Dining room paint colors, in real dining rooms

The dining room splits two ways here, and the split is the whole subject. Eight of the fourteen colors are whites and off-whites: Pure White, School House White, Pointing, Extra White, Swiss Coffee, Tundra and the sand-pink Coastal Cottage and Bride to Be, which read as warm whites in daylight. These are mostly dining rooms painted the same white as the rooms around them. The other six are colors chosen for the evening: Calke Green, Herb Bouquet, Olivetone, Sea Haze, Preference Red and the plaster Cafe Sonata.

That is the dining-room decision in one sentence. If the room is a room of its own, used mostly at night, it can take more color than any other room in the house. If it is the end of an open plan, it takes the color of the room next door.

Benjamin Moore: 'The dining room is an excellent place for high-impact paint colors.' Its UK site calls the room 'an opportunity to use a strong color that is both elegant and dramatic.' Farrow & Ball: 'Make every meal an occasion with a dark dining room. Deep and dramatic, these shades evoke elegance, sophistication and intimacy,' and 'they also come to life in candlelight, creating a truly special atmosphere.'

The designers say the same. Gil Walsh, in Better Homes & Gardens: 'I love a dramatic dining room,' and 'dark, moody burgundy or eggplant make the room come alive when they are paired with the metallic accents.' Lisa Hudson: 'Rich, deep colors have been a staple of sophisticated interiors for centuries, creating a sense of intimacy and luxury.' Julia Newman of Julia Adele Design, in Martha Stewart Living: 'I love using bold, saturated hues that give the space a sense of presence and distinction.' Heidi Caillier, in House Beautiful, on a dark gray dining room: 'when you paint the walls dark, it makes the view pop.'

The caution comes from Anthony Chan of Chan Architecture, in the same Martha Stewart piece: 'If it absorbs too much, then a dining room can feel weighted and boxed in—especially at night, when it's used the most.' The dark colors on this page avoid that by having something in them: the green in Olivetone, the warmth in Preference Red, the sea-glass green in Sea Haze.

Red is the dining room color of record. Farrow & Ball: 'Red dining rooms make a statement, perfect if you want a space with a sense of occasion.' Sarah Cole, quoted as the brand's creative director in Bob Vila: 'Strong colors like red work wonderfully in dining rooms, creating a dramatic, intimate atmosphere,' and 'because these rooms are often lit by candlelight, rich, velvety colors on the walls take on a jewel-like quality.' Benjamin Moore's Helen Shaw, in Homes & Gardens: 'Rich, warm reds make great color choices; they work with lighting to coax your space to glow.' Designer Flora Soames, on a small dining room in pattern and strong color: 'It captures that jewel-like sense of warmth and exuberance.'

Preference Red is our red: 'the deepest and richest of our reds,' in Farrow & Ball's words, which it says 'looks particularly striking when seen in combination with Paean Black and Sulking Room Pink.' Chan's warning applies here most of all, that 'strong reds, for example, tend to dominate the space and create a kind of visual tension'; Shaw's answer is that 'a statement wall in a dining room is a great way to introduce red to your home before committing to a full room.'

Candlelight is why the dark dining room works. Benjamin Moore's own styling note: 'Host a dinner party with candlelight flickering against velvety, dark purple-painted walls.' Designer Colette Archambault of Hunter Hill Interiors, on a dining room with a glossy blue ceiling, in the Boston Globe: 'I imagined candlelit dinner parties with the glow of flickering flames bouncing off the glossy ceiling.' On the pendants she chose instead of a chandelier: 'The design directs light downward, which lends a more intimate feel than a light that diffuses outward.'

Green is the other traditional dining color, and Calke Green is literally one: the breakfast room at Calke Abbey. Farrow & Ball on green dining rooms: 'Dark green adds a luxurious, earthy touch to your dining room, creating a stylish space for dining,' with 'deep, rich tones' that 'evoke a sense of tranquility and warmth, perfect for elegant yet cozy meals.' Our greens run from the mid-tone Herb Bouquet, 'moody sage,' through Calke Green to the olive of Olivetone, with Sea Haze the gray-green at the pale end.

Pink is the newer idea, and the dining room is where it makes most sense. Farrow & Ball: 'With their touch of whimsy, pink dining rooms set the tone for an entertaining evening.' Natasha Bradley, head color expert at Lick, told Ideal Home that pink is the ideal hue for dining rooms because it lights guests with a warm, flattering glow. The brand's own Dead Salmon page describes that color as 'suitable as a backdrop in candlelit dining rooms.' Our pinks are the quiet kind: Bride to Be and Coastal Cottage both read as warm sand by day and blush under lamplight, which is the point.

Most new dining rooms are not rooms; they are the table end of a kitchen or a living room, and then the dining color is the kitchen color. A designer answering a reader's open-concept question in House & Home: 'My rule for painting an open-concept space is simple: paint it all the same color and you can't go wrong!' Farrow & Ball on white dining rooms: 'White creates a bright, airy dining room with a wonderfully open feel.'

That is why most of this page is white. Pure White runs through the Samantha Fisher house, dining room included. Pointing, Farrow & Ball's warm bright white, does the same in the Studio Nauleau house, where it runs from the kitchen through the dining and living rooms. School House White, which Ginnett says 'works with everything,' is the off-white version. If the dining room is open to the kitchen, our kitchen and living room guides are the pages to read with this one.

Benjamin Moore: 'A matte look lends a luxurious touch to many interior spaces, including bedrooms and dining rooms.' Its UK site adds the reason: 'a higher sheen will highlight imperfections.' Farrow & Ball's Estate Emulsion, 'a very matte finish with a chalky 2% sheen,' is 'our classic finish for interior walls and ceilings in low-traffic areas,' and a dining room is one. The exception is deliberate gloss on a ceiling, as in the Archambault room, where the shine is there to catch the candles.

The dining room is judged at night, so sample it at night. Chan: 'In my experience, colors that look great on a swatch can behave very differently once they're in a dining room.' Jo Plant, in Livingetc: 'Warm blues will feel even warmer under evening light, while cooler hues can quickly turn muddy or flat,' and 'most home lightbulbs sit between 2500K and 3000K,' which is warm. Designer Emily Brooks: 'I often change the temperature of my lamps based on what color I want my evening walls to be.' Paint two boards, hang them where the table will be, and look at them with the overhead off and the candles lit.