Basement Bathrooms Laundry Room Painting Studio

Basement Paint Colors

We’re tiling the half-bathroom and laundry room in white Octagon & Dot with charcoal gray grout, and we’re going to paint the rest of the basement floor. Since it’s just paint, I figured I’d pick a fun color (as opposed to tan/brown/gray), so I’m going with “olive tree” by Benjamin Moore. The studio is getting my favorite shade of pink (“wild aster”), and I think the play space will get “sweet pear,” a lighter version of the floor color.

I still need to choose colors for the laundry room (something that will work with our red washer and dryer, which you can kind of see in this lovely picture), and the half-bath (with its very short ceiling and lack of windows). I had a dream that I painted the bathroom orchid, like the Crayola crayon color, but I don’t know if that’s the way to go in reality. And maybe a creamy white for the laundry room? I think a robin’s egg blue would look nice too, but I’m not normally a big fan of blue.

Any suggestions?

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  • Zoe | A Quick Study
    January 19, 2011 at 12:38 pm

    Oooh I love the floor color. What about a very light gray for the laundry room? And the light blue in the bath? I feel like blue+red+green is a bit much for the laundry…

    • Making it Lovely
      January 19, 2011 at 12:40 pm

      There’s no green in the laundry room, just the red washer and dryer with white tile.

  • Elizabeth
    January 19, 2011 at 12:42 pm

    Sarah Richardson did a basement laundry room and it was pretty much the best thing ever. I’ve got it bookmarked for the “someday when I win the lottery and have a basement laundry room” folder.

    http://www.hgtv.ca/sarahshouse/theshow.aspx?sectionid=210&categoryid=7608192073964078734&postid=47838

  • Lindsay Széchenyi
    January 19, 2011 at 12:45 pm

    Have a look at Behr – Marina Isle. It’s my favorite!

  • Elissa
    January 19, 2011 at 12:45 pm

    Oooh, I think a light aqua-y blue would be nice in the laundry room and would work well with the red washer/dryer. Like Caribbean Breeze or Water Drops by Benjamin Moore? Although a creamy white sounds lovely too. It’ll give it that nice, fresh and clean laundry feel. :)

  • Erin (BonaFideChic@etsy.com)
    January 19, 2011 at 12:49 pm

    WIld Aster is my favorite color right now, and I love the colors it is paired with. This will make a great space!

  • Timmi
    January 19, 2011 at 1:03 pm

    I think the blue with the red would be cheery and refreshing. Also its something different than the rest of your house. And if you don’t like it get hubby to paint it something else!

  • Valerie
    January 19, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    We have red appliances also, and no windows in the future laundry room, so I’m curious to see what you will come up with. How about (in Berh) Aqua Breeze 500E-2? I did the color smart thing on the berh website and it gave me (with Tomato red as an accent) Amphibian (730F-6), Flint smoke (730F-4) and hushed white (w-f-710).

    ^_^

  • Tanya
    January 19, 2011 at 1:10 pm

    Oooo, I love the colours you picked. Creamy white would look nice, as you suggested. A super pale yellow would also look great with the red washer/dryer. Am I weird to think either of the wall colours you picked out would look nice? They are both subdued enough. Sweet pear would look especially nice – I love pale pale yellow-greens with cranberry reds. Whatever you choose, I’m sure it will look lovely!
    ~Tanya

  • Sheri @ Make It POP!
    January 19, 2011 at 1:14 pm

    Hey there,
    We did our basement walls in BM Woodlawn Blue and LURVE them. It really brightened it up. I think it’d look great with the colors you’ve already chosen.
    Sheri

  • Kari
    January 19, 2011 at 1:26 pm

    lovely colors! Just the thing to beat the winter blahs over here…

  • Kris Mays
    January 19, 2011 at 1:32 pm

    Another yellowy green would look nice with your washer and dryer.

  • Megan
    January 19, 2011 at 1:32 pm

    My initial thought when you mentioned the red dryers was robin’s egg blue. I like blue for laundry rooms and bathrooms any way. Blue just makes me think of cleanliness and freshness, which I think suits a laundry room nicely.

  • Margaret
    January 19, 2011 at 1:35 pm

    I love bright red and robin’s egg blue together. I also agree with the above poster that blue can feel clean and fresh.

  • Jenny
    January 19, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    I am just curious, why did you opt to paint the floors vs. tile or something else? We’re going through our reno and would love to hear your input!

    • Making it Lovely
      January 19, 2011 at 3:43 pm

      Simple answer: it’s cheaper. I’m going to put down area rugs anyway, so we figured we’d just paint for now. We can always do some kind of flooring later, and this way we can have a little fun with the color too.

  • stephanie
    January 19, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    “rainwashed” by sherman williams. it’s an AHmazing color! its a light robin’s egg, but somehow, in different lighting situations it also seems a bit green sea glass colored. there’s an ongoing chart at our home (which is painted rainwashed) of what time of day and which lighting makes it appear more blue and/or more green.
    aHmazing, i tell you!
    ;)

  • Erin
    January 19, 2011 at 1:50 pm

    Robin’s Egg would look stunning with your red washer & dryer.

  • Amy
    January 19, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    I think the light pear would look really great in the laundry room. If you keep everything else white, the red appliances will really pop against the subtlety of the pear. For the bathroom, how about a shade within the same family as the pink? maybe with a touch more grey? Then all the rooms would be harmonious and the pallette minimal yet fun.

  • ~B.
    January 19, 2011 at 1:55 pm

    Cute! I keep trying to get my husband to let me paint our floor in the basement but he keeps nixing the idea! But I’m sure yours will look fabulous so maybe when its finished I can show him yours as an example???

  • Lora
    January 19, 2011 at 1:56 pm

    A great off-white color is Benjamin Moore’s Seaspray/941. The project looks like it’s coming along nicely!

  • HollyP
    January 19, 2011 at 2:06 pm

    Gold. The color of the origami swan from your 2010 personal recap post. It really pops against the red background in that photo. (At least, on my screen the wall looks red.)

  • Valentina
    January 19, 2011 at 2:18 pm

    Robin egg’s blue + Red is like my favourite colour combination ever. You should totally go for it!

  • Jen
    January 19, 2011 at 2:29 pm

    I love robin’s egg blue with red!! Go for it!

  • Jeen-Marie
    January 19, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    Love your color choices!
    I love the thought of robin egg’ish blue with red!
    But- with that being said… I like all my colors to be cohesive. So I personally would paint the laundry room a warm shade of gray that would be analogous to your other paint choices. The gray would have to match the red appliances and not be too yellow.

  • Colleen
    January 19, 2011 at 2:49 pm

    My parents painted their basement floor after they got water damage and had to pull up the carpet. It looks phenomenal! They pick a olive/tan, I was expecting something cheesy but I want to do mine now.

  • Camille
    January 19, 2011 at 3:00 pm

    What if you paint the laundry a light shade of pink? Like lighter than the studio. Pink and red look great together. The floor color and playroom color look very yellow on my computer. Im not sure i love the floor color.

  • Dana @ House*Tweaking
    January 19, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    Love the color scheme you have going on…or will have going on. You are so good with color in your home. Just curious – will you be painting the concrete floors? I’ve thought about that and would be really excited to see someone else do it first. Sorry, you’re my guinea pig ;)

  • Circa1972
    January 19, 2011 at 3:22 pm

    There isn’t much that is more fun than a very classic red and turquoise combo. You can work in a beige as a transition to the other rooms. Here’s the wallpaper that I love with the perfect colour combo:
    http://wallpaperfromthe70s.com/product_info.php?info=p286_Ostara.html&XTCsid=e0628c3bd0890e071f11f6f4cbf72aab

    • Julie
      January 20, 2011 at 5:48 am

      Oooooh, I love that wallpaper too!

  • Staci
    January 19, 2011 at 4:06 pm

    I absolutely LOVE robin’s egg blue and red. With lots of white.

  • Stacy @ Design Something Better
    January 19, 2011 at 5:26 pm

    I’m with Erin & Staci – a bright robin’s egg blue would look so sweet with your red washer/dryer.

    This is exciting… it is a color I that has been on my “Must Find a Place to Paint” list for a while.

  • Katie
    January 19, 2011 at 7:30 pm

    We painted our Living room “Enamelware” from The Martha Stewart line at Home Depot. We have red accents in our livingroom and we love it! its the perfect robin’s egg blue. Goes on a little bright at first, but once it’s all done its perfect!

  • shaboom
    January 19, 2011 at 8:02 pm

    btw – after you’ve welcomed baby boy into the world and you’re done with sleepless nights and all that good stuff, come visit us at The French Skinny Experiment for a fun way to get rid of the baby weight!!!

    xo
    Shaboom

  • Amanda
    January 19, 2011 at 8:03 pm

    I love the idea of painting the floors such a fun color for the time being! When we remodeled our garage into more living space at our old house I decided to just seal the concrete floors. You could still see all the paint, oil, and goodness knows what stains through the seal and it was a fun reminder of what the space used to be. A few area rugs in key areas, and it was just as cozy and warm as I wanted. It’ll be hard not to do the same when we finish the basement here in the new house.

  • erin
    January 19, 2011 at 8:29 pm

    so funny thing about blue- it used to be one of my least favorite colors. and somehow, it has crept it’s way into our home and we have 3 different rooms painted in varying shades. turns out that i don’t like blue THINGS but i like blue walls. :)

    i think blue would be a nice background color for the washer & dryer.

  • Nikki
    January 19, 2011 at 9:30 pm

    Check out Kensington Green from Benjamin Moore. It’s a really nice color on the wall. It’s more of a grayish blue than a green and really looks fantastic on the wall. It leans toward a robin’s egg blue but a little more subdued. I have it in my laundry and really like it. My neighbor put it in her family room and it looks great there too. It would work well with your red washer and dryer.

    I don’t know what your ceiling plans are in the laundry but we put up corrugated tin on our and it really reflects the light well and makes the space seem so much brighter than before. (plus it is cheap and easy to install!)

  • Christine
    January 19, 2011 at 9:54 pm

    I love the idea of painting the floor! And I forever love that ‘wild aster’ pink paint. So pretty :)

  • Ashley
    January 19, 2011 at 11:24 pm

    I love idea of creamy white with the red washer/dryer. A friend has the same red appliances in her laundry that she just reno’d, and just white walls and a neutral floor. It’s smashingly clean. What about an ivory beadboard with tone-on-tone wall colour? Clean and neat, just like your clothes will be :)

  • christine
    January 19, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    I love that you embrace color! That being said, I love that I don’t. We all have our own, unique personalities to uphold, right? :)

  • Julie
    January 20, 2011 at 5:46 am

    I’ve always liked red with aqua and turquoise, but recently I’ve really been liking red with purple and pink (almost any shade works in my opinion). The Wild Aster of your studio would look lovely with red.

  • Anne
    January 20, 2011 at 7:54 am

    I agree with everyone in that I think the blue/red combo would look AMAZING but you also have to be careful with the flow of color from room to room. Only reason I mention this is because I have spent the last year re-painting my house because while I loved the individual color of each room my house didnt flow well from room to room…it was too shocking! I like the sweet pear and think that will look pretty with red. I am sure whatever you pick will look awesome!

    • Anne
      January 20, 2011 at 7:56 am

      PS…if you do go with blue “Salt Glaze” by Martha is a really pretty blue…I used that for my dining room!!

  • Jenny
    January 20, 2011 at 8:05 am

    I have a robin egg blue in my kitchen and I love it. I think it would look good with the red. Another shade of the yellow-green colors you’ve already picked would look good in there too. I’ve always liked how your room paint shades all seemed to be related …

  • Laundry Room Paint Color | Making it Lovely
    January 20, 2011 at 9:28 am

    […] And the winner is… pale blue! As I had mentioned, I’m not normally a fan of blue. I like certain shades though, so I’m willing to give it a shot. This laundry room may have tipped things in the color’s favor. […]

  • samarahuel
    January 20, 2011 at 9:41 am

    I may be alone in this opinion, but even though “it’s just paint” on the floor, I would go with a neutral, then add area rugs for color. I know you’re amazing at decorating and renovating your home (you really impressed me with your porch project at the end of your last pregnancy; I was exhausted just reading about it at 6 months along myself) but wouldn’t it be a big undertaking if you had to move all the furniture and everything to change it? I guess maybe you would just do sections at a time, so maybe I just answered my own question, but anyway, I thought I’d mention my concern. :)

  • Danielle@Newlyweds Paradise
    January 20, 2011 at 10:07 am

    What about a gray in the laundry room? With that, I would add robin’s egg blue accents with red…maybe even some black and white.

    Great choices for the other rooms!

  • Jana
    January 20, 2011 at 10:46 am

    Absolutely LOVE your color choices. You have a great eye for design. The olive flooring with the pale pink is going to be ABFAB! I love Olive and Pink!

  • Ann Wilson
    January 20, 2011 at 2:19 pm

    For the bathroom, why don’t you find some towels or a fabric that you like and go from there? I always like a rhubarb color, that pinky, a little coraly shade that you find on the inner side of the stalk. That would look nice with all the other rooms. Don’t feel like you have to get the Best Color. Just wing it. Ann

  • Emmmylizzzy
    January 20, 2011 at 11:18 pm

    We seriously considered painting our basement floor as well, but ended up going with a pre-bonded padded carpeting – which was turned out to be really economical and instantly warmed the place up as well. We’ve still got a small cement section that we’d like to keep as a hard surface, so I really look forward to seeing how your painted floor turns out!

  • Jes
    January 22, 2011 at 10:29 am

    I just painted our bedroom Benjamin Moore’s Templeton Gray- it’s part of the historic colors collection. We have a lot of red and white accents in there! It reminds me of your bedroom color, but there is a nice blue tone to it. I love it even more than I thought I would! Not sure if it would be too dark in a basement though. I really like the idea of a robin’s egg blue too!

  • Anastasia
    March 19, 2011 at 2:21 pm

    hi there everything looks amazing. did you have to use a special paint for the floor to avoid chipping and peeling?? thanks!!