Soft, nature-inspired hues.

The host of W Network’s Candice Tells All turns to the outdoors when choosing paint colours: “I use a lot of natural materials in my designs — wood, stone, linen — and therefore gravitate toward colours like those found in a stormy sky, misty cool waters, and others suited to those finishes,” says Olson. “If it works in nature, it naturally works in your home.” This bathroom is painted in one of her favourite warm neutrals, Benjamin Moore’s Niveous (OC-36), which allows the antique wood vanity to stand out.

Read an interview with Candice Olson.

For more paint palettes designers are loving, see our photo gallery.

Dramatic black walls with a white ceiling.

Toronto designer Connie Braemer decided this staircase had enough natural light for one of her favourite hues, Farrow & Ball’s Pitch Black (256). Braemer painted the ceiling in Benjamin Moore’s Oxford White (CC-30) to brighten the space and draw the eye upward.

Tour a home Connie Braemer recently designed.

For more paint palettes designers are loving, see our photo gallery.

Fresh yet muted shades.

“When selecting paint colours, I don’t follow trends,” insists designer Philip Mitchell. “I gravitate towards shades of paint that have subtler hues and softer tones. The more neutral the paint, the more timeless the space. The colours and finishes I choose are usually inspired by the room’s architectural details, the amount of natural light the room has and the direction the room faces.” This beadboard wainscotting called for a blue with a bit of country, so Mitchell chose Benjamin Moore’s Normandy (2129-40) and paired it with bright Ultra White (CC-10) walls. The result is fresh and clean, perfect for a bathroom.

View a gallery of Philip Mitchell’s projects.

For more paint palettes designers are loving, see our photo gallery.

Egg-inspired tones.

Toronto artisan and designer Heather Shaw thought this grouping of eggs from The R.O.M. was perfect for Easter, and also illustrates her love of soft neutrals. She came across this room from designer Robert Kristiansen’s summer home outside of Oslo on Design*Sponge. It’s mostly white, but has flecks of the brown and blue hues she’s drawn to. Consider painting walls in Benjamin Moore’s Moonlight White (OC-125) with accents of Mount Saint Anne (CC-710) to achieve this simple Scandinavian look.

Watch Heather Shaw’s DIY videos.

For more paint palettes designers are loving, see our photo gallery.

Cool greys with a punch of orangey red.

For her own bathroom, Vancouver designer Shelley Penner painted walls in Benjamin Moore’s White Water (2120-60) and added drama with a vanity cabinet in Silhouette (AF-655). The living room adjacent to this space has a feature wall in Salsa Dancing (AF-280), which she carried into the bathroom with bold towels. She loves that the palette combines cool neutrals with warm accents, and admits the red is unexpected. “I gravitate toward blues and green-greys, perhaps because they reflect the west coast’s sea to sky views, but I love this pop of colour,” she says.

For more paint palettes designers are loving, see our photo gallery.

Soft grey millwork with white walls.

This practical mudroom by Feasy & Bleeks Design incorporates one of their top palettes; grey, black and white. “We often choose a darker colour (usually a shade of grey) for built-ins and millwork to contrast creamy white walls,” says Feasby. The staircase railing (not shown) is a dramatic shade of black, painted with Interlux’s Brightside Polyurethane for boats, which is durable enough for handrails.

For more paint palettes designers are loving, see our photo gallery.

Shades of grey with bright red.

Jennifer Reid, of W Network’s Making House and Barlow Reid Design, gravitates toward grey for larger spaces. “I think this palette here is timeless,” she says. “I lean away from bold colours on walls, and instead reserve them for easily changeable pieces like furniture and accessories. These chairs could be old wood hand-me-downs from the basement that were painted red — then orange, then blue. The rest of the palette is neutral enough that you could switch up the accent colour on a whim. You could even paint an accent wall in Benjamin Moore’s Caliente (AF-290) if you wanted a good jolt of colour.”

Read an interview with Jennifer Reid.

For more paint palettes designers are loving, see our photo gallery.