8 Interior Wall and Skirting Board Colour Combinations
To create a beautiful interior, the colour of your walls is only one of many things to consider. Peripheral features such as your doors, architraves and skirting boards are also key elements of your scheme. By opting for a complementary shade on these elements, you can achieve an elegant ‘finished’ look.
Explore eight wall and skirting board paint colour combinations using the Little Greene colour card. Find guidance and inspiration as you plan your next interior design project…
If you’re looking for practical advice about paint finishes and application, read our guide to painting skirting boards.
1. White walls, beige skirting boards
When choosing paint for skirting boards, many of us opt for brilliant white, even if the walls are painted in an off-white shade. But a great way to elevate your white walls is by choosing a complementary light neutral or beige for your skirting boards. This simple change substitutes harsh lines for a soft contrast. By designing a scheme that is very easy on the eye, you can create a homely, welcoming feel.
Upper Walls: Portland Stone – Light
Dado Rail, Door & Skirting Boards: Portland Stone
The Little Greene Colour Scales palette helps you to choose a harmonious colour combination. For a timeless pairing, consider Portland Stone – Light on the walls alongside Portland Stone on the woodwork and trim. Or team Clay – Mid on the walls with the deeper toned Clay on your trim, for a warm yet fresh and gentle, neutral scheme.
Shelf Unit, Architraves and Skirting Board: Clay
Wall: Clay – Mid
Chair: Clay – Pale
2. Grey walls, white skirting boards
Grey is a beautiful colour to provide a simple, neutral backdrop in almost any room in the home. For a classic look, grey walls pair elegantly with skirting boards painted in white. By adding this touch of colour contrast, your scheme will benefit from a soft tonal uplift.
Wall: Livid
Wall (Front): French Grey
Woodwork: Loft White
For a soft scheme, choose a complementary white shade to team with grey walls. A very pale grey such as French Grey – Pale will appear as white when used alongside a slightly deeper grey, like French Grey. Or you could combine a dark, moody grey like Scree with Shallows on the trim for a more impactful, contemporary contrast.
Wall (panelled): Scree
Wall (above) and Flooring: Shallows
3. Beige walls, white skirting boards
Using white on your skirting is also an excellent way to complement walls painted in beige or brown. These warm neutral shades can create a cosy, comforting atmosphere when embraced all-over. You can also consider painting your skirting boards a different colour. Achieve a classic look by introducing white on the ceiling, woodwork and skirting boards.
Wall: Clay – Mid
Central Panel: Scullery
Middle Panel: Lute
Right Panel: Clay
Neutral, natural whites coordinate beautifully with warm, earthy hues. Accompany the soft golden beige, Madeleine, with Linen Wash on the trim for an inviting hallway scheme. Or use a combination of tonal beige and brown shades like Lute, Scullery and Clay in your living room, and introduce Clay – Mid on the skirting.
Walls, Dado rail & panel: Madeleine
Ceiling & Architrave: Linen Wash
Door: Portland Stone
4. White walls, coloured skirting boards
If you want to enliven your scheme without featuring a strong colour on your walls, your trim is a wonderful place to host bright, bold colours. Consider introducing a surprising colour accent on your window frame or create a focal point on your baseboards to incorporate bolder hues in your scheme.
Explore more ideas on refreshing interior woodwork throughout your home.
Wall: Flint
Ceiling: Deep Space Blue
Window Frame: Marigold
Painting your walls in white will provide a blank canvas where you can be creative with colour. Punchy oranges like Marigold and Middle Buff are truly fabulous highlight colours, filling your scheme with energy and personality. Introduce a complementary blue on your ceiling or on a piece of furniture for an impactful, sophisticated colour pairing.
Wall: Shirting
Stripes: Bone China Blue
Skirting: Middle Buff
Shelf Rails: Baked Cherry, Woad, Heat & Bone China Blue
5. White walls, black skirting boards
Choosing a bold colour for your skirting boards isn’t the only way to bring design interest to white walls. Painting your skirting in black is a smart, contemporary choice that offers elegance and impact in equal measure. This design is particularly effective to bring definition to large, tall spaces, such as living rooms and hallways.
Wall: French Grey – Pale
Woodwork: Jack Black
Door: Atomic Red
A light grey like French Grey – Pale or Shallows is the perfect colour choice to achieve a modern, contemporary feel. Team French Grey – Pale walls with Jack Black on your skirting, cornicing and picture rail to punctuate a spacious reception room. Or introduce bold colour accents of Air Force Blue and Smalt alongside Shallows and Jack Black for a striking, statement hallway.
Walls: Shallows
Skirting boards: Jack Black
Door Inset: Smalt
Floor: Air Force Blue
6. Colourful walls, black skirting boards
If your walls are painted in a colour, black is a wonderful, alternative skirting board paint colour, compared to a traditional white or neutral. A confident black shade will beautifully frame your chosen wall colour, providing your room with a contemporary feel.
Upper Wall: Bone China Blue
Stripe: Lamp Black
Woodwork: Shirting
Lamp Black is an off black that is softer and warmer than Jet Black. It coordinates elegantly with a variety of different paint colours to achieve a classic, sophisticated look. Consider pairing with the earthy yellow, Yellow-Pink in your hallway, or the tranquil, muted blue, Bone China Blue, in your bathroom.
Wall: Yellow-Pink
Door frame and skirting board: Lamp Black
7. Pink Walls, Green Trim
For a truly inviting scheme, consider a classic, complementary colour pairing for your wall and skirtings. Pink and green is a natural combination that feels comfortable in the home due to its relationship with the outside world. Depending on the shades you choose, you could create a scheme that feels charming, pretty and timeless, or bold and contemporary.
Wall: Confetti
Doorframe and Door: Livid
Inside Door Panelling: Gauze – Dark
Above Picture Rail: Lamp Black
For example, the sugary pink, Confetti, can pair with the deep, moody grey-green, Livid, on skirtings for a balanced combination. Or a warm and earthy, muted pink like Split Pink is a striking accompaniment to a combination of rich green-blues like Harley Green, Livid and Obsidian Green.
Discover more pink and green colour scheme ideas to create harmonious spaces throughout your home.
Monk’s seat: Obsidian Green
Wall & upper Architrave: Split Pink
Tongue & Groove, lower architrave & radiator: Harley Green
Skirting Boards and bottom of radiator: Livid
Ceiling & cornice: Slaked Lime - Mid
8. Blue walls, yellow skirting boards
Blue and yellow is another staple colour pairing that can bring instant design personality to any space. Consider using a cheerful yellow to frame walls and woodwork painted in a characterful, resonant blue. This will create a fun colour highlight to brighten and energise your scheme.
Right Wall: Woad
Left Wall and Door: Grey Stone
Skirting Boards and Woodwork: Sunlight
To make a really bold statement, a combination of Thai Sapphire and Trumpet offers a great way to embrace colour all over and achieve a luxurious finish. Or for something more traditional, pair the strong mid blue, Woad, with Sunlight on the skirting, and introduce Grey Stone for added depth and colour contrast.
Wall: Thai Sapphire
Skirting Board and Far Wall: Pale Lupin
Stripe Highlight and Highlight On Door Frame: Trumpet
More inspiration
All over scheme: Paint walls and skirting boards in the same tones
Paint walls and skirting boards in the same shade for an all-over wrap-around scheme that feels comforting and enveloping. This design works particularly well with warm, jewel-tones or muted greens to evoke serenity and the calm of the outdoors.
Coordinated colours: Select a deeper shade for woodwork
Combine colours from the same Colour Scales family for a harmonious finish. Use a deeper strength of the same pigment on woodwork, alongside a lighter shade on walls for a gentle contrast. For example, use Nether Red on woodwork with Castell Pink on the walls.
Colour highlight: Use bold, bright hues on skirting boards
If your space features patterned wallpaper, consider pulling out a bold, bright shade from the design for your skirting boards. This approach will help to draw all elements of the scheme together. Ditsy Block - Green Verditer pairs well with the accent colour Trumpet, for a stand-out, contemporary look.
Colour block: Use colour blocking for a focal point
Elongate skirting boards by using the same colour on woodwork and the lower half of the wall. This type of colour blocking creates contrast and adds a focal point in place of architectural features.
Finding the perfect combination
There are countless options for painting your skirting boards, instead of opting for the habitual white. Pairing your walls with a darker or lighter, related shade on the skirting will instantly make your scheme feel more sophisticated and curated.
You can also consider a colour-drenched scheme, painting your walls and skirting in the same shade for an encompassing feel. Even just painting your lower walls and skirting in one colour can create the illusion of height and space.
Once you have chosen your shades, read our guide to painting skirting boards. Discover the best paint finishes for skirting boards and explore our step-by-step painting tips.
Shop paint by colour to find the perfect wall and skirting board paint colour combinations for your scheme. Or order a complimentary colour card to explore the full palette.