Timeless Paint Colors The Stars Of Fixer To Fabulous Love Seeing In Homes
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Jenny Marrs from HGTV's "Fixer to Fabulous" has stated that selecting paint colors is one of her favorite parts of renovating properties. And who can blame her? Washing walls in color completely transforms the entire look of a space in a matter of hours, making it one of the quickest and easiest ways to decorate your home on a budget. She tells fans via Instagram, "Choosing paint colors for a home is one of my favorite things to do! Paint can make such a difference in any space and I get a lot of questions about which colors I use most often."
The Marrs family are no strangers to color. They commonly venture outside the trusted palette of beige and neutrals that many interior designers rely upon when breathing new life into rundown and dated houses. Here we share some of the most loved paint colors from the stars of Fixer to Fabulous, and reveal how these can be used at home to create a timeless look.
Sunny yellow makes a room feel bright and cheerful
Jenny Marrs from "Fixer to Fabulous" says this cheerful paint color is making a comeback. In Season 5, Episode 1 of 'Fixer to Fabulous', (via HGTV) she explains, "In the kitchen, I want to have more of like a bright, cheery, happy, cottage kitchen with yellow. But, yellow is very tough because yellow can be a little bit bright and childish. But, I knew from the very beginning I wanted to do a yellow kitchen because it feels very countryside, and yellow is back."
Yellow can be a difficult color to get right, but if you find the right shade it can make a room feel sunny and classic. Jenny settled on the color 'Hay' by Farrow & Ball for the country cottage kitchen in this episode, explaining in her blog, "The yellow paint for the kitchen had to be just right; I tried several shades before landing on the one that worked." To find yellow paint colors that will brighten up your home without being overpowering, opt for shades with a muted creamy base, such as 'Butter Up' by Sherwin-Williams. Sandy yellows like 'York Harbor Yellow' by Benjamin Moore are a perfect choice for providing a pop of brightness to laid-back beachy-themed spaces.
Gray beige is a classic neutral in any room
Jenny Marrs tells Delish her favorite paint color for the heart of the home is Farrow & Ball's 'Drop Cloth'. "It's just a very neutral, beautiful, soft color that really is nice for kitchens," she explains. This is a paint shade Jenny returns to time and time again, using it on the closet walls in her own family's farmhouse renovation.
'Drop Cloth' by Farrow & Ball is a medium shade of gray beige, also known as 'greige'. Greige is widely considered the perfect neutral because it offers the warmth of beige and the fresh, contemporary edge of gray. Use this shade on kitchen walls as recommended by Marrs, with sleek white countertops for a comforting yet clean look. Greige is also ideal for a bedroom because it has a cozy feel conducive to a good night's sleep. Marrs tells Saavta, "I always recommend more neutral wall colors for the bedroom to help the space feel spacious and serene." You could try out other relaxing greige paint colors for a soothing home, such as 'Agreeable Gray' by Sherwin-Williams or 'Pashmina' by Benjamin Moore.
White works well for rooms with kids
Jenny and Dave Marrs love to paint walls white and selected this pure neutral for the living room and bathroom in their own home. With a brood of five children, it's fair to assume that a white room would be difficult to keep clean, but Jenny Marrs begs to differ. She tells Better Home and Gardens, "For me, also for our house, I chose to do white paint. It makes everything feel a little bit brighter and a little bit bigger because we have a small house. And although people think it's a bad choice with kids, it's actually the easiest choice with kids. In an ideal world, I would touch up our paint more often, but I just use a magic eraser and I call it a day. Where, if you have a really dark paint color, and it gets nicked, you're in trouble."
The white paint colors the Marrs family swear by include 'White Dove' by Benjamin Moore which they used as the wall shade in their family farmhouse living room, and 'Simply White' by Benjamin Moore, which they reveal to their Instagram followers as one of their favorite paint colors. If you have children in the home, don't rule out white as an option. Instead, keep a magic eraser on hand to remove any scuffs or sticky handprints when they occur, and if this doesn't do the trick then make sure to save some of the white paint so you can do touch-ups as needed.
Earthy greens bring nature into the home
"I love decorating with green: muted greens and deep greens, beige greens and mossy greens. I use this color a lot," Jenny Marr tells Homes and Gardens. She says, "As we all know, green is the color of nature, and I love bringing the outside in. I often incorporate plants, flowers, and cuttings from the tree to bring life inside the house, and green offers a similar energy. It's my go-to color that I use often." In the main suite of their family farmhouse renovation, the Marrs decided to paint the walls in a dark gray-green shade by Farrow & Ball called 'Treron', while they opted for 'Dark Olive' by Benjamin Moore in one of their kid's bedrooms. When painting the new home of their Uncle Bob and Aunt Jill in Season 5, Episode 14 of "Fixer to Fabulous," the Marrs couple once again select 'Dark Olive' by Benjamin Moore, explaining on their blog, "The whole room was painted a hunter green color to give it the feel of a true fishing cabin."
Green paint shades with earthy or muted hues serve as nature's neutrals. Using these colors helps to bring a sense of the outdoors into the home, creating a connection with the outside world. Thinking about what color palettes to use if you're featuring green? Consider pairing earthy colors and textures with this grassy shade such as hardwood oak flooring, rattan furniture, or a jute rug like this one from Target to emphasize the link with nature.
Jenny Marrs' ultimate favorite color is pink
Jenny Marrs confesses on her renovation blog that she loves to see pink in the home. She says, "It's no secret that one of my favorite colors is pink...I really do believe pink is a neutral color that can look beautiful in any home." Jenny explains why she used 'Dead Salmon' by Farrow & Ball in the living room of the renovation featured in Season 4 Episode 3 of "Fixer to Fabulous" (via HGTV), stating: "The living room is one of a home's hardest-working rooms and it can certainly be overwhelming to paint the walls a vibrant shade of any color, let alone pink. However, this soft pink shade worked perfectly on this built-in as it doesn't overpower the room."
If you're unsure how to use pink paint in your home, start out by finding a muted pink that won't appear stark compared with the rest of your interiors. "My recommendation is to find a more 'neutral' pink that blends with your home's style. This tone is great for a welcoming environment, especially in the living room," Jenny says, referencing 'Dead Salmon' by Farrow & Ball. Another beautiful shade of pink that won't be overwhelming is 'Setting Plaster' by Farrow & Ball, which Jenny reveals on her Instagram account as one of her all-time favorite paint choices. In a space with rosy walls, think carefully about which colors will accent your pink room. Gold accessories will create a sultry glamour, while neutrals and greens alongside pink can make for a more natural vibe.
Blue is cool and calming for a bedroom
When describing her favorite paint colors on Instagram, Jenny Marrs lists five shades of blue. These are 'Whythe Blue' by Benjamin Moore, 'Light Blue' by Farrow & Ball, 'De Nimes' by Farrow & Ball, and 'Charcoal Blue' by Sherwin-Williams. As a popular color to use in the bedroom, Jenny often returns to this shade to create a relaxing yet refreshing sleeping space for her clients. In Season 5, Episode 9 of "Fixer to Fabulous," Jenny selects 'Light Blue' by Farrow & Ball for the bedroom wall color. She says in her blog, "For the bedroom portion, we kept it quite simple. New paint, new window treatments and a new ceiling fan gave the space a nice refresh."
Blue is the best bedroom color for a soothing vibe because it has a calming effect that can help you wind down after a long day. Use a subtle shade of green-blue on your bedroom walls for a relaxing yet refreshing atmosphere, or a muted gray-blue hued paint to achieve a soothing space. Struggling to doze off? Pastel blue is the wall paint color your need in your bedroom for a better night's sleep. Consider using 'Blue Bonnet' by Benjamin Moore or 'Skylight' by Farrow & Ball. In terms of furnishings and accessories, the best bedding color if you have a blue bedroom is white because it feels crisp and clean. Looking for inspiration? Check out these ideas to decorate a blue themed bedroom.