There is nothing more personal or daunting than choosing the color scheme for your home. Taking the time to collect your thoughts and decide on a color scheme can be difficult. If you get this wrong, you will have a home that grates on you when you are there or you have to take on the costs of changing everything again.
How you plan the color scheme of your home is generally down to personal preference. You might choose the color of your walls and then buy furniture that complements this. You might buy furniture and fabrics then add color to your walls to complement this. Your walls could be adding the color to your home or they could be neutral to allow your furniture to break the monotony.
Different Color Schemes You Could Use
A monochromatic color scheme will use different tones of the same color through the addition of black and white to lighten or darken the tone. If you are using a monochromatic scheme you could have a pale green, a bottle green and a lime green which are combined to create your color scheme.
An analogous color scheme will use colors which are close in shade, but actually different. This means that you would use a yellow along with orange or a blue with purples. This color scheme is colorful and will often provide a soothing palette.
A contrast color scheme is one of the more dramatic that you can use. With this scheme, you will use contrasting colors such as green and blue, red and purple or yellow and orange. This will create more color and will give some energy into the color scheme.
A complementary color scheme will use opposing colors that complement each other. This will be colors such as blue and orange. The result is dramatic, bold and offers high energy schemes.
Selecting Your Color Scheme
When you have chosen the type of color scheme you are going to use, you should not rush to buy the paint. Wall paints are actually inexpensive and could be made in any color that you want in any tone that you need. It is best to start off by looking for the harder to find or one-off items that you are going to use in your home. This could be a piece of furniture or a carpet that you want. Once you have the furniture upholstered, you will be able to move onto the wall paints.
When you choose the color palette, you have to start with contrasts. Ideally, you will want to have something dark paired with light. If you want more color and energy in the room, you should then look at adding something brighter. Of course, you should consider what impact you are looking to make with the colors.
Adding Color With Furnishings
If you feel comfortable with pale neutral walls, you will need to look at your furnishings to add some color to the room. When you are picking these color items, particularly the bold colors, you have to ensure that the lines are clean and crisp. If you are looking for a more subtle style, you should consider softer neutral colors.
Get A Good Flow
It is important that you test the colors before you commit through the use of paint swatches and fabrics. You can draw a plan of the room and sketch the different colors. If the colors work on paper, you can try painting a small section of the walls to test. To do this, you should look at getting sample pots of paint.
Contrasting Colors
When contrasting colors, you need to consider all rooms in the house. An adjoining room may need to be a neutral color or a contrasting color. When considering the colors of other rooms, you need to consider the overall flow of the house.
If you want to add color to your home, but do not want to paint your walls, there are a number of steps that you can take. You can keep your walls neutral and bring color with rugs. You can also use your furniture, artwork or flowers to add some color.