboards are difficult, you can use large paper plates. They work well. In addition, you can take the painted paper plate with you when you shop for accessories.</p>
<p>These are great tips, the PB catalog just arrived today so I can show her that picture. </p>
<p>She also is picking carpet to go with some wort of medium/wedgewoody blue, but trying to determine the best neutral shade to go with it??</p>
<p>I happen to love blue. Our last bedroom was blue…but a little to “vibrant”. This one is a cool blue…makes me think of mint…but in blue. I love it. Our builder argued with me about the choice until he put it ON the walls…even he agreed it’s great.</p>
<p>If you don’t like blue…have your parents pick the color. We have found that getting the little samples of paint and painting a section of the wall works better than the little paint chips. We tried several different blues until we found one we both liked. Having those patches of paint on the wall forced the painting job to get done!!!</p>
<p>The Ben Moore Personal Color Viewer is fun to use, and you can also order samples from over 600 of their colors. Most paint stores only carry a few dozen sample colors at best.</p>
<p>Another fun site is colorcharts.org. Go to “Paint & Stain” and you can view the palettes, by collection, for all the major manufacturers.</p>
<p>Best money I ever spent was for a Benjamin Moore fan deck. It really helps me narrow down my choices before picking a few colors to sample. And you really, really need to do samples first.</p>
<p>I just painted a blue bedroom using a watercolor of a Cape Cod beach scene as my inspiration. Finding the right shade of blue/green was a challenge. I didn’t want to go too dark and the medium shades I found muddy looking. I finally got it right with my 6th sample. :)</p>
<p>we have some wainscoat board that was white in the store but bluish in the rooms. The CFC bulbs do make a difference in color.</p>
<p>Somemom, we have mostly hardwood floors, but the carpeted portion of our house was copied from a friend who used a designer. She chose wool; I used a cheaper synthetic. The color is a warm light gold/caramel, not too yellow and not at all pinkish. It’s a rich neutral that adds warmth and works with any color; also picks up wood tones. I regret not having extended it into D’s room, which has light periwinkle walls and a similar carpet, but would have been much more elegant and cozy with the caramel carpeting. I like the Pottery Barn-type palette because the colors function as soft backdrops and look good with other, sometimes unexpected, colors.</p>
<p>The English designers always used a color for carpeting they called mouses back. It was a soft taupe. Another color to consider is sisal, even it you don’t actually use sisal the color goes with most anything, almost the color of most hardwoods.</p>
<p>Somemom,
After last hurricane I had to redo son’s room. After days of shopping, I bought the Karriston (sp?) blue berber carpet that store owner had recommended from the first. I took ample carpet to BM, and had them analyze. I had them delete the black tint, add a little more white. Came out perfect. I only used for one wall, and white on others. Its a blueberry shade. The carpet, after one cleaning 5 years later, looks new.</p>
<p>I second MommaJ’s suggestion. I use Farrow & Ball colors a lot, for my house & clients. Buy little sample pots, paint on boards and move around the spaces. On paint on smaller sample boards (8x10) and carry around. To save money, F&B colors can be color-matched with Ben Moore paint. F&B claims to have more complex colors in their paints making their paint is so expensive; but their colors are lovely & subtle (& have great names).</p>
<p>Love that color view Mathmom! I do what MommaJ recommends. I have lots of skylights in my house and the poster board is portable enough that I can check out what effect the lighting has all over the room. </p>
<p>When choosing paint be sure to consider the rest of the colors in the room. Blue is opposite orange on the color wheel, so the two colors compliment each other well. The warm tones in woodwork can be orangey but they can be pretty red too. Tweak the blue a bit toward yellow if the woodwork is more red in tone, like a dark cherry, and toward red if the tone’s an orange with a lot of yellow in it, like a light cherry. If your woodwork is white, use the furniture in the room as your complimentary color and tweak to that.</p>