Painting Ideas

Here are a few tips to help you develop a color palette for your home. The 60/30/10 Rule

This basic concept will help you develop a more balanced space in regards to color.

60% of your room should be of one dominant color, 30% should consist of another secondary color and 10% should be of an accent color.

To help you visualize what this looks like in a room, consider that the walls are the dominate feature, they should consist of 60% of your color palette.

The upholstery in your room is typically the next most prominent feature in the room so this should consist of 30% of your color palette.

Finally, the accessories, artwork, florals etc. are the jewelry of your room. They consist of 10% of your color palette.

Now this doesn't mean that you only have 3 colors in your room! It's simply a tip to help you find a type of scale for the color palette in your room.

To help you figure out what colors you like, look to your existing fabrics. Do you have bright colored pillows on your sofa as a focal point in your room? Or maybe it's black and white photography?

If you're not happy with your existing space, check the colors in your closet. The color of the majority of your clothes will sometimes tell you what colors you naturally are drawn too. Pull ideas from nature. After all, Mother Nature is the queen colorist!

Try introducing blues that mimic water or browns and oranges that you would find in the desert. When utilizing nature as a guide, keep in mind that the colors should graduate from the floor up, from darkest to lighest, just as it does in nature. The ground is darker with rock, dirt and grass and lightens as it reaches up towards the sky.

Another color tip is to utilize the concepts of the color wheel when trying to choose a color scheme.

The color wheel can help you to narrow down the choices into 2 main color palettes. The Complementary Color Scheme & The Analogous Color Scheme

 The Complementary Color Scheme

This scheme utilizes colors that are across the color wheel from each other. For example, purple and orange or blue and yellow.

This scheme can come across as complex and sophisticated so it lends itself to more formal settings such as the dining room or the master bedroom.


 The Analogous Color Scheme

The analogous color scheme is based on colors that are very close to one another on the color wheel, such as yellow and green or brown and black. It can also include tonal schemes that consists of different shades of the same color.

This scheme comes across as restful and comfortable. It lends itself well to bedrooms and family rooms, places where you want to kick back and relax.



 Add Touches of Black

Touches of black act like the jewelry in the room. They help to enhance and clarify the other colors in the room. You don't need to add a lot of black just add a small black frame, or box on a table, it could even be found in the base of a table lamp. Try it out and I think that you'll be pleasantly surprised.






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