...because home doesn't happen overnight.

I’ve been wanting to start a monthly post that focuses on great paint colors for the home.  I get so many questions about the paint colors used in my home and what colors to use in other homes.  I thought featuring a different paint color every month would be a good way to introduce you to no-fail paint colors.  Along with detailing the brand and name of each color, I’ll include images of the paint color in real life settings and discuss how to use it in your own home.  Sound good?  Ok, let’s get started!

This month’s featured paint color is Sherwin Williams Sea Salt.  It’s a cool neutral with blue-green undertones.  Drenched in natural light, it takes on a slightly bluer, grayer hue.  In artificial light, it’s more of a blue-green.  Sea Salt sets the stage for a light, airy and fresh room.  Honestly, I can’t think of a room that this color wouldn’t work in…bedroom, living room, nursery, bathroom, laundry room…I could see it in any of those settings.  And depending on what it’s paired with, Sea Salt could fit into traditional, contemporary and/or playful moods alike.

Pair it with warm wood tones to lighten the heaviness wood can sometimes bring to a space.

In a bathroom with a pretty standard oak vanity, Sea Salt adds just enough color to make the room feel a little more spa-like.

When used in combination with whites and turquoise, Sea Salt can lend a shabby chic vibe.

Sea Salt has versatile color scheme options.  Go modern and playful in a nursery or child’s room by adding in white, charcoal and orange accents…in furniture pieces, art work and fabrics.

Go sophisticated and cozy in a bedroom by adding golds, tans and creams.

Finally, get springy and punchy with touches of olive and citron in accessories.

So, what do you think?  Would Sea Salt work well somewhere in your home?  Have any other ideas for possible Sea Salt color combos?  Are you liking this monthly paint color feature?  Do you have any requests for future You Hues?  {Get it?  You Hue.  Like ‘yoohoo!’  Yep, I came up with that all by myself.}

Happy painting!

images:  1) Sherwin Williams  2-4) Sarah Rainwater for Apartment Therapy 5) Decor Pad 6) Deb at Cappuccino Cottage 7-9) Sherwin Williams collage by Dana Miller

48 Comments

01.February.2011

I really like sea salt and think its a great calming color. Sea Salt with pops of red would look great!

01.February.2011

love this idea! i am moving in a few months to a town home. The people who own it are painting and have the flooring re-done. Since we all already know my husband and i will be living there they are painting it whatever colors we would like…within reason. I want to do greys throughout but not all the same. For our bedroom a more charcoal grey….but not super dark and for the living spaced a lighter grey with more blue in it. Would yo show some rooms done that way? thanks! ps- our bedding is white and we have dark wood furniture so i guess we wouldn’t want the walls to white.

thanks!
ashley

01.February.2011

I LOVE the monthly paint color feature. Really. I have the hardest time picking out paint colors in my home, and going so in-depth into the nuances of a color is truly helpful! And by the way, SW Sea Salt makes me swoooooon.

01.February.2011

Love all these colors! So calming!

01.February.2011

What a great monthly post! I’m always looking for soothing colors. I have a color in our bedroom that looks very similar to this one. It is called Whispering Spring by BM. I LOVE IT. What would you recommend for a little boys room? I like the greyish and light yellow from your room but not sure if that isnt kid friendly enough. I have most of our house painted but our 3 year old room sits looking blah and white.

01.February.2011

LOVE this color! LOVE this idea for a regular post too- paint colors can be so tricky! I need to paint my bedroom and this color is definitely going to be a contender- I can’t wait to pick up a sample!

01.February.2011

That would be the perfect color for my master bath!!! I’ve been looking and can’t find anything. That is just subtle enough. Love it!

01.February.2011

Super mega HELPFUL!!! I Love the monthly paint color feature!!!! Thanks!!

01.February.2011

I love this color! This could give me my teal/turquoise fix without over-doing it!

01.February.2011

great post! I’m drawn to soft colours, but it’s helpful to see how you can pair them with punchy colours (like the orange and dark grey in the first combo), to add life and warmth.

Our kitchen cabinets are very similar to those shown, and our walls are painted SW’s Believable Buff (where do they come up with these names?) It’s nice to know that a cooler colour could work too!

01.February.2011

Love the monthly paint feature! I’m actually on the hunt for a lighter shade of blue for my master bedroom and this fits the bill perfectly! I flipped through most of the blues in the Sherwin Williams fan deck and missed Sea Salt. SW Versatile Gray is in the main part of my house and up through the hallways so I think Sea Salt will work perfect with this.

01.February.2011

Thank you for this! I’m storing this post in my Evernote for future reference!

01.February.2011

I love this paint color! Thank you for putting together this feature. It really helps me visualize how a color like this would feel in my home. Even though it’s similar to this color, I’d love to see you do a feature on “Front Porch” by Sherwin Williams. It’s a front-runner for our master bathroom, and I’d like to see how it compares to “Sea Salt” in pictures. Also, I love the first color combo you put together with the gray and orange. I would totally use that scheme in a little boy’s nursery.. you know, if that day ever comes! :-)

01.February.2011

Love this feature! Paint picking is just so darn hard sometimes. Love Sea Salt, and especially love the golds and tans combo. Sophisticated beach/spa. Very cool (and useful) idea, Dana!

01.February.2011

What a great idea! We paint at least twice in our home before we get it right. I’m presently looking for colors for the spare bedrooms in our house and this feature will be a great start!

Thanks!

01.February.2011

Lovely color! What do you think of Sea Salt with red (namely in curtains and punches of it in pillows) and darker wood pieces? My home seems to always have punches of red and darker woods, but I also try to lighten things up so it’s not too overly ‘warm’.

Love it in a bathroom too – it IS spa like!

01.February.2011

Love the monthly paint feature and I’m saying “You Hue” to Sea Salt. Gorgeous color!!!

01.February.2011

I love this post. I especially like the sea salt paired with the orange. Any suggestions for Olympic’s Dusty Trail. I used it in my living and dining (turned play/craftroom) and I am painting my kitchen bedford gray soon. I’m thinking about pairing it with oranges, teals, green for accent options.

01.February.2011

thank you for this great idea! Paints never appear the same once on your wall at home. Your monthly post actually helps us to “understand” the color.

01.February.2011

I’m new to your blog (found you on Bloom) and I’ve become an instant fan!!! I love this idea of featuring a paint color each month…..I want more!

Our master bedroom and adjacent office were painted a color almost identical to this when we moved in and we absolutely LOVE IT! After a year of living here my husband and I are still in love with this soft blue shade and find it very easy to live with–it almost reads as white, but looks blue next to our white cabinets. In our room it’s paired with some turquoise, coral pink, and lots of white and I have to say that color combo is stunning! I would describe our decor as ‘modern beach’ and this color works perfectly with that. I just wish the rest of this rental house was painted this color instead of beige!

01.February.2011

Darcy – That color combo of light blue, white, turquoise and coral sounds devine!

02.February.2011

That’s actually one of the colors I’ve been considering. I’m getting ready to paint the landlord white walls in my rental and want to add color but keep it cohesive since it’s a small space. I really love blues and greens that are soft and serene and yet colorful and not too pastel/nursery-ish. I’m a bit overwhelmed because there are SO many paint colors that initially look like maybe they could work. I love that last springy color palette you put together.

02.February.2011

Oh yikes. You should not have posted this! Just this morning I was washing dishes when I realized two things: 1) I would prefer my dishwasher to be on my right instead of my left and 2) my kitchen area would probably look better a light kind of blue. Just like this. And my husband doesn’t want me to paint another room in the house. What’s a girl supposed to do?

03.February.2011

We used this color in our kitchen and we love it. We paired with mocha cork floors, and SW “Alabaster” for the molding. SW “Ivoire” in the adjacent dining room. Also funny that you mention wheat grass, we used that in a bedroom! Great minds, right?

03.February.2011

*LOVE* this color! My parents used SW Sea Salt in one of their lake house guest bedrooms and my teenage daughter loved it so much she painted her bedrroom Sea Salt last year. It’s a calming color, it’s clean, it goes great with white AND b/w photos framed & matted in black frames really pop against this wall color.

You’ve probably already answered this question somewhere on your blog, but what is the paint color you used in your master bedroom? Love everything you’ve done in there!

Just found your blog last week – it’s one of my new FAVES!

03.February.2011

Tara – 3 of the 4 walls are Valspar {Lowe’s} Bonsai. The focal wall behind the bed is Sherwin Williams Suitable Brown. More updates on the master bedroom tomorrow!

03.February.2011

Hmmmm….might just be just the right color for the ceiling of my bedroom…wanting to try the non-white ceiling movement!

04.February.2011

Hmmm… I just painted my bedroom a similar color and it is quite crisp and soothing. Next time i am at the paint store, i will have to get a sample and compare.

Nuanced colors are always so hard to choose because they look so different on the sample than on the wall.

04.February.2011

If you’re taking requests for shades, can you do something in a similar hue only blue. Could you also feature a navy? Gracias!

04.February.2011

We are remodeling our master bath, and are painting the walls Sea Salt. I love that color! I was torn between SS and Rainwashed when I did our master bedroom, and I ultimately went with Rainwashed. No regrets, but I’m glad I get to use SS in another room. I’m very excited to see how it turns out. Our kitchen is Wheat Grass :)

I wanted this color for our kitchen…and now I’m thinking nursery too.

By the way, here I am reading your blog for the first time and see one of my iviemade pillows scroll by on your wish list. How neat is that?!

07.February.2011

Your blog has inspired me! I have never, ever painted anything. So yesterday while football was ruining my husbands life I painted our bathroom. not this exact shade, but very similar. My results look nothing as lovely as yours seem to, but not bad for a first go round……. too bad no one told me this was potentially addictive. now I look around my house and all I can see are reasons to go to Menards (like lowe’s or home depot for you non-midwest types). Redecorating is definitely going to have to find a place in our budget from now on!

07.February.2011

I came here through my friend Holly and am enjoying my first visit to your blog! I love this color. Funny…sea salt is what I named one of my stationery colors. It feels very French and soothing to me.

Happy Monday!
Linsey

07.February.2011

Ann – Menard’s was our go-to home improvement store when we lived in IL!!!

08.February.2011

Too funny – Sea Salt is the color of my master bath! I love it! What makes it ironic, is that I have been looking for the left over paint in my garage. Our huge mirror came crashing down a few months ago and we are finally getting around to painting the wall! BTW, this is the first time I have visited your blog. I love the combination of colors that you put together with Sea Salt, great job!

04.March.2011

I can’t believe I found your post today. I have been looking for this color for two weeks. Right before I found your blog I had bought a sample from our local Sherwin Williams and put it up on the wall beside my five other colors. I was leaning towards RH Silver Sage, but at night it looked so gray and dark to me in this small room(my sewing room). During the day I liked it but as soon as I put up the SW SEA SALT I actually yelled out loud, “THIS IS IT!!!” LOL I wanted a soft soft pretty Robin Egg Blue color and I think at long last I have found it!
You confirmed it for me!
I am using white furniture with it and teal/aqua accents…I think it will be gorgeous!
Thanks!! Betzie

08.July.2011

I’m so excited!! Your blog is so inspiring and this post takes the cake!!
I’m sitting here with a SW paint deck in my lap–my dad’s a long-time pro house painter and my family and I are moving into my folks’ neighborhood in a few weeks and we are DYING to paint!! Our former house was earth tones–paprika, tan and sage green, to be exact. This time, I want LIGHT, airy and youthful. Finding your blog actually made me go, “Hmm. I think I want light, neutral walls with lots of white, brown and black and a few pops of color” and I’ve since been looking for days for color recommendations for gray to fit the bill, go with the finishes already in the house (it has tile floors, dark wood cabinets and granite counters, we won’t be replacing those any time soon!), and allow us to use the furniture we already have. I loooove this color!!! You mention lightening up dark wood and going with turquoise–did you write this one just for me!?!?! :) Funny, The Nester recommends “Comfort Gray” on the same strip as the “Sea Salt”–now I’m totally convinced it’s perfect!! Thank you!!!!!! I’ll let you know when we actually paint. The house has yellow walls now–I hate them! The before and after pictures should be fantastic! :) Thanks for going to all the trouble to help us out!

09.July.2011

Tabitha – So glad to hear that you’ll be using the Sea Salt! I’d love to see the after pics. If the existing wall color is yellow, I would suggest using primer before paint or a primer + paint combo or, at the least, several coats of the Sea Salt so that you end up with the true color of the paint. Good luck!

15.September.2011

Thank you for the inspiration. Painted my powder room Sea Salt last night and am thrilled with the results. Now, on to the rest of the redo ;) Cheers! http://pinterest.com/pin/199213194/

18.January.2012

Thank you SO much for this post! I have just done board and batten in our hallway upstairs. I wanted to use some paint I had left over instead of purchasing more, because I have SO much leftover paint. Anyway, I did one coat of BM’s October Mist which we have in our kitchen and I love however, in the darker hallway, I think it’s too dark. Anyway, you’ve inspired me to either really lighten what I have, or go out and get Sea Salt ~ I LOVE the color! Thanks again.

20.January.2012

Sea Salt is truly a stumper for me, as is Rainwashed, which I’m tellin’ ya looks gray-green on the chip and pale, airy aqua on the wall. Do you find Sea Salt to look similar to Restoration Hardware Silver Sage in person?

Thanks!
Beth

28.January.2012

Just bought the paint today, it was suggested by an interior designer in my beach town. So many choices this is a no brainer. You can add blue, green, natural colors and it will look great. I have white trim and plantation shutters. So glad to see this color featured. I have a black piano and white upholstered furniture dark wood trim,white terrazo floors, hope it all comes together. I like the coolness of the color for the florida climate, and I hope it makes some of my antique pieces feel fresh and airy.

14.March.2012

Hi, I am doing a cottage type bedroom (horizontal plank walls and ceiling plain)…I was thinking of doing walls SW Dover White…do you think the ceiling in Sea Salt would work or is it too cool to go with the warmer Dover White? My bedspread will be cream with lots of bright colors like SW software (purple) Tupelo Tree (greens) and even some hot pink…but still cottagey quilty. What do you think would be best for the ceiling…I would love to do something a bit different but want it to be cohesive. Thanks!!

25.October.2013

I have decided to paint several of my rooms in the Sea Salt color from Sherwin Williams. Can you tell me a good trim color to go along with this color?

Thanks!

28.October.2013

Hmmm…I would go with a true white…not cream or off-white.

01.January.2014

How would sea salt look with beach house as my down stairs color in splt foyer? Foyer would be sea salt.

02.January.2014

I think sea salt would be a great choice for a beach house and would work well with other sandy tans or sky blues in a split level.