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Charcoal Color Basement Family Room Walls

Charcoal color painted walls add a cozy vibe to this lake house basement family room.

Charcoal painted walls in a family room with a rust colored rug white sofa and grey chairs

Our basement family room got a fun little refresh for the new year and I’m so excited to share it. This formerly light and bright Lake House Basement Family Room started out as a playroom for our kids when we first built this home.

dark grey bookshelves filled with books with a white sofa and grey chairs. White game table with leather chairs

They were 5 and 8 when we moved in (sob!) and now at 10 and 13 our needs have changed a bit.

Basement living room with gray walls and white sofas and rust colored rug.

They wanted a more grown up feeling hang out spot. The Mr. also wanted a space that could double as a man cave, now that I have my own little oasis in the Guest Cottage. Ok, that’s fair.

Basement family room with dark walls, white sofa, light gray ottoman and rust color rug.

As you can imagine the Mr. doesn’t typically have a whole lot of input to give when it comes to decor. However, for this space he was really pushing for black walls.

Family room with wall mounted tv, floating dark wood shelves, white sofa and rust colored rug

If you have taken our House Tour it’s pretty light and bright. I liked the thought of a cozy basement family room for movie nights and football games.

Dark gray walls with 3 hanging guitars

I however didn’t feel that straight up black paint for our home was the way to go. I wanted a color that would pair well with the rest of our House Paint Colors. Something nice and dark, but still warm and inviting.

Blanket ladder with beige blanket, dark gray walls with wall mounted tv and floating wood shelves

Kendall Charcoal Paint Benjamin Moore

I went to my favorite local Benjamin Moore paint store and after staring at paint chips for about 15 minutes, decided to wing it with Kendall Charcoal. Kendall Charcoal by Benjamin Moore is a nice deep neutral gray. It has a nice muddy tone that makes it feel modern, but it still works well in a traditional space too.

Family room with dark walls, white sofa, gray chairs and a rust colored rug. Wall mounted tv.

I would typically recommend taking a paint sample home and testing it in your space with your light etc, etc, like a responsible person – but there was a snow storm coming and I knew I was going to be stuck at home for a few days so thankfully my winging it worked out ok.

Dark gray family room walls with large bookcase filled with books

I decided to paint the bookcase and the area behind the tv to give off a cozy library feeling. Plus the white bookcases were competing too much with the white trim around the windows. Now your eye is able to travel around the room easier.

Family room with dark gray walls and bookcases filled with books with white sofas and gray chairs

Also, I’m waiting on new art to arrive for those brass frames, so ignore the sideways palm tree photos that came with the frames. It’s not my new avant-garde decor ;)

Charcoal gray painted bookshelves filled with books

Best Charcoal Paint Color

Now that I have painted my basement Kendall Charcoal, I’m seeing the color pop up all over the place. I think it’s one of the best and most used dark charcoal gray paint colors and for good reason.

family room with dark charcoal walls white sofas gray chairs and a rust colored rug

Bonus, when the Mr. got home from work he was SO excited. I went with his idea of “black” paint ha! A win for everyone.

What colors go with Charcoal Gray Paint?

Now that I settled on the dark gray paint, it was time to bring in some color. The beauty of a deep charcoal color like this is it’s still a great neutral, so it really works with a lot of colors.

Living room with large windows white sofas a bookcase and ottoman

I added this gorgeous Loloi Rug with rusts, navy, gray, and green tones. It really grounds the seating area.

Dark gray bookcase filled with books next to white table and brown leather chairs

I think leather looks so great with the dark gray walls as well so our game table and chairs play along nicely. So nicely in fact, that I have a larger leather ottoman coming to replace this light gray one. When it eventually ships, it will add to the whole man cave vibe but also be an easy to clean spot for teens to put their feet up.

Dark gray family room with wall mounted tv, white sofas and gray chairs

Let’s talk about the rest of the furniture! I partnered with Article on this space for a new seating arrangement. Now that we have plenty of teens hanging out down here, the loveseat sectional combo didn’t really provide the most seating.

White sofa in gray living room with putty colored wet bar

Switching it up to two large Kubi sofas facing each other works so well for this space.

Large wall of windows with a white sofa and rust colored rug

The additional Entin chairs are great for playing video games or watching the big game.

dark gray article accent chairs with white sofa

I added more flexible seating by tucking these striped ottomans under the tv as well. They are easy to pull out for extra seating or a place to prop your feet up.

Wall mounted tv with dark wood shelving unit and dark gray walls

Oh and I finally added some storage under our tv! I’ve always been on the hunt for the perfect sized table to fit under our tv and never could find something the right height. This floating shelving unit solved all those problems and stores all the gaming gizmos and gadgets.

Dark gray wall with mounted tv and dark wood shelving unit

I’m calling this basement family room makeover 1.0 because I have really fun plans to add a wood ceiling down here, hopefully next month. So that will change the look of the space as well if our leather ottoman ever arrives.

Dark gray basement walls with mounted tv white sofas and gray accent chairs

We have been loving the new Charcoal color painted space and furniture arrangement and have already spent so man fun family nights down here!

dark walls with white sofas and gray accent chairs

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25 Comments

  2. Absolutely perfect! Gave me ideas for the day when I transition out of playroom in out own basement. Beautiful as always!! And awesome job on the new email format (your emails are always my favorite to see popping in my inbox!)

  5. I really love light and bright especially in kitchens. However when I saw your makeover it was like a calm had come over this room. What a beautiful space you’ve made to relax and cozy up with family.

  6. Kendall Charcoal looks great in this space! So much more visually interesting than the white walls you had before. Love all the changes you made. The leather ottoman will go perfectly as well. Do you have a source for that drum side table next to the sofa? Would love to see how this Kendall Charcoal color looks at night in this space. I’m sure it gives it such a more dramatic look vs. all the brightness you get from the windows during the day.

  7. Oh my word, Kelly, I L O VE the new basement family room! The furniture (love), the floating storage shelf (wow), the colors (OMG), it’s ALL so gorgeous! I can actually envision the wood ceiling, too (can’t wait!). It’s going to be a very popular place for your kids and their friends which is SO wonderful when you have teens. And Charlie, of course, will happily supervise all the kids. :-)

  9. WOW what a great room for everyone. I love the Kendall charcoal. It’s such a warm charcoal color. My only suggestion…when a room is this gorgeous, it’s title needs to be elevated from basement to “Lower Level”!

  10. I love Kendall Charcoal. Such a beautiful gray. I’ve liked it in many different settings and I never get tired of it. Kind of dramatic but approachable. If that makes any sense at all.

    1. Sorry, one more thing. Kendall Charcoal is the greatest neutral; just looks great with every color.

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