How to Choose the Right Color Palette for Your Home

With countless decor styles to be inspired from, choosing the right color palette for your home can be overwhelming. Learn how to find the best color scheme for your own home that meets your style and suits your functional needs. 

When choosing a color palette for your home, many things come into play. Far more than you probably realize! While the idea of scrolling through Pinterest for hours picking our favorite home decor pictures is tempting, and we all do it (guilty as charged!), choosing the suitable color scheme for your home is not as easy as buying a paint color we like online. We need to consider a few factors of our own homes, lifestyles, and needs first.

 

How to Choose the Right Color Palette for Your Home

A huge tip I’ve learned as a home decorator is to get clues from things we already own. Observe the things around your home you love the most. Have a look at magazines and take out any image that sings to you.

Check out your Pinterest’s latest pinned images… can you spot a trend there?
A color you continue to chose? Is there a particular style present in most of your favorite images? Take time to observe and take notes! Try to find a common trend that keeps repeating in your style to scale down your options.

Before we dive into the nitty-gritty of how to choose your home’s colors, let’s get some much-needed inspiration first!

Monochromatic  –  Earthy Tones

 

Monochromatic color schemes are a simple yet bold way to make a statement in your home decor. In this boho-chic living room, you can see how every color is a variation of browns and tans. White helps balance everything out, a few pops of green add an extra natural feeling, and the layered textures make this a serene and airy room.

 

Monochromatic – Shades Of Blue

This library is an exquisite example of how to make a monochromatic color scheme feel interesting and luxurious.
From light blue to rich and deep blue shades, this library offers a lush and intimate setting to curl up and read your favorite novel.

 

Analogous –  Yellows & Pops of Orange

The analogous color palette can be a bit complicated to understand at first (more on how to apply it below) but this living room proves it’s totally worth it. Combining yellow and orange -thanks to the striped chair- this living room is a subtle take on an analogous color scheme.

 

Analogous – Blue & Green

 

In this setting, everything works thanks to the expert way colors have been arranged. The elegant and deluxe wallpaper serves as the perfect backdrop to highlight the blue velvet chair without competing for your attention.

 

Complimentary – Yellow & Purple

 

In this open-space concept home, the lilac and yellow color combo keeps things feeling young, fresh, and trendy while keeping a chic and classy element.

 

Complimentary – Blue & Brown

For a masculine yet delicate living room decor, the complementary colors of blue and brown are your best allies. Play with metallic accents to reflect the natural light and add cream carpets or furniture to keep things balanced and airy.

 

Triadic – Yellow, Blue & Red

I know the idea of mixing colors like yellow, red, and blue may sound daunting but just look at this elegant living room!
With only a couple of details using this triadic color scheme, this room shows how there’s no need to go all out in terms of decor to make a visual impact.

 

Triadic – Olive Green & Blue

We often see triadic color schemes in kid’s rooms, but this captivating space is proof you can use triadic color schemes to feel and look grown up as long as you play around with the color variations.
In this case, a harmonious color trio of olive green, soft yellow, and blue ties the room together flawlessly.

 

Color Theory 101 – Color Palettes in Home Decor

Now, let’s get more technical to really nail down the color palette of your dreams!
Knowing the basics of color theory is a total must to get the right feel and create a harmonious space. But, don’t worry. I won’t get into too many details as color theory is a subject all of its own!

Here are some key concepts you need to know about color theory when choosing a color scheme for your home:

When we talk about color, we need to go all the way to the start—the color wheel.
As you probably remember from school days, the color wheel is a system that organizes and shows how colors interact with each other.
We can do so many things with this information, but in terms of creating color palettes using the color wheel, here are some of the best color harmonies you can use to find the right combination for your home.

Color in Decor – Hues, Tints & Shades, Explained:

• Hue: A hue is the dominant pigment in any color we see.
• Tint: A tint is a result of mixing a color with white. Tints allow us to give any color more lightness, like pastels.
• Tone: A shade is what we get when we mix a color with grey. The result is often a muted and unsaturated version of the color we add grey to.
• Shade: When you mix any color with black, you get a shade of that color. This color category is great for creating lush and rich colors!

Color Schemes – Color Harmonies:

Monochromatic:

If you thought monochromatic was synonyms of black and white, think again! A monochromatic harmony is a selection of one color in all its different hues.

Analogous:

 

An analogous color scheme is created when you select three colors next to each other on the color wheel. That color trio falls into the analogous category.

Complimentary:

Complimentary colors are two colors on the opposite side of the color wheel.

Triadic:

We get a tetradic color scheme when we pick (at least) 3 colors in the color wheel that are evenly spaced out from each other.

How to apply these color theory schemes to home decor:

 

These are some helpful questions I’d recommend to ask yourself before making any decision:

 

Things to consider and ask yourself when choosing a color scheme for your home:

What mood do you want your space to have?
Try to think about what you want to feel when entering the room.

What type of lighting does space have?
Will you need to use a lot of artificial light or does the space has natural lighting?

What type of space are you working with?
If you’re renovating one room or an entire house, it’s essential to consider the architectural style and work around it.

 

As you can see, color in interior decor is an essential element to consider when designing a space!

Does your home decor have a specific color scheme? Would you change it? Let me know down below in the comments, I’d love to know!