When decorating your home, you can simply paint everything white and disregard having to choose a color; after all, everything goes with white, correct? Yes, but white throughout your home can make it feel cold and sterile, more like a laboratory than a home. You can also go in the opposite direction and just pick a color separately for each room. That does make it more colorful and less sterile looking, but the clashing of colors can be unsettling and create a feeling of upset eventually. So, how do you reach a happy medium of homey and color flow? You create a color scheme.
How To Choose a Color
You should try and choose three main colors and a neutral color, such as tan, brown or off-white. However, there is a way to effectively work with one color and a neutral if that is what you prefer. You can pick your main color from your favorite color or take time to research color psychology and determine what kind of feel you want to create in your home. Just remember that whatever color you choose, you will have to live with it for a long time, so make sure it is something you really like. Besides picking your favorite color, you can choose your main color by:
- Using a favorite piece of art and picking out the main colors from it
- Choose a color around the most prevalent pattern in a couch or chair
- Start with the floor and work your way up based on what looks good with the floor covering
- After choosing your main color, you have two choices — work with one color or add a couple more for variety.
One Color Home
If you want to stick with one color, the easiest way to do this is to choose several shades of the same one. For example, if you choose a shade of blue that speaks to you, consider getting the same color in two shades lighter and two shades darker. Then pick a neutral color that looks good with all three.
Alternate the main shade in each room. If the walls are medium blue in one room, and the trim is darker and accents lighter, in the next room, use the lighter shade for the walls, neutral for trim and dark for accents. Continue this throughout your home.
Three Color Schemes
This is the most fun to work with. After choosing your main color, pick two other colors that look nice with it but offer a nice contrast. Looking at a color wheel will help you with this. Choose one neutral color for ceilings and baseboards.
Now, pick which of the three colors is going to be your main one in the first room. This goes on walls, use a contrasting color for flooring and trim and the third one for accents. Moving to the next room, change the order you use the colors as above. By doing this throughout your home, you create a variety of color yet one room seems to flow into the other effortlessly.
Final Thoughts
There are many programs online where you can design color schemes for rooms before investing in anything. If this is appealing to you, a simple Google search will give you ample choices. What is most important, however, is working with colors you feel comfortable with. This is your home and you are the best judge of what feels "right" to you and to your family. Above all, have fun and pick colors that make you feel happy.
