Say no thanks to cloying colors. As an alternative to the Easter shades we see lining the aisles of our local drugstores, we assembled a springtime palette that's easy on the eyes. Members of the Remodelista Architect/Designer Directory chimed in with their favorite vernal shades—perfect for that springtime paint project we've all been meaning to get to.
Above, top row, left to right: Farrow & Ball Cinder Rose; Valspar Cathedral Stone; Farrow & Ball Oval Room Blue; and Farrow & Ball Elephant's Breath. Bottom row: Benjamin Moore Cedar Path; Benjamin Moore Linen White; Valspar Royal Gray; and Modern Masters English Brown. Consider trying several of these shades in combination in a kids' room.
Above: Los Angeles designer Alexandra Loew of From the Desk of Lola chose Farrow & Ball's Cinder Rose as one of her all-time favorite pinks, noting that the color is "pinkish but not girly: it has a muddy, earthy, clay-like pigmentation that lends itself to masculine, organic, and even neutral looks." For the rest of our favorite pinks, see Expert Advice: The 10 Best Pink Paints.
Above: Valspar's Cathedral Stone is aptly named: it's a flat, gargoyle gray (and one of the prettiest grays we've seen).
Above: Farrow & Ball says its gray-green Oval Room Blue appears repeatedly in historic color schemes from the 18th and 19th centuries. (Portland, OR, designer Carole Magness chose it as one of her favorite trim colors for small urban kitchens. Get the whole story in Remodeling 101: Best Colors for Urban Kitchens.)
Above: Magness painted her own farmhouse kitchen in Farrow & Ball Elephant's Breath, noting that the color has a "bright but historic feel."
Above: Architect Amy Alper first clued us in to Benjamin Moore's Cedar Path, a bright spring green. Alper used the color as trim on a cabin remodel. For the story, see The Ultimate Creekside Cabin, Northern California Edition on Gardenista.
Above: SF Bay Area landscape architecture firm Pedersen Associates likes Benjamin Moore's Linen White, a white so warm it's almost yellow. (We like it as a stand-in for an overly perky Eastertime yellow.)
Above: We used Valspar's Royal Gray in our Palette & Paints: Coastline-Inspired Blues; though it's labeled gray, it's a people-pleasing nautical blue.
Above: We like a little metallic in our spring mix, such as Modern Masters English Brown. (See the rest of our metallic recommendations in Palettes & Paints: Modern Masters Metallic Wall Paint.)
Find more paint inspiration in our Palette & Paints posts, including Arne Jacobsen's Copenhagen Blues; Jades and Celadon Greens; and India-Inspired Paint Colors. On Gardenista, see Black Magic: Architects' 8 Top Paint Picks.
More Stories from Remodelista