Blue Living Room Ideas
A blue living room feels welcoming when you pair the blue with warm textures and one warm accent colour, such as tan leather, oak, ochre or rust. Grey blue is the easiest shade to live with; deeper blues need good lamps and art with lighter backgrounds or gold tones to stand out.
Below: choosing a blue, sofa and rug pairings, a blue TV wall, and how to choose art for blue walls.
Prints for this look
The colour palette
Grey blue, mid blue or deep blue?
Grey blue is the most forgiving colour for a living room. It looks calm by day, cosy by night and works with almost any sofa. Mid blues such as cornflower and denim feel relaxed and slightly coastal. Deep blues such as ink, petrol and midnight make a living room feel snug and look elegant with brass and walnut.
Warm blues have a little green in them and suit oak, cream and terracotta. Cool blues lean towards grey or violet and suit white, chrome, marble and black. Keep your accents on the same side as your paint.
Sofas and rugs for blue walls
- Cream, ivory and boucle sofas look crisp and bright against any blue.
- Tan and cognac leather is the warmest match, and its orange undertone makes blue walls look richer.
- Mustard or rust velvet makes a bold, confident pairing for deeper blues.
- Grey sofas work with grey blue walls, but add a warm rug or cushions so the room doesn't feel cold.
For rugs, look for a warm base, such as jute, faded terracotta or ochre, with a little blue in the pattern. The 60-30-10 rule is a useful check: 60% blue, 30% neutral, 10% warm accent. Read more on our decorating rules page.
A blue TV wall
Painting the TV wall a deep blue helps the black screen blend in when it is off. Hang a pair of A2 prints or a set of A3 prints either side of the screen, lining up the tops of the frames with the top of the TV, or hang one larger print on the adjacent wall so the TV is not the only focal point.
Art for blue walls
On deep blue walls, gold, ochre, cream and white backgrounds glow. On grey blue and mid blue walls, you can use prints with stronger blues, as well as seascapes, botanicals and warm abstracts in blue and orange. Don't try to match the sofa exactly; pick one accent from it and repeat it in the art.
Above the sofa, aim for art about two thirds of the sofa's width. On a 200 cm sofa that is roughly 130 cm of art, hung 15 to 25 cm above the sofa back. Browse our blue wall art or the orange and blue collection for warm contrast.
Sizes at a glance
| Size | Centimetres | Inches | Works for |
|---|---|---|---|
| A4 | 21 x 29.7 | 8.3 x 11.7 | Shelves, desks, small gaps, sets of 3 |
| A3 | 29.7 x 42 | 11.7 x 16.5 | Hallways, side walls, pairs |
| A2 | 42 x 59.4 | 16.5 x 23.4 | Above a sideboard or small sofa, the anchor of a gallery wall |
| A1 | 59.4 x 84.1 | 23.4 x 33.1 | Above a standard sofa or bed |
| A0 | 84.1 x 118.9 | 33.1 x 46.8 | Large walls, open-plan rooms, statement pieces |
All our A sizes fit standard off-the-shelf frames, and every print is made to order on museum-grade matte paper.
