Creating Room Color Schemes

Creating Room Color Schemes

"Attractive room color schemes can be the biggest visual asset of your home’s interior - more important than furnishings or architecture."

room color schemes 15 Colors have an immediate impact on our mood.

Just have a look at the snapshot here:

How do these 'retro' colors make you feel?
Would you be comfortable in a room like this?

A great room color scheme can create instant flair (and not-so-brilliant interior color concepts can help you get depressed rather quickly!)

So here's how to come up with colors for inspired, feel-good spaces:

1. Inspiration

Stop for a moment, and think back to the last time you were surrounded by colors you really loved.

Which colors were they?

How did they make you feel?

Could you easily see any of these colors as a starting point for a color scheme in your own home?

Most of us can't imagine color very well,
so if your answer to the last question
was ‘no’, great! This page is for you.

To give you an idea of the process, here's a color scheme you could take from the Greek island paradise, above left:

room color schemes 11

I would use the colors in different proportions in the room - a lot of white and blue, the charcoal, gray and red for accents only, and honey-colored wood for some of the furniture.

Maybe you already have a color idea, but are wondering if it will work in your home. Or you're looking for a foolproof way to develop a good color scheme for any room. Let’s start here with some basics.

2. Understanding the Room

Whenever you decorate a room, even if you’re starting from scratch and your home seems an empty canvas, the following factors will influence your room color scheme:

the colors that are already part of the room (including the view
from the window),

the ways you’re going to use the room, and

the size and brightness of the room.

It's a good idea to take all these factors into account. For a step-by-step ‘instruction’, check out this article about Choosing Interior Paint Colors. It takes you through the whole process, from brainstorming ideas for home decorating with color to shortlisting your paint colors.

3. Colors and Neutrals

Do you know how colors are related to each other, and how to tell ‘warm’ colors from ‘cool’ ones? If you’re not sure, have a look at the Color Wheel.

room color schemes 4

It can help you create room color schemes using colors that are either

of the same family, or
unrelated, or even
opposites (“complementary
colors”).

Normally, the color wheel does not include
neutrals (black, white, grey, brown).
Neutrals are great for creating pleasing,
calm color compositions, which you can
then liven up with more vivid accent
colors.

As paint, neutrals are used to tone
down color intensity, either by mixing
a color with white or beige (to create
pastels), or by mixing it with greys or
browns (to create muted or earthy
shades).

The best room color schemes often mix neutrals and colors.

Click here if you would like to read more about Creating Neutral Color Schemes.

4. Starting Points for Room Color Schemes

Sometimes an item in the room will strongly suggest itself as a starting point for a color scheme. This could be ...

a textile
a picture
a beautiful heirloom
a piece of painted furniture
some antique books ...
... anything visible with inspiring color.

However, your color inspiration could just as well come from somewhere outside the room.

You can find color ideas almost anywhere.

You might also want to have a look at Color Psychology to see how your choice of colors can affect you in your home. Color psychology isn't an exact science, but it makes for interesting reading. The same is true for Color Meanings (and they're even less scientific!)

5. Playing with Room Color Schemes

So how do you create a room color scheme with a color palette you have taken from somewhere else?

This is where it gets really interesting (and sometimes a bit scary as well). Good color compositions are not just about the color relationships on the color wheel. They are about the relationships between

room color schemes 5

saturated and unsaturated colors (‘tones’)

dark and light colors (‘values’)

warm and cool ‘hues’, and

colors of different extension (colors covering larger or smaller areas in a room)

But that's for a new chapter ...

... which is on my to-do list ...

In the meantime, maybe you could keep yourself entertained with some of the articles below:

Interior Decorating Color Scheme Ideas: You can get inspiring color ideas from pretty much anywhere - here's how to find the best ones quickly.

The Color Wheel is a useful tool to find out how colors relate to each other, which ones might work together and which ones probably won’t. But use it with caution...

Choosing Interior Paint Colors You’re looking for color combinations that get two jobs done: to make you feel great, and to make your home look its personal best. This article takes you from brainstorming ideas for home decorating with color to shortlisting your favorite options.

A Neutral Color Scheme: It’s versatile. It’s chic and simple. But creating a gorgeous neutral color scheme requires a slightly unusual way of looking at your home. Test the method here...

Color Psychology is still a very young science, so do treat its findings with some caution.

But if you're interested, it's also worth having a look at the Psychological Effects of Specific Colors:
'neutral' colors - white, gray, black, brown
'warm' colors - yellow, orange, red, pink,
and 'cool' colors - purple, blue, green, .

Color Meanings: No need to pay attention to them when you decorate your home. But why not have fun and use them to 'color-code' your living space!

Would you like to be kept informed with news and updates to this site? Subscribe to my blog and/or free e-zine - it's simple, and keeps you supplied with ...

... fresh home decorating news and ideas year-round!

Return from Creating Room Color Schemes to Decorating Color Schemes Made Easy

Return from Creating Room Color Schemes to Dream Home Decorating Homepage

footer for room color schemes page