5 Designer-Approved Paint Techniques That Will Make Any Space More Interesting

Even though you’ve heard it plenty of times before, this simple truth bears repeating: Paint can sure work wonders. There will always be a long list of components that go into making a room feel complete, but it’s surprising how those decisions can be impacted by paint color and how it's applied to the walls.

Getting creative with paint in our 2024 REAL SIMPLE Home was no easy feat, but designers met this challenge with ideas that struck a balance between current trends and traditional sensibilities—our Brooklyn abode was originally built in the 1890s, after all. Learn about the paint techniques they tried in their spaces ahead so you can also achieve cohesion and creativity in your own home.

Color Drenching 

The REAL SIMPLE Home’s living room was designed by Jordan Slocum and Barry Bordelon, also known as the Brownstone Boys. The duo wanted to highlight the taupe tones in that stained glass window while also coordinating with the intricate wood detailing throughout the room. Valspar’s Pick of the Litter was a unifying shade: A warm neutral that highlighted all of the above, creating a sense of calm. And when it’s drenching an entire room, including the ceiling and trim (a technique that’s all the rage right now), it really feels like a soothing embrace.

“In choosing our paints, it was really important to us that everything felt cohesive,” Slocum says. Subtle decisions like matching the paint color to original historic details throughout the home is something you feel before you see. While you might not immediately notice the taupe and blue in the front are pulled from the stained glass window, everything will feel like it belongs together before you do.”

Two-Toned Kitchens

The kitchen was always going to be an exercise in old-meets-new, given that the plan was to keep the original woodwork but modernize the rest with current trends and of-the-moment technology. The solution? Going for a two-toned kitchen—which usually features two different cabinet colors—but with a bit of a twist.

Slocum and Bordelon, who also designed the kitchen in tandem with architect Alexandra Burr, needed to pick a paint color that wouldn’t compete with the highly veined marble of the backsplash and countertops. Valspar’s Swiss Coffee for the walls and Tea Stain for the cabinets gave the moody stone its due, thanks to warm whites that lean back. 

And if you’re wondering where the two-toned cabinetry comes into the picture, that’s understandable! The second tone is actually the warm wood grain of the ornate doors flanking the stove alcove, which conceal extra storage and shelving.

Tone-on-Tone

The tone-on-tone technique layers different shades of the same color, which Jessica Davis, the founder and design director of Atelier Davis, used in this kids’ bedroom. 

Davis describes the task of outfitting the room as one that involved some style forecasting: The space had to be cozy and comfortable, and it had to be somewhere that could grow with kids over time. She also sought to make it feel sophisticated. To do so, Davis chose the sky-blue of Valspar’s Angel Sol for the ceiling, and paired it with a deep blue of Valspar’s 2025 Color of the Year, Encore, for the walls. 

“I love doing a small space in a dark color,” Davis says. “It feels like a cocoon, in a good way!” By painting the ceiling in a coordinating shade, Davis says that the room feels more intentional than it would have if the so-called fifth wall were left white. And given that the pink curtains and dark-wood details are on hand to tie everything together, the blue paint acts as a great unifier. “The warm-and-cool color combinations really sing,” Davis adds. 

Color Flipping

Instead of painting your ceiling white and your walls a darker hue, why not flip it? Coat your ceiling in something special and treat your walls to a cozy white shade. Designer Mikel Welch used this approach on the primary bedroom by painting the walls a creamy white (Valspar’s Savoury Beige) and the ceiling an earthy terracotta (Potter’s Rock by Valspar).

Welch says he chose this palette because it paired nicely with the home's woodwork, but the main reason he painted the ceiling was to add an element of surprise and extra warmth. “I wanted to create a relaxing haven that felt like a hotel suite and an escape from hectic city life,” he says.

Colorful Contrasting

The laundry room may not be a space that screams fun, but designer Amber Guyton of Blessed Little Bungalow didn’t want it to whisper boring, either. “I wanted to create a colorful, fun, and high-energy space,” she says. Guyton’s first move was to install a giraffe-print wallpaper on the ceiling, a design she created in collaboration with Mitchell Black, and used its palette to inform the surrounding paint. 

“The wallpaper colorway included purple and chartreuse, so I considered other cool tones that would complement its tropical vibes,” she says. “I selected Valspar's Renew Blue, its 2024 Color of the Year, for the walls and skylight, and Valspar's Purple Fury for the cabinetry and trim.”

By keeping the backsplash tiles geometric yet neutral, this bright paint combination is an exciting jolt of personality—a fun contrast to the chore of folding clothes.