Creative Interiors - You'll LOVE this Place!: Choosing Your Color Palette

Last month we talked about the use of color, bold and beautiful! We touched on what kind of impact color can have on your space, the way it makes us feel and how we function in it. But how do you pick the perfect color palette for you? I’m going to suggest a few ways to find the perfect palette for your abode.

First, look at your wardrobe. Most people dress in colors they look good in and that make them feel good. Similarly, you should decorate your home in colors you enjoy wearing. “If you don’t wear yellow [because it makes you look sickly], don’t get a yellow sofa”. (Mark McCauley, author of Color Therapy at Home: Real Life Solutions for Adding Color to Your Life)

Second, take a look at the largest pattern in your room. Whether it’s a rug, patterned upholstery or a large piece of artwork, find a color in the pattern that you would like to pull into the room. Likewise, if you are wanting to paint or color a piece of furniture with a neutral color, look at the pattern’s tones of creams, whites, beige’s or grays to pull from. You will be able to find a color or neutral to work in the room while maintaining cohesiveness. Whichever favorite piece you are pulling from, this is your “spring board” or “inspiration piece”.

Once you have that “spring board” and you are ready to look for accent colors, don’t forget about your color wheel! Yes, color wheel! Remember that wheel you saw in art class back in grade school? And really people, you should recognize it from last weeks blog! : ) Here is a picture to jog your memory:

Well, your trusty ole color wheel can be a good reminder of how to create a color scheme. Colors that line up beside each other on the color wheel, such as blue-green, green and yellow-green create an analogous color scheme. This color wave is a more subtle color progression that is great for creating a calming space. If you are decorating with a rusty orange hue, you could look at accenting with blue; orange and blue are complimentary colors. Complimentary colors are across from each other on the color wheel and appear brighter when these colors are used together. Conversely, a split complementary color scheme is the grouping of a color with two hues analogous to its complimentary. Such as:

Courtesy sharing by: Houzz

Similarly, a triadic color scheme uses any three colors equally spaced on the color wheel, with one color usually taking precedence. A triadic scheme looks something like this:

By changing the tints and chroma (a color’s brightness or dullness) of your colors you can create different feels to the same color scheme until you find what fits your personal style. These tried and true color combinations can give you endless fail proof inspirations!

When decorating a space, many designers suggest following a color principal referred to as the “60-30-10” rule. By dividing your color scheme into components, where your dominant color makes up 60 percent of the color used, 30 percent of a secondary color and 10 percent of an accent color. For, instance, the walls will most likely be the majority, the upholstery would represent the secondary color and accessories such as throw pillows and floral arrangements would make up the remaining accent colors of your color scheme.

Finding your inspiration, then following a few simple formulas may be all you need to get you on a path to a harmonizing space! We always have lots of ideas and inspiration here at Creative Interiors - come and see us!