Considering blue for your home? Don’t miss this take on the best navy blue paint currently available on the market.
A preppy classic and always on trend, navy blue is the perfect color for creating a timeless look. It can easily be used in any indoor or outdoor space as a neutral base or as an accent, because it pairs so well with other colors. At least, that’s what I tell myself as I incorporate it into yet another space in my house…
This time it’s the master bedroom that’s getting a little lift with some NAVY PAINT! Yep. That’s right. We’re going dark and moody on the walls and there’s no turning back! Well, I mean technically, if it went horribly wrong, we could turn back time and paint over the navy, but I am pretty committed to a high contrast accent wall in the space.
After I put together my navy and blush master bedroom mood board, I took quite a bit of time researching and selecting the PERFECT navy blue paint. I narrowed things down to eight shades of navy, from a variety of manufacturers. Ultimately I selected Sherwin Williams Naval 6244. It’s a deep dark navy blue that looks velvety-rich on my wall. I might even go so far as to say it’s the best navy blue paint out there…
Even if I hadn’t picked a SW color, I would have purchased the brand’s Emerald Interior Matte paint. The coverage is excellent and I didn’t have to worry about many of the issues that come with painting a dark color evenly on the wall.
Because each of the eight finalists were beautiful in their own way, I wanted to share the best navy blue paints currently available on the market, along with a little inspiration.
The Best Navy Blue Paint
Here’s a little cheat with all eight of the best navy blue paint colors. Don’t want to miss the inspiration, along with color characteristics of each, included below.
It’s not easy to pick the perfect shade of navy, but with some photos and a bit of information about what undertone’s tend to surface, it’s a lot easier. Here are the details on eight great shades of navy blue paint.
Benjamin Moore Hale Navy (HC 154) – Hale Navy is a deeply saturated, traditional take on navy. It’s a popular choice with my design friends and a true paint classic. It tends to show a little more gray, which works well when it’s used as a neutral base (think walls, cabinets, etc.).
I see Hale Navy pop up in the Instagram feed of one of my favorite local designers, Studio McGee, fairly often. This bathroom vanity designed by SM? All the heart eyes…
Pacific Palisades Guest Bath via Studio McGee
Benjamin Moore New York State of Mind (805) – New York State of Mind is a bit brighter and perhaps a touch more of a cobalt than a traditional navy blue, but I like the idea of this pretty patriotic blue. It is a keeper.
New York State of Mind via Better Homes and Gardens
Farrow and Ball Drawing Room Blue (253) – This rich blue looks amazing when paired with a crisp white trim. While the paint chip is pretty dark, this pretty blue goes on fairly bright. It’s perfect for achieving a classic blue and white look.
Drawing Room Blue Door via Farrow and Ball
Farrow and Ball Hague Blue 30 – One of the most popular dark navy blues, Hague Blue’s green undertone looks almost black in some light. It makes for dramatic contrast when used in a well-lit room.
This is one of the most popular colors on design sites and in chat discussions about navy blue and so I included it in my top eight, but truthfully it’s my least favorite of the bunch. It’s just too green for me. What do you think?
Farrow and Ball Hague Blue Bath
Ralph Lauren Club Navy (RLTH228) – It should be no surprise that Club Navy, by Ralph Lauren, is just about the best nautical navy blue I came across. I love the traditional paint colors developed for the Ralph Lauren brand and painted most of my first home in the rich hues. At the time, Ralph Lauren paints were sold in Home Depot, though they’ve since been discontinued. It may be difficult to source RL paint or paint chips, but most paint stores should be able to mix a test color for you.
Source Unknown
Sherwin Williams Inkwell 6992 – Okay. Truth be told Inkwell shows up under the black paints on the Sherwin Williams site. However, it has just enough blue in it that it bears inclusion in this list. It’s the perfect color if you’re looking for a dark, dark contrasting color that’s not quite as vibrant as a traditional navy blue and not nearly as harsh as a true black would be.
Inkwell Bedroom via Addison’s Wonderland
Sherwin Williams Naval 6244 – Naval is the PERFECT deep, dark navy and I am convinced it will stand the test of time. It strikes a balance between preppy and sophisticated. In addition, the rich tone keeps it from looking too juvenile in a bedroom.
As I mentioned, it’s the color I finally settled on for the accent wall in my master bedroom and I just love how cozy it makes the room feel.
Sherwin Williams Salty Dog 9177 – Salty dog. It’s so descriptive of this traditional naval blue. The color has just a hint of sea green and translates well onto any surface. It’s not as deep a navy as some and can look quite bright in some light.
Salty Dog Cabinet Door via Dura Supreme Cabinets
What do you think? Do you tend to lean toward one shade of navy over another? Got an additional color to add to my list of the best navy blue paint colors?
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What do you think about doing a kitchen in the Hale Navy or Naval. My friends and family are screaming it will be too dark. I have very little wall space and my cabinets, back splash, counter-tops and trim are white or a very light color. I also have all the decor ready also and I went with white or distressed white with those.
Hey Kelly! I love the ideal of using Naval in the kitchen – it’s trending after all. Both of these colors are a very very dark deep blue. I feel like the Hale Navy has a bit more green in it, so depending on your lighting I might consider going with Naval. There’s a new house right down the street who came over to view the color on my bedroom walls and then had their cabinets painted in Naval. If painting the entire kitchen in a dark color is scary, consider painting just the base cabinets or islands in navy and using white for the upper cabinets? xo Tauni
Thanks for this article and all these beautiful shades of navy! I am thinking about painting the exterior of my house a dark navy color with bright white trim. I have a small home that was built in the late 40’s with a red brick front porch. If I did not live in California in a place with really hot summers I would want to paint my house black. I am going to get samples of paint of course before I paint the whole house but I was leaning towards Sherwin Williams Naval (I think I want darker though), Anchors Aweigh or Benjamin Moore Hale Navy. I am looking at your post though and loving the Sherwin Williams Inkwell. Do you think it would be too dark to paint an entire house this color?
Hi Kim! I actually decided to paint my front door navy and have been experimenting with colors. My home faces west so it gets A LOT of Utah sun.
I love, love, love Sherwin Williams Naval. It’s probably my favorite navy blue. I’ve used it in my master bedroom, on furniture, as well as in the mud room LOL. I THOUGHT it was the color I’d be using on my front door. I tried it outside and it was a bit dark for me. Inkwell is even darker (yep, I tried it!). It’s about as close to black as you’re going to get without going charcoal or black…It would look good with red, but I am not sure it would help with your hot summers.
In the end, I personally selected something a bit lighter and even a bit more blue for my front door…Sherwin Williams Loyal Blue. It’s a really nice navy in the sun.
Benjamin Moore’s Hale Navy reads a little green in the sunlight. It’s also a bit lighter than the Naval in my opinion.
I hope that helps! I’d love to see what you end up going with once you’ve made a decision!!!
xo
Tauni
Hi Tauni! Thanks so much for the response. I tested SOOO many navy paint colors on the house including most of the ones mentioned in your post. I loved the Naval but was Leary about painting the whole house that color. Will definitely be using for a bedroom or something though. None of them felt quite right until I put up Inkwell and was instantly in love. We finished painting this week and are so pleased with how it turned out. Because the house gets so a lot of sun you can tell it’s a dark navy. People have been stopping on the street to ask the name of the color. I think that’s a good sign. I would never have found Inkwell if it wasn’t for you and your blog post. Thank you for helping to make my house a little prettier and me a whole lot happier! ???
Kim, A fresh bit of paint. I am so excited for you! I am also a bit jealous. I’d love to paint my house navy, but we’re close to a large nature preserve and dark houses look so dirty here. I’d sure love to see what your home looks like. Send me a photo via email taunieverett@gmail.com or tag me on Instagram @taunieverett
xo
Hey, I’m up to my ears with sample pots in navy so your post is timely! I love SW Naval and am considering it for my laundry base cupboards (above cupboards will be polar white) but my local paint specialist mentioned it could shoot off purple due to the red it has in its formula.
I don’t want a purple tinge, but wanted to try it anyway so I painted an A4 sample in the Naval and surprisingly can’t see the purple. It’s one coat so I will do another. Have you ever seen the purple tinge in the Naval??
Thanks for your time
Yve
Hi Yve, I missed your comment while I was out of town. Sorry for the delay in response. I absolutely love naval and I haven’t had any issues with the coloring. I certainly haven’t seen a red or purple tint. Make sure that you grab a couple of stir sticks and really stir the paint up well before you use it and I think you will find it looks great!
I’d love to see your cabinets when you get them finished!
xo Tauni
We just went through paint samples and had our bedroom painted yesterday and it turned out great! It’s dark blue but with a hint of purple and I love it! It’s Sherman Williams Indigo Batik! Now I’m just looking to get all new things for the bedroom to match lol. I LOVE the gray quilt with the white pom poms, I must know where you got it please!
Hi Kristin,
How fun! I actually looked at the color you used when I was planning for my bedroom. It’s a beautiful shade! My quilt is from Ballard Designs. I’ve had it for about three years and it’s held up really well. It’s called Audree Pom Pom. Good luck!
xo
Tauni
Hello!
We are painting our front door and have decided on a navy to compliment our gray stone exterior. We thought about Naval, but sinc our porch is shaded, I’m afraid it may look black. We like Salty Dog, but it’s a bit bright. Any ideas on something in between?
Hi Debra, I’ve been on vacation and I am just catching up with comments. I love both the colors you mentioned, but I can also see your concerns. I actually just painted my front door navy last month…I need to catch up on blog posts and get a post up about it! While we tried all of the navy colors in my original post (including my all time favorite – naval), ultimately none of them were the right color for our west facing home. In the end we selected a shade with a bit more blue in it. The color we picked is SW 6510, or Loyal Blue. I love how it looks! Hope that helps 🙂 Tauni
Hi Tauni,
For 3 years I’ve been debating painting our basement navy (I’m drawn towards Naval) but everyone says it will be too dark. However, I plan to put white floor length curtains along the windows on one wall, I have a huge mirror that will go over our sectional (in PB’s Oat), on another wall we have a large tv and on the last wall I plan to put family pictures in white or clear glass frames from top to bottom. That being said I’m thinking the dark paint color will be more of a background/setting without turning the room into a cave. With recessed lighting and adding a few table lamps I’m thinking yes?
Any thoughts? I’m hoping to turn this space into more of a grown-up family area vs sloppy teen hang out.