Last Updated on December 24, 2015 by Kristi Linauer
I’ve had a few people ask me what colors I’m going to be using in the house, and each time someone asks me, I panic just a little bit because I honestly have no clue.
One color that I can’t seem to get enough of lately is navy blue, so I can almost guarantee that it’ll be making an appearance in the house. Where? I haven’t a clue yet. 🙂 I’d like to live in the house a bit, see how the sunlight affects different rooms, and then make a decision. But in the meantime, I find myself searching for navy blue rooms on a regular basis for inspiration.
One of my favorite navy blue rooms of all times is this living room by Emily A. Clark. I really like navy blue used with lots of light, bright white.
Here’s another example of navy blue used with lots of white. Of course, if this were my room, I’d have drapery panels on all of those windows in a beautiful patterned fabric. 🙂
I would certainly consider using navy blue in a room without lots of natural light as long as there were plenty of lamps, and as long as it suited the use of a room. I think a home library would be the perfect candidate for navy blue to create a cozy feel like this room.
When it comes to navy blue, I like ’em dark. The darker the better. If they’re bordering on royal blue, then they’re not dark enough for my taste. The blue in this room is so dark, so rich, and so perfect.
This room also has the perfect navy blue for me. I love it!
Of course, any navy blue room of mine would also be accented with other colors. I really like it used with yellow and gray.
But I really like it mixed with oranges and aquas….of course. 🙂
Navy blue in the kitchen is a daring choice, but I don’t know that it’s any more daring than teal (which I currently have), so I’m definitely open to daring choices.
Another option would be to use it just on an island in a white kitchen. Still a bold statement without being too bold.
One of my favorite wallcoverings is grass cloth. Make it navy blue, and wow! It’s stunning!
Another option, which I’m not even sure if I’m brave enough to try, is to use it on the exterior of the house. I really love this look, but it’s definitely bold.
But I could most certainly do a navy blue door. This is such a stunning look with the light gray and white exterior.
Are you loving navy blue as much as I am right now? Have you used it in your home? And did you use it in a room with loads of sunlight, or in a cozy dark room? If you’ve used this color and you’ve shared pictures online, I’d love to see them! Feel free to leave a link in the comments below.
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I hope you’ll join me on my DIY and decorating journey! If you want to follow my projects and progress, you can subscribe below and have each new post delivered to your email inbox. That way you’ll never miss a thing!
33 Comments
[email protected]
July 16, 2013 at 1:11 pmOoo good crush! Can’t go wrong with navy!!
xo, amy
Cheryl @ The Creative Me and My McG
July 16, 2013 at 1:29 pmI would definitely do it on the exterior of a home!
Kay
July 16, 2013 at 1:53 pmI’m so excited to see how you end up using Navy Blue. It’s been a favorite color of mine for years and I’m in the process of using it in my master bedroom/bath with little pops of orange. I’ve also been on the lookout for an affordable grasscloth in Navy with no luck yet. I also agree with you in the darker the navy the better! I’ll be watching for inspiration!
Kristi Linauer
July 16, 2013 at 1:58 pmHave you thought about doing a paint treatment to mimic grasscloth? That’s what I’m considering. I have grasscloth in my current bedroom at the condo, and while I love the look of it, it’s such a dust collector. And yes…it’s expensive, especially for the really rich colors. I found mine at a bargain price of $70/roll or something like that several years ago. But I also used it just on the upper walls, because I know for a fact that if it were on the bottom portion of the walls, my calico cat would use it as her scratching post.
So I’ve been considering a paint treatment to simulate the look. I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t be that difficult. We’ll see. 🙂
Nancy
July 16, 2013 at 2:02 pmI saw a great set of navy walls that used a linen paint treatment. Needless to say, with white trim it was breathtaking.
Kay
July 16, 2013 at 3:16 pmNancy — My trim is white and I’m getting excited about the idea of the linen paint treatment. Time to put google to work and find some how-to’s. Thanks!
Kay
July 16, 2013 at 3:10 pmHi Kristi — That’s a great idea! I’ve never done a paint treatment before that didn’t look horrible when I was done (picture a faux sponge look – eeeek), but a grasscloth look might be do-able and actually look good! I’ll definitely look into it because the cost of the grasscloth would consume my children’s inheritance, as small as it may be! 🙂 Thanks again, and thank you for your blog. It’s my very favorite blog and I’m always anxious to see what you have done when it shows up in my email!
Nancy
July 16, 2013 at 2:00 pmI also have a crush on navy/indigo blue and have used it in every house since 1976. Navy is my unifying color. This time I have a navy blue wall (on the south wall) in my kitchen and navy drapery panels (on the north wall) in the living room, which creates a mirror effect as the floor plan is mostly open. With navy accessories in both rooms and the dining area between, the effect is absolutely stunning. I have used navy accessories in the hall bath and hall and in my green and tan bedroom, navy is the accent color as well.
Runt
July 16, 2013 at 2:38 pmI am definitely on the navy blue band wagon for some reason. My husband and I will find out the gender of our first baby in August and if it’s a boy my color scheme is definitely going to be navy blue, orange and gray. If it’s a girl then I don’t know – ha!
Kristi Linauer
July 16, 2013 at 3:10 pmYou could still use navy blue even if it’s a girl! Navy blue and coral would be beautiful!
Congratulations, by the way! 🙂
Connie
July 16, 2013 at 4:52 pmI second your idea of using coral. I love a navy, coral and yellow scheme and it can certainly be a feminine room with added glitz. One other reason I like it so much is that it is a color scheme that can really “grow well” with a child. Easy updates as they go through the various stages of life.
Runt
July 17, 2013 at 8:12 amThanks for the advice! I think I will definitely be keeping navy blue in my color wheel no matter the gender. =] I’m just excited to get started!
Runt
July 17, 2013 at 8:11 amThat is true! Maybe even navy blue with a light purple or pink? I really really really want to paint the walls a nice gray color whether it’s a boy or a girl but the Hubs isn’t like that idea. He doesn’t have the “design eye”. That’s really the color I want on the walls with the navy blue and whatever other color as accents. I need to convince him!
Winnie
July 16, 2013 at 2:47 pmI recently used it on one wall in my bedroom. But the color swatch looked dark navy – when it was finally on the wall it’s more of a dark blueberry. One of these days I need to repaint with a darker shade.
Kathy
July 16, 2013 at 4:14 pmI, too am thinking about navy blue. I would like to use it in a small bedroom, on all four walls with crisp white crown moding and trim. Now what brand of navy does everyone like best? And what would that name be?
Connie
July 16, 2013 at 4:46 pmOh, how exciting! As for navy blue, it is so versatile. I recently saw a magazine photo of a library done in navy lacquer. It was Sumptuous ! My favorite characteristic of navy is its versatility in relation to other colors. Depending upon the use of the room the mood of navy can be completely changed. I love it with the following accent colors (one or two at a time, of course). Lemon, pistachio, coral, a bright green similar to a Kelly green, rose, and certainly love it with lilac or lavender. You have to be very careful to choose the right shade of lilac otherwise you come out with one of those “What was I Thinking” rooms.
I am certainly looking forward to seeing your ideas especially since navy is a perfect opportunity for outstanding ceilings.
Connie
July 16, 2013 at 5:24 pmKristi, just an FYI that I came across somewhere. Are you familiar with Amy Howard? She is a decorator and she also designs furniture. She has returned to her hometown of Memphis, TN (which happens to be my hometown, too) and is producing a line of custom made furniture that is glorious, at least to those who like the style of French and Italian antique painted furniture. I am going to try to slip in a visit on my next visit to my family.
She also has a line of painting supplies, faux decorating supplies, etc. I believe she may still hold some classes. I want to check out her new spray lacquer and the antiquing kit for mirrors. I can think of lots of projects where an ‘old’ mirror would really accent the piece. A good place to start to find out information is http://www.amyhowardcollection.com.
You can navigate from there to the painting supply section or her daily blog. Check it out! It’s certainly over my budget but I will try some of the painting products. Her furniture pieces should furnish enough ideas to last through a couple of years…at least given my timing.
Sharon B.
July 16, 2013 at 6:04 pmOh yes! I love this combo, especially with lots of white like you said. Gold accents with it is gorgeous too. AND orange of course! 🙂 I painted the wall behind my bed a dark charcoal that has a blue undertone, it looks navy at times and I just love it.
Charlotte
July 16, 2013 at 6:29 pmLove Navy Blue and (butter) Yellow and Grey! My favorite colors! Can’t wait to see what you do with them!
Jenny Lynn
July 16, 2013 at 9:52 pmI have to say that I my favorite color is really not a color, black. I use it as an accent whenever I can. But, I really like these examples of Navy. I could see using Navy now. I love the darker examples best of all.
Sue
July 17, 2013 at 8:53 amNavy blue is a classic and could be used in a lot of ways (obviously from all your idea photos) but I like it best in small doses and with crisp white. My fav was the kitchen island. I felt the navy blue cupboards in the other kitchen photo sapped the light out of the room. However you use it, I’m sure it will be tasteful and beautiful.
Michelle
July 17, 2013 at 8:56 amI am so glad that I am not the only one that completely changes color schemes with a new house! I just bought a new home (new to me anyway, was built in the 1940s) about a month ago and I don’t want to use any of the colors I had in my old one. I’ve been going through everything trying to find the perfect paint colors and I’m still not sure what I want to do. I’m a landscape designer, so I have the entire outside all sketched out and planned, and still no idea what to do on the inside. I love the navy blue, though. Maybe I can use that somewhere….but which room/rooms?
Ashley W.
July 17, 2013 at 9:11 amI also love navy blue! I want to do it as the main color for the exterior of my house, with white trim and a red door (yep, a little patriotic). I’m just afraid that such a dark paint color will make the house hotter during the day…which is a big deal since I live in Phoenix!
Kristi Linauer
July 17, 2013 at 10:40 amWhen I read your comment, I was reminded of this that I saw on Pinterest this morning.
http://www.postcardsfromtheridge.com/2013/07/favorite-paint-color-all-american.html
The blue isn’t exactly navy, but I think it would look beautiful on a house!
Ashley
July 17, 2013 at 9:44 amI’m a huge fan of deep dark navy blue. I want to paint one of the rooms in my new house a navy that borders on charcoal/black, but I have a feeling I might chicken out. The room is currently a navy blue, but it’s on the dusty/royal end of things and I’m not a very big fan. The colour in the room next to it is dusty rose, so the previous owners definitely liked paint colours on the “dusty” spectrum!
Colleen
July 17, 2013 at 1:10 pmI am currently in the process of doing my bedroom in coral and navy! The room is neutral, the colors will mainly be in the draperies/bed linens. I also like BM Hale Navy, which is a little on the lighter side, but is still a beautiful color. I have painted a couple of shelves with a sample, just to check it out, and I like it a lot.
Kristi Linauer
July 17, 2013 at 1:17 pmReally…Hale Navy is on the lighter side? The pictures I’ve seen look so dark and luxurious. But pictures can be deceiving.
Your bedroom sounds gorgeous!! Navy and coral look so great together!
Colleen
July 17, 2013 at 2:33 pmKristi, the shelves I painted, (with a behr color match sample) really do not look like that super “dark” navy to me. I think it has just a drop of gray or black to it?, which I actually like and think makes it more versatile. I wouldn’t want to put anyone off it, because it is a Beautiful color and I am going to use it for accents throughout my house, including maybe an accent wall in my bedroom at some point. It is actually a pretty good match to the linens I have purchased. Definitely try out a sample when you get ready to go Navy!
Colleen
July 17, 2013 at 2:35 pmOh!, and I think it would make an excellent exterior color. Rich without being garish, if you know what I mean?
Joanne
July 17, 2013 at 7:29 pmI love Navy blue too! Currently our master bedroom has white furniture and lots of Navy blue to accent. I love the pop of color the Navy island had with those white kitchen cabinets. That would also look fab with your concrete countertops. The bedroom with the navy top and white board and batten was gorgeous also.
Steph
July 18, 2013 at 9:48 amHere’s another nice inspiration photo with Navy.
http://pinterest.com/pin/214624738464119407/
Ellie
August 13, 2013 at 11:52 amMy 17-year old grandson chose navy blue for his mom to paint his bedroom. It’s a rather small room with two windows on one wall and one door on each of two other walls, so there isn’t all that much wall. The woodwork is painted white and it’s gorgeous with the white woodwork setting off the dark color. His bedroom set is light-colored wood. It really looks outstanding.
Lynda
September 19, 2013 at 5:27 pmI’ve had a Persian blue ,similar to the blue background I’m writing on here,in fact ,and white woodwork ,ceilings,and pink n white kitchen but I’m ready for a big change.Like cottage style.
Thinking about using a rich almost navy blue on my livingroom/diningroom and continue using the white woodwork,ceilings,but,accented with some sunflower golden yellow.
Doing my kitchen in the navy with white cabinets,ceiling,and the same warm yellow color as in the living /dining room.Using white ruffled cape cod curtains in the two front rooms and a blue/white.golden yellow print kitchen sink skirt and cafe’ curtains ;the bathroom is going to be the golden yellow color with white ceiling,woodwork,and shower curtain in navy with a navy valance at the window over white wooden shutters.What do you think?/