One of the quickest and least expensive ways to give a facelift to any space in your home is with a fresh coat of paint. Use our all-time favorite farmhouse paint colors for inspiration!
Dave and I closed on our first home in June of 2006 — just weeks before our wedding — and I’ve been painting something ever since!
Walls, doors, windows, kitchen cabinets, furniture, the front porch… there’s always something!
I’ve often thought that I should have kept track of how many gallons of paint I’ve gone through — but it’s probably best if I don’t know!
Painting isn’t my most favorite pastime, but I do enjoy it — especially when I can work uninterrupted while listening to a favorite podcast or audiobook.
It’s actually somewhat therapeutic for me — like watering flowers and sweeping the floors.
Plus, the ability to breathe new life into an outdated piece of furniture or an unattractive space in my home brings SO much joy and satisfaction — especially when I can do the transformation in a day and on a budget!
How I Got Started Painting
Truthfully, I had never painted anything before we bought our first house.
At the time, I figured we’d need to hire a professional to do all our painting… until my grandma assured me I could do it myself.
She helped me for a few days… and the rest is history!
Since then (2006), I have painted (and repainted) pretty much every room in our first house and our farmhouse… AND I’ve painted and sold thousands of dollars worth of “rustic farmhouse furniture” through Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.
I guess you could say I was “hooked” once I realized how quickly a coat of paint could transform a space (or a piece of furniture).
Humble Beginnings…
I still chuckle to myself when I think back to my early painting days. Back then, I just waltzed into the paint store, picked a color I liked, brought it home, and started painting.
I never considered how all my various paint colors would work together in our home. This meant that our first home was initially a rainbow of colors ranging from light green to dark red… I believe I even used blue at one point.
It was a MESS!
Unfortunately, I have no pictures because that was pre-blog, pre-social media, and pre-cellphone camera for me (we didn’t even have the internet back then)!
Thankfully, after only a couple of years, I realized my style was much more “neutral”… and I began the slow process of repainting everything I had initially painted after we moved in.
It didn’t take lone for me to realize how much easier it was to decorate if I simplified my paint selection and kept the wall colors nuetral…
And just like that, my personal farmhouse style was born.
I fell in love with a white-on-white-on-white-on-cream-on-beige color palate… with a few pops of red, dark green, and brown to darken things up.
This instantly streamlined the look and feel of our home — pulling all the rooms together and creating the cohesive-looking space I had failed to create before.
Two years after I had re-painted everything in our first house, we purchased our current farmhouse and I started all over again!
We removed brightly colored wallpapers and dutifully painted whites and creams over bright purple and blue paint, tie-die splatters, colorful fish murals, and dark brown sponge paint.
It has taken us 10 years… but we’re essentially finished (for now — LOL!)
If you’re interested, you can watch a video tour of our home HERE!
I often get asked design questions or to help “pick out paint colors”, but I’m often not all that much help unless the person asking has the exact same style as I do.
I have zero training in paint or design, but I know what I like in my home… which is good enough for me!
If you’d like to add a little farmhouse charm to your home… might I suggest starting with one of my favorite colors below!?!
My Favorite Farmhouse Paint Colors
Find a Favorite Behr Paint Color: This post is not sponsored by Behr, but I really love their paint (found at The Home Depot). I use it almost exclusively! You can see all their different paint selections here.
Ultra Pure White (Behr):
I decided early on to use one color for all the trim in our farmhouse.
I know it’s trendy to paint the trim differently depending on the room, but simplifying our paint stash to one trim color has saved my sanity more than once!
I use Behr Ultra Pure White in semigloss for ALL the trim in our home, garage, and outbuilding — doors, windows, baseboard, crown molding, beadboard, etc.
I always keep a gallon on hand for touch-ups throughout the year… and even though semigloss is pretty easy to wipe up, it’s often just easier to paint over grungy spots where the kid’s dirty hands touch constantly.
Frost (Behr):
I realize this sounds like an odd color for that cozy farmhouse feel (it sounds rather… well, COLD to me!)
However, I’ve found that Beher Frost (in an eggshell finish) works wonderfully with warm tones and cool tones (in my novice knowledge of design).
It does have more of a greyish/blue undertone, but it looks and feels SO fresh, bright, and clean that it has become my favorite white.
I have now repainted many of the spaces in our home and outbuilding with Frost and it really takes on the look and feel of whatever accessories and colors I use for the different rooms.
See Frost In Our Home:
- the mudroom
- the half bath
- the kid’s bathroom
- the boy’s bedroom
- the girl’s bedroom
- the landing area
- our bedroom
- our outbuilding
- our new laundry room
Antique White (Behr):
Antique White is the perfect farmhouse color… but I wouldn’t actually consider it to be “white”.
It’s more of a really warm, cozy, soft tan… and works wonderfully with my decor.
I used Antique White (in an eggshell finish) for the majority of our main floor, and I get compliments on this color all the time. It looks amazing with white trim and dark wood floors.
See Antique White in our Home:
Americana Egg (Magnolia):
I’m in love with the Chalk Style paint from Magnolia — but it’s crazy expensive, so I only use it for small projects (like a piece of furniture or a few cabinet doors).
Americana Egg is the perfect shade of light green (even though it looks more like grey on the swatch) and I’m thrilled with how it turned out for our laundry room and bathroom cabinets.
This chalk paint is very easy to use — just apply one coat with a brush (never a roller), wait 10 minutes or so, and apply the second coat.
I used a darker wax over my paint to give a slightly aged look… but that’s not completley necessary.
Bleached Denim (Behr):
I don’t use this color much anymore — but it’s a really nice shade of farmhouse blue (if blue is your thing).
I like it for furniture pieces especially (like a mirror or an old hutch with chippy paint!)
It would also be a cute accent wall for a child’s bedroom — it works for both boys and girls in my opinion — and it looks great distressed with a dark wax or glaze over top.
Black Smoke (Behr):
I LOOOOOOOVE a distressed black book shelf, picture frame, bench, or side table — maybe it’s because I keep most of my walls and furniture so light that the black really adds a nice “pop” of color.
If you’re looking for a good black that covers well, Black Smoke (in eggshell) is the way to go!
I often use this color for the base coat (when I paint furniture) and then paint over with another color. When I sand the topcoat off, the black smoke comes through and it instantly looks older and more rustic.
Perennial Green (Behr):
Perennial green is a dark, almost blueish green that we use for our front door, our shutters, and several inside projects too (like the chairs and hutch in our dining room).
It’s very “primitive” and fits my farmhouse style perfectly!
Awning Red (Berh):
Awning Red is my most favorite accent color — especially for our Red, White, and Blue Farmhouse!
Some of my favorite furniture pieces are Awning Red — including the hutch in our old dining room, the red bench by the front door, and my Grandma’s antique high chair.
Wooden Cabin:
This is another color I use for painting furniture — it’s such a lovely deep brown color.
Wooden Cabin is very rich, warm, and rustic — it gives a nice wood look to furniture that is made out of particleboard or other non-wood materials.
If a space in your home could use a little facelift, I hope I’ve inspired you to pick up a paintbrush and get to work.
You’ll be amazed how much better, brighter, cleaner, and more “put together” your home can look and feel with a little updated paint!
And if you struggle to “pick out paint colors”, my novice advice would be to find a neutral color you love and use that throughout your entire house. Then choose a few accent colors and find ways to insert them into each space as well — this will really help to create that cohesive look and feel without fully redecorating your entire home!
One thing to keep in mind… paint colors often look VERY different online and in the store than they do in person. I’d encourage you to try a smaller sample size in your home before you commit to the full gallon!
What are your go-to paint colors?
Terry lee says
Hello,
I enjoyed this post very much. What type of paint did you use for the awning red furniture? Eggshell? Flat Matte? Im pretty clueless. Thank you in advance!
Andrea says
Hi Terry — I almost always use eggshell for everything inside (except the trim — which I used Semi-gloss).
Penny says
Do you use chalk paint when redoing furniture to sell?
Andrea says
Hi Penny,
I don’t use chalk paint — I have used it on occasion, but not regularly. It has a nice look though!
Sue says
Okay I have finally decided to ask… Been on your site for years.. I have to honestly say I love the look of your home… mostly… some things I just go… ” hey if she likes it… great just not for me”. BUT there is one thing I have always wondered about …..and I am asking it… Honestly,
How much constant dusting do you do ?
Like I love the grapevine wreaths and such.. but they are such a bear to dust… and having to move all the stuff to dust the table tops and such… I love the white and the bold colors.. but the dusting… ugh.. Okay I asked it…
Sue
Andrea says
haha! I think I’ll take that as a compliment… 🙂
And, as I’ve mentioned before on the blog, I almost never dust anything. I know, I’m horrible — but that’s the honest truth. I’m very particular about my floors, bathrooms, and kitchen… but the dusting is just not on my radar.
Every few months I’ll go through with a microfiber cloth and dust, otherwise, it’s not something I spend any time on, unless there is a very visible dusty area that I spot-clean.
I promise, our house isn’t overly dusty either, but I’m not sure why. I always dusted every week as a kid (and our house needed to be dusted every week) but how it just doesn’t seem dusty to me. We do get our air ducts cleaned every few years and we use good furnace filters — maybe my standards are lower too 🙂
Kim says
This reminds me that I need to get a gallon of paint and freshen up the trim and doors from one end of the house to the other.
What a beautiful home you have created!
Andrea says
yes! freshly painted trim looks SO good!
Donna says
Hi Andrea
I am fairly new, actually once again, to your wonderful site. I wonder if you have done a “how to” section on how to go through the steps prior to painting? I have painted walls & trim before. I’m thinking of redoing some furniture pieces. What steps do you need to do in order to get a nice finish?
Thank you for your vast knowledge!
Donna
Andrea says
Hi Donna — welcome back! 🙂
When it comes to painting furniture, it’s SO SUPER easy — you really don’t need to “DO” anything. Just wipe it down so it’s clean and maybe rough it up a tiny bit with some sandpaper.
Whatever paint you choose will most likely have instructions on it as to the best way to use it on furniture (chalk paint has different instructions than regular wall paint).
That said, I have 2 posts about paint projects. A painted desk, and a painted nightstand.
Hope this helps a bit!
It’s a lot easier than you think — just go for it!
Donna says
Thank you so much. I’ve just looked at your desk & side table. They turned out beautifully. I might be just a little less afraid after reviewing some of the things that you have used. Thank you
Andrea says
oh good — happy to help. Painting furniture is so forgiving — if you mess up, just add another coat or scuff it up a bit!
Pascale Forest says
Hi Andrea,
These are lovely colors. Thank you for sharing them with us. Since living in Toronto for 12 years, I know the value of having a home stager or a designer to choose our colors and place our furniture, artwork, etc. I wanted to benefit from this while we still lived there. We did this 2 years after we moved in. We loved it and 10 years later our condo sold within a week for the price we were asking.
When we were transferred to Michigan, we did the same thing, but only for paint colors since we had no furniture except for our beds. I wanted something that would appeal to future buyers and I wanted very few colors so that there would be a flow.
Based on that, we chose one pale shade of blue for all 3 washrooms (top sail by Sherwin Williams), one shade of warm white for the main floor, staircase and landing area upstairs (frappé by Benjamin Moore) a shade of very sunny and light yellow for all 4 bedrooms. I chose this color after seeing it in her condo in Toronto (lighthouse by Benjamin Moore). All the trim and ceilings are in the same shade of white (cloud white by Benjamin Moore). Our basement colors are cloud white, and some variations of white and beige in the bedroom, main area, water room, furnace room, etc.
I guess what surprised me the most was all the positive comments we get about the light yellow color. Men and women seems to really like this shade of yellow.
Andrea says
That’s awesome — Glad you have benefited from this idea. Your home sounds lovely!
nancy redden says
I’m thinking of using Jungle Trail on my kitchen cabinets. I’m wondering what anyone thinks of this idea. I want to use a green like in sage or olive and I came across this color and think it is the one. Any suggestions I will definately take under consideration.
Andrea says
I love the color — it’s a little dark for my kitchen preferences, but if you have lots of light, it could look really nice!
Sally says
I love your style! I laughed when I read your paint colors in your first home. Ummmm….we have the same thing currently in our home. Thanks for the inspiration to start painting!
Claire Carroll says
I like these colors. We are considering purchasing a house that has been foreclosed. The previous owners have removed all flooring and begun bathroom/kitchen renovations. It will need about $20,000 worth of work with us providing the labor.
This is the color palette that I have been planning on. I love to see pics.
Charlene Uchtman says
I thought I was the only one cheap enough to buy paint with a rebate, drag it home and then drag it back again to get it tinted. LOL! You do have to know what base to buy, but like you, I suspect, a light base would usually work for me. Lowes has similar rebates several times a year. If I had it to do all over again I would paint everything the same color and get the $20 off a 5 gal. pail. That would keep me from having so many partially used gallons and with my redish old trim work (which I won’t strip, too much work, and won’t paint, I’ll not be the first one to do that) a greyish white seems to work best anyway.
And you can make your own slip covers by sewing a cylinder that is as big around as your piece of furniture and long enough to fold down over the back and tuck in around the seat. If you really want it to stay down, just make a cover for the seat seperately and that will hold the tucked part in.
Kelley says
We LOVE Behr paint! It cover’s great, which makes it a good value, the colors are true, and it looks how I expect it to look. Our living room in our last two houses is the same green from them…I don’t know the name of it off the top of my head, but it’s pretty muted sage type green…we do it in semi-gloss for easy cleaning and I just love it. I love your color choices…I think I am going to take some inspiration from them for sure if we get our farm house, but I plan to throw some yellow into the mix…I love yellow and red for a farmhouse feel. 🙂
Andrea says
Oh yes, I love the yellow/red combo for farmhouses. In fact, our kitchen paint color has a hint of yellow and I absolutely LOVE it with our red hutch and other red kitchen accents!
joyce small says
I want to paint over colonial yellow in my kitchen/dining room and I want
a lighter color. This color has to much orange in it and it is dark.
I want to bring my kitchen/dining room into the 21st century
so to speak and am tired of yellow paint. I like
cottage white and wonder how would it look with oak cabinets
and bisque appliances?
Andrea says
HI Joyce,
I’m honestly not sure as I’ve never lived in a house with oak cabinets. I’ve always had white kitchen cabinets so I LOVE the look of Cottage White with all our white trim. You could always try a small area next to your cabinets and see if you like i first — or maybe ask someone in the paint department.
Sorry I can’t be more help on this one 🙂
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Kalyn Brooke says
I like to use Valspars Cream Delight on all our trim. It’s white, but not too white, if that makes sense!
JoDi says
I love that photo of the railings out side your house! So pretty! I’m sure you’ve posted a photo of that view before, but I never really noticed it like I did in this post.
Andrea says
Thanks JoDi — it is pretty, but I’m not necessarily looking forward to painting it all this spring!
Debby says
Thanks for the post. We are in the process of having a quote for a facelift on our kitchen. I was trying to tell the remodeling contractor that I wanted a red island. You should have seen the quizzical look in his eye! I love the Awning Red on your hutch. I will be at Home Depot this weekend picking up a swatch of that!!! 🙂
Organize 365 says
I love this! I had JUST decided to get rid of ALL our old paint this summer and keep better track of colors as I get ready to repaint rooms.
Thanks!
🙂
Lisa
annah says
May I ask where your armoires in your living room and landing came from? Also could you recommend a good site for slipcovered furniture? Love your sectional.
Andrea says
Annah, my armoire (along with almost all our furniture) is from craigslist. The sectional is from IKEA — they have a whole slip-covered line of furniture. Our armchairs are also slipcovered but I purchased those chairs on craigslist and paid to have custom slip covers made.
Hope this helps!
Dianna NH says
Hi! What Behr color is the green armoire? Is that the jungle green you featured? Thanks!
Dianna says
Just kidding I see the in text reference now.
Andrea says
haha — good. glad you saw it!
one note though — I did a brown glaze over the green paint — so if you don’t do the glaze, it will be brighter green.
debbie says
Very nice color selection. I really like them all. I tend to lean toward grays and blues mostly but I also love light shades of yellow and can never go wrong with creams.
In your dining area, I absolutely love your flooring – can you tell me more about it when you get a chance?
Thanks
Andrea says
Thanks Debbie. You can read all about our flooring here. 🙂
Lynn says
I love the simplicity of your color palette and that you go back to the same colors over and over. That provides a nice continuity in your home I imagine! This would be great for me – I would avoid a lot of difficult decision-making over what color to paint!
Crystal @ Puttering Mama says
Thank you for this post! I’m in the process of picking colors, and you’ve inspired me to maybe add color through painted furniture!
Many blessings to you and your family this weekend:)
Andrea says
Thanks Crystal. I’m a huge fan of neutral walls with accent colors in the furniture. It’s much easier to mix and match this way (or change your colors later on). Good luck!
Lauren @ Rustic Honey says
I totally agree, paint can transform anything! The entire first floor of our farmhouse is beige with white trim. I love it but as we are transforming our second story, I want to change it up a bit. Thank you for all the color ideas. I am always attracted to shades on green in magazines but I never end up liking it as much in my own home. And since I’m not a huge fan of painting… re-painting is definitley not up my alley! This post will be a good guide for me. Thank you!
Tragic Sandwich says
I love love love Behr paints. When we moved in, we used Behr everywhere we painted (except the kitchen–Dutch Boy had a color we already knew we wanted there). Our bedroom is Monaco (blue), the office is Arizona (pumpkin-y orange), the living room and dining area are Butter Cookie (a subtle but not light shade of yellow, and my favorite), and Baguette’s room is Pot of Cream (just barely off-white, and my new favorite shade in that range).
The only one I want to change is Arizona. The color itself is fine, but it makes that particular room seem small. One of these days we’ll get around to re-painting, but it’s lower on our priority list.
Jo says
I love to paint!! I recently bought a house that is all freshly painted with beige neutrals… I want to freshen it up a bit with some color, but its hard to find the perfect shade and look! Thanks for sharing your favorite paint colors – its always fun to see how people implement color in their homes.
Alissa says
Great post on paint! We are remodeling my husbands’ grandparents’ farm house so i am on the look out for paint colors! You mentioned that you buy paint at Home Depot when it’s on sale then take it back later and tint it. Do they charge you any extra for tinting it later? Is there a limit on how many you can purchase? Also what is your favorite finish..flat, satin, gloss? Thanks for all the great posts! Blessings!!
Andrea says
There is not an extra charge for the paint to be tinted — at least not at my Home Depot. And as far as the finish, it all depends on what look you like and what you’re painting. I’d just ask the person at the paint counter to show you some samples so you can get a feel for what you like.
Linda Dietz says
Thanks for the post about color! Color NEVER looks the same in your home as it did in the store. We recently painted our bedroom, hall, hall bath & laundry room what we thought was a good neutral beige. Looks ok but has some pink undertones that we’re not crazy about.
In one house, we had a wonderful red accent wall. The relator advised us that it would never sell due to that red wall. It sold in a fairly short time…because the new owners fell in love with the red accent wall! You never can tell, huh?
Logan Lakeland says
very useful!