Americans are true to blue, selecting the cool hue as their favorite color in a new survey conducted by House Beautiful. The First Annual House Beautiful Color Report, published in the magazine's September issue, is based on the magazine's online survey fielded from March 9 to May 31, 2012. The survey was taken by more than 4,000 people and also includes responses from House Beautiful's interviews with nearly 300 interior designers and more than 100 design bloggers.

Participants were asked to reveal their favorite colors, current trendy paint colors and which are "so over," as well as hues they predict will be the "next hot color" in paint and their favorite colors for various rooms in their homes.

Nationally, 29% of respondents selected blue as their overall favorite hue, citing its freshness and calming effects, although 21% were keen on green. Red and purple were neck and neck at 8%, followed by pink (7%), yellow and gray (tied at 6%), white (5%), orange (4%), brown (3%), and black (2%).

A Manhattan home designed by Phoebe Howard highlights the favorite color. Photograph by Ngoc Minh Ngo.

"We're seeing a trend toward soothing colors in the home," says House Beautiful Editor in Chief Newell Turner.  "Our study shows that people want to surround themselves with calming colors. Blue and green are cool hues that imbue our living spaces with serenity. Our homes are our havens, and we're not surprised that the two most popular colors are restful and reassuring."

When asked which paint color is hot right now, 60% of bloggers and 45% of readers chose orange, but interior designers selected purple, which received the majority (35%) of their votes. Pink was the paint color most often declared as "so over" by readers (29%), while most bloggers (27%) pronounced an end to brown.

The survey also examined favorite room colors by geographic region with red voted the best color for dining rooms in the Mid-Atlantic, blue chosen as the best color for bedrooms on the West Coast, yellow selected as the favorite for kitchens in the Midwest, gray edging out beige as the best color for living rooms in the northern plains, and green leading in parts of the lower Midwest and Texas as the best choice for dining rooms.

Interior design professionals' opinions sometimes varied with those of the others surveyed. Designers selected red as the best color for dining rooms (readers chose green), and white was favored by designers for kitchens (readers preferred yellow kitchens). Both groups did align on bedrooms and living rooms, however, with blue named the color of choice for bedrooms and white selected as best for living rooms. Design bloggers were asked to select colors that are currently on their radar; the majority responded that green is starting to make a big statement, followed by purple, pink, and orange.