How to Paint a Wall by a Fireplace a Cool Color

Select a soft shade of blue or blue gray for a fireplace that has warm orange-red bricks. Orange-red is the complement of blue, meaning these two colors are found opposite one another on the color wheel. This color relationship will make the color combination harmonious, although of high contrast. Try to match the blue of the wall with other colors elsewhere in the room – perhaps choose a blue-gray sofa and a gray antiqued cabinet. Include accents of copper elsewhere in the room, such as in the color of the pillows on the sofa or the tiebacks on the curtains.

Choose a shade of light green, maybe with a hint of sage, for the wall around the fireplace, if the bricks in the hearth are a dark shade of red. Decorate the rest of the room with natural, warm-colored wood furniture, to emphasize the earthy nature of the color of the walls.

Open yourself to new possibilities if the fireplace itself is constructed of a cool shade of brick, like a white or a gray, or if the fireplace is made from a different, cool-colored material altogether, such as white painted wood. For example, a room with a gray stone fireplace presents the perfect setting in which to paint the walls a shade of eggplant, and decorate the room in light purple and shades of gray.

Choose darker values of paint for larger rooms; for example, a darker blue gray would be appropriate in a large room with a large orange-red fireplace. Try to avoid darker colors in smaller rooms, unless they happen to get a lot of natural daylight.