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“Get off screens and away from blue light at least an hour before bedtime.”
“Don’t look at your phone first thing in the morning.”
“Create a cool, dark bedroom.”
“Wake up and go to sleep at the same time each day/night.”
“Get a smart, $500 alarm clock that wakes you up to sounds of birdsong, even if the ones in your area recently flew South for winter.”
These are common pieces of advice given to “optimize” your sleep and gently wake up each morning. Most of these tips are solid, but Michelle Lewis, a color psychology expert and certified color analyst, thinks we’re missing another key factor: Calming bedroom paint colors can make waking up feel like less of a drag (ditto for powering down).
“Most people put enormous thought into their mattress, their pillows, their sleep schedule and almost no thought into the color of their walls aside from personal preference,” states Lewis, who is also the founder of ColorAnalysis.com and The Color Institute and the author of Color Secrets: Learning The One Universal Language We Were Never Taught. “Understanding which colors support calm and which ones work against it is one of the simplest, highest-impact changes you can make to the quality of your rest.”
Lewis says that the colors that surround you in transitional moments—like when you wake up or get ready for bed—actively influence your cortisol (stress hormone) levels, heart rate and your brain’s ability to pivot between “alert” and “at-rest” states.
“Your bedroom is the last environment your nervous system experiences before sleep and the first one it encounters when you wake up,” she tells Parade. “This makes it a key space to bookend your day intentionally. Most of us have busy, stressful work days, so choosing calming colors can be the reset we need.”
But which colors can soothe the nervous system first thing in the morning? Lewis shares that a specific bedroom color is the most calming to wake up to—and can even help you rest more deeply at night.
Related: Color Psychologist Says Wearing This Color Makes You Appear Instantly More Approachable
Are Some Colors More Calming Than Others, According to Color Psychology?
Yes, Lewis notes that some colors are more calming than others, according to color psychology. She also points out that color psychology is backed by actual science, and this is a perfect example of how.
“Colors in the cool family, for example—blues, greens, soft purples—tend to lower heart rate, reduce cortisol and signal to the brain that it’s safe to shift from active to calm,” she tells Parade.
While the brain will eventually need to go into an “active” state, it’s unnecessary to jump straight from dreamland into hustle mode. Calming, cool hues let you ease into your day. That said, Lewis reports that saturation is an oft-overlooked factor that matters just as much as hue.
“A deeply saturated, vivid green can be just as stimulating as a red—it’s the toned, grayed-down version of a color that carries the most calming power,” she explains. “Colors that have been desaturated with gray—what designers call ‘muted’ tones—are neurologically quieter than their pure counterparts.”
For this reason, designers and color psychologists alike prefer recommending soft, slightly hushed paints over bold, vivid ones for restful bedrooms.
Related: If You Have a ‘Blue Aura,’ You Likely Have These 5 Traits, According to a Psychologist
The ‘Most Calming’ Bedroom Paint Color, According to a Color Psychologist
Lewis says that blue is the most calming bedroom paint color. Specifically, a soft, muted blue with gray undertones can promote better sleep quality and a gentler wake-up.
“Blue light wavelengths regulate our circadian rhythm by signaling daytime alertness, but a soft, muted cool blue on the walls works differently,” she states.
This type of blue slows the heart rate (or keeps it slow) and lets you know it’s OK to relax.
“The gray undertone is key,” she says. “Pure bright blue can make our minds wake up too much.”
When you soften the blue with gray, it can sedate you (great for bedtime) or support a softer start to your day.
Related: Color Psychologist Says These 5 Colors Are Worn Most by ‘Highly Intelligent’ People
4 Other Calming Paint Colors for Your Personal Space
1. Warm gray
Warm gray uses a different mechanism than a soft, muted blue. Lewis says it leans into the “absence of chromatic stimulation.”
Lewis points to research suggesting that visually neutral spaces lower arousal levels.
“A warm gray achieves this without the anxiety-inducing sterility of white or the coldness of pure cool gray,” she says. “The warmth in the undertone—pulling toward taupe or greige—keeps it from feeling clinical. Emotionally, warm gray is the color equivalent of silence—not empty, just quiet.”
She notes that the distinction is huge when it comes to bedroom paint colors.
“For those of you neutral-lovers out there, you can stick with what you love and bring in color with accent pieces like bedding, chairs, rugs and curtains,” she adds.
2. Sage green
Lewis says that “hard science” lands sage green on this list, notably a 2019Frontiers in Psychologystudy that found walking in a green environment led to a significantly lower heart rate than in red or white settings.
Lewis notes this study shows the power of green’s effect on our nervous system. She also cites other research suggesting that green environments tend to “produce stress-reducing effects in clinical settings compared to white.”
Related: Color Psychologist Says if Your Favorite Color Is Green, You Likely Have These 7 Traits
3. Deep teal
Lewis describes deep teal as “one of the most scientifically sound calming colors.”
She credits deep teal’s composition (blue and green—”the two most consistently research-backed calming wavelengths” and no red) for its calming nature.
She points out that a 2024-25 study at a hospital suggested that patients in green and blue rooms had significantly better mood improvements and shorter recovery periods than their peers in white and gray rooms.
“In a bedroom, a deep teal that has been shaded rather than brightened creates an enveloping calm—cocooning without being heavy, sophisticated without being cold,” she says. “This is my personal favorite to blend calming reactions with balanced ones for that overall peaceful feeling.”
4. Soft lavender
Soft lavender’s calming properties are grounded in its violet wavelength color,” according to Lewis.
“Because lavender sits between blue and violet on the spectrum, it retains enough of blue’s proven ability to lower heart rate and support relaxation, while violet’s shortest light wavelength helps the mind release stress more naturally,” she explains.
The color analyst notes that a grayed-down, muted lavender remains in the “cool wavelength range,” supporting a rested state.
“Emotionally, it creates a bedroom that feels like a genuine retreat—slightly dreamlike, deeply personal and removed from the demands of the day,” she states.
Honestly, that sounds like a heavenly way to wake up (and wind down).
Related: Color Psychologist Says if Your Favorite Color Is Purple, You Likely Have These 7 Traits
3 Paint Colors To Avoid in a Bedroom
1. Bright red
If you want to create a calming bedroom, Lewis warns that painting it bright red is counterproductive.
“Red has the longest wavelength in the visible spectrum and triggers the strongest and fastest response in the visual cortex—raising heart rate, increasing cortisol and activating the body’s alert state,” she says.
Related: Color Psychologist Says These 5 Favorite Colors Are Loved by ‘Especially Creative’ People
2. Vivid yellow
Lewis says that research links this color to cognitive arousal, increased alertness and heightened mental stimulation. None of these things will feel “soft” first thing in the morning, though they may have their place throughout the day.
“These are the qualities that make yellow powerful in a workspace or kitchen,” she shares.
Yet, they feel jarring first thing in the morning (we often wake up with the sun not at its brightest, after all) and can work against you at night when you’re trying to downshift.
“The eye processes yellow’s high reflectivity quickly, and that visual energy doesn’t quiet down just because the lights are off and the undertone is muted,” Lewis says.
3. Bright white
Lewis notes that people are often surprised to learn that bright white is stimulating. Yet, research suggests that bright white walls can induce anxiety, stress and lack of focus, neither of which helps us “wake up on the right side of the bed.”
“Since the bedroom is a space where you spend up to a third of your life, it’s not a great choice for relaxation,” she explains. “White’s brightness and lack of chromatic information create a visual flatness that the nervous system reads as sterile rather than restful. If you love the clean feeling of white, a warm cream or off-white greige achieves visual simplicity without the stress response that pure white can trigger.”
Related: These 3 Favorite Colors Are Often Linked to Emotional Intelligence, According to a Color Analyst
Final Takeaways
You bookend your day in your bedroom, so it’s useful to have a color proven to put you in a calmer state of mind. Here’s what to keep in mind when creating a zen den:
- Some colors are more calming than others. Cool, muted colors are calming colors, especially in a bedroom. Lewis, a color psychology expert, specifically a “soft, muted blue with gray undertones.” Other calming colors include sage green, deep teal and soft lavender.
- You’ll want to avoid some colors in your room. Deep red, vivid yellow and bright are shown in research to induce alertness, stress and anxiety—none of which stage whisper, “calm.”
- Saturation matters. A bright green or blue can trigger anxiety. Lewis says soft and muted versions of hues promote calm.
Up Next:
Related: Color Psychologist Says Your Favorite Color May Be Connected to Type A or Type B Personality Traits
Sources:
- Michelle Lewis is a color psychology expert, certified color analyst, author and the founder of ColorAnalysis.com and The Color Institute. She is also the author of Color Secrets: Learning The One Universal Language We Were Never Taught.
- The influence of color on student emotion, heart rate, and performance in learning environments. Color Research and Application.
- Effects of illuminance and correlated color temperature on emotional responses and lighting adjustment behaviors. Journal of Building & Engineering.
- Blue light and melatonin suppression. Nature Scientific Reports.
- Detrimental Effects of White Valued Walls in Classrooms. Educational Planning, 21.
- Adaptive Effects of Seeing Green Environment on Psychophysiological Parameters When Walking or Running. Frontiers in Psychology.
- Do the hospital rooms make a difference for patients’ stress? A multilevel analysis of the role of perceived control, positive distraction, and social support. Journal of Environmental Psychology.
- The Influence of Hospital Room Wall Colors on Mood Elevation and Recovery Rate in Postoperative Patients: A Comparative Study. Med Science Group.
- Blue or Red? Exploring the Effect of Color on Cognitive Task Performances. Science.