The best paint colors for guest rooms, according to design pros

Anyone who has ever had to bunk with family or friends in a less-than-ideal situation knows that a well-planned, thoughtful guest room can be a sanity saver. “I love treating a guest room like a little mini hotel suite,” said Jess Knauf, a designer in Denver. To accomplish that, she often includes luxurious touches such as pretty water carafes and fluffy towels. And, of course, she’s mindful of her color choices. “Keeping the palette kind of soft and soothing is a really good philosophy,” she said. “Peaceful is the name of the game.”

Other designers take a different approach, seeing a little-used guest room as an opportunity to go wild. “I love doing something you would not necessarily do [elsewhere],” said Elizabeth Mollen, CEO of Stone Textile Studio in Chicago. Her reasoning: dark, enveloping hues that lend a coziness can be especially effective in homes where “guest rooms are smaller than primary rooms,” she said.

We asked Knauf, Mollen and other design pros to share their go-to paint colors for an inviting guest room — no pillow mints necessary.

Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron

When Mollen first got her hands on this guest room, “it was not cute,” she said. “The house was built in the ’60s and hadn’t been touched …[the walls] were a yellowed white. Not good!” To transform the space, she hung white linen window treatments and painted the walls Benjamin Moore’s Wrought Iron. “Some grays can have brown tones in them, and this one we thought was a really good deep mix … not necessarily black, but almost black.” The resulting space feels much more modern. “We wanted to create a hotel-like vibe for their guests, and have it really pop,” Mollen said.

Dunn-Edwards Powder Mill

In this Sacramento bedroom, designer Rebecca Ward leaned into Dunn-Edwards’s Powder Mill, a hue so soft it could be deemed sedate. “I always gravitate towards blues when I’m thinking about a guest room or a bedroom because it’s such a calming color,” she said. “This particular one is not overly saturated, which is great because you can be in a room with this color for a long time and not get tired of it.” She believes the shade helps guests feel welcome. “It’s just great hospitality to put your guests at ease, and so having this kind of color in there definitely relaxes them instantly,” Ward said.

Benjamin Moore Bear Creek

Lauren Lerner used Benjamin Moore’s Bear Creek, in an eggshell finish, to create the comfort factor she sought in a formerly blah white guest room in Scottsdale, Arizona. “It adds a lot of sophisticated depth,” Lerner said of the tawny choice. “I really love that it’s a really warm, earthy tone and it has brown-gray undertones, so it works so well with lots of different colors and also just helps neutrals pop against it.”

Farrow & Ball Borrowed Light

This Naples, Florida, home embraces indoor/outdoor living, and that’s just as true in this guest room, where Pittsburgh designer Colleen Simonds used Farrow & Ball’s Borrowed Light. “That room was a pretty large room, so I felt like it still needed the light color, but something that isn’t cold,” Simonds said. “Light blues can be tricky … A lot of people just respond to that color, and so it tends to have a wide appeal.”

Benjamin Moore Polar Ice

“I love a room that people look good in,” Knauf said. “You should put a skinny mirror in your guest room, too, and just make people feel good about being there!” That includes using flattering paint colors, such as the Benjamin Moore Polar Ice on the walls of this Denver guest room. Knauf said that the shade makes her feel like she’s in the middle of the sky and that it complements many skin tones. Or you can just use it on the ceiling for a soothing vibe, Knauf said. “Particularly in a guest room, when you have someone in your home and they’re just kind of relaxing in bed and looking up at the ceiling, I think that’s sort of a fun extra touch without spending any more.”

Sherwin-Williams Shoji White

Designer Blair Moore had to get creative to ensure comfort in this narrow guest room in Portsmouth, Rhode Island. So she constructed built-in bunk beds surrounded by walls sheathed in v-groove paneling and separated them with a dividing wall. Moore painted the woodwork with Shoji White from Sherwin-Williams for its serene effect. “It’s a soft, warm hue that promotes tranquility and a sense of calm,” Moore said in an email.

Benjamin Moore Gentle Gray

Bria Hammel, a designer in Mendota Heights, Minnesota, also leans toward rest-enhancing hues in a guest space. She prefers easygoing colors anyone might appreciate, such as Benjamin Moore’s Gentle Gray. “Despite it being called Gentle Gray, the color has such a great soft blue undertone that we categorize it more as a blue than a gray,” Hammel said in an email. “It provides a little more visual interest than a typically gray paint color, but it is muted enough that it gives off a calming feeling rather than a bold pop of color.”

Benjamin Moore White Zinfandel

Benjamin Moore’s White Zinfandel, a whisper-light shade of pink, was Knauf’s choice for a Denver guest room because it, too, is incredibly flattering. It is the “prettiest pale pink,” the designer said — “a color that makes everyone look good.” It also has a secret superpower, at least according to Knauf. “I think it takes 10 years off your appearance, and who doesn’t want to make their guests feel their best!”