Top 17 Office Paint Colors and Their Psychological Effects

Consider the psychological effect a paint color when deciding on the best interior paint colors for your office. Traditionally, companies select neutral beige, gray and white paint colors. Other colors can also generate the ambience needed for a productive office while some colors should be avoided.

Beige is a long-time standard paint color for offices and is a neutral paint color choice. Valspar Paint Senior Color Designer, Sue Kim explains home colors are finding their way into the workplace. "We see timeless colors like beige and white are being pushed aside to make room for more expressive and inviting colors."

This office is painted a cool blue that is sure to relax working while inspiring creativity. According to ColorPsychology.org, blue has a relaxing effect and aids concentration. Less stressed workers tend to enjoy their jobs more and are more productive.

This paint color presents a very restive and calming effect that is conducive to a good work environment. Sue Kim (Valspar Paint) offers more insight about the influence of today's color choices, saying, "The office furniture industry is actually leading the inspiration for future workplaces."

Chartreuse is energetic and invigorating to any office where creativity is vital. This office features a wall painted in chartreuse green that is repeated in various storage units with white as an accent color.

Other greens are gaining popularity that are often found in home décor. Sue Kim explains, "Blues have been dominant, but nurturing greens, like Valspar Sparkling Sage and Smoke Infusion, are helping office spaces feel more inviting."

This value of chartreuse is reflective of spring, renewal, and youth. You can often find this a favorite paint color for tech companies and others dedicated to innovative ideas and products. Use other earth colors, such as brown, gray, and beiges to keep this color from overpowering your office design.

Yellow is another paint color that may prove too powerful for an office. It's considered the most intense color of the spectrum to the human eye. If you choose to use yellow, steer clear of bright yellows. You may prefer to use a yellow accent wall or panel instead of the entire office. This marigold is used with a beige to define an open office space.

This is an excellent example of too much yellow being overpowering to the human eye. The open office concept is even brighter than the outer areas since it also has highly reflective white walls and ceiling. This office will be very difficult to work in for extended periods of time. Workers will most likely suffer from headaches and eyestrain.

A better yellow paint color is this mustard yellow. The brightness of yellow is toned down and provides an inspiring accent wall for this shared office space. The unemotional color the gray flooring provides is a good stabilizing opposite to the invigorating mustard color.

Taking a page out of restaurant decor, this company break room relies upon an intense orange to keep workers from lingering too long. The gray panels are conducive to keeping your nose to the grindstone. The psychological messaging for this company room is, "Back to work."

This office gives splashes of pale melon and gold not typically found in offices. The combination of these colors is unexpected. Both invigorating and refreshing, this office is inviting and cheerful.

A long wall painted white or beige would appear infinite and cold. However, the melon color brings energy to the office space with a vibrant color. The wall space is broken up further with a dark graphic that adds movement/rhythm to the feature.

Red paint is a bright fun color, but this mood stimulant may prove too stimulating for workers. Restaurants capitalize on this psychological impact to keep customers moving in and out. Office workers may find red painted walls irritating, uncomfortable, and stress inducing. Tempers are likely to flare in an office painted red.

Gray is often the favorite choice of an office paint color. This color conveys the strength of steel and the emotional steadiness of being detached and emotionless. These qualities are good for a workplace environment that frees emotions so workers can focus on the tasks at hand.

This meeting room features a dark gray accent wall with a dry-erase board where problem-solving takes place. This is an excellent color for such tasks. The psychological impact of dark gray induces and supports problem-solving abilities. Use this color sparingly, such as an accent wall to prevent the office from becoming gloomy and depressing.

An architectural office benefits from the psychological impact of this industrial gray wall. Gray reflects intellect and a look to the future, both qualities needed when creating architectural structures. Since it's also the color associated with conformity, it's ideal for a profession that must comply and conform to building principles.

This shared office space is painted white and features a gold accent wall. The risk of using white paint for offices is the psychological feeling of isolation it brings and the most reflective color in the spectrum. The gold accent wall impacts those feelings with a sense of accomplishment and a winning attitude. Gold is associated with wealth, and the color can have a positive effect on work. The color is repeated in the choice of chairs.

This office design features a small amount of vibrant orange that isn't overwhelming since the adjoining walls are beige.
The cutout and open shelves reveal the adjoining office green color.

The adjoining office continues the orange accent color, but the overall wall color is a pale. A white, open bookcase also features this soft green for bookcase drawers. There are many other interior paint color combinations you might wish to consider before deciding on one for your office.