Picking Color Schemes
Complimentary Colors The procedure of picking paint colors for your home may seem to be totally subjective--you simply pick the colors you like. That is only partly true. Although it makes sense to start with the colors you prefer, other elements come into play. For example, do the colors you've chosen work well alongside one another? Do they compliment furnishing, carpeting, and draperies already in use? Picking paint colors is part skill and part science. Let's start with the science part first. Employing the Color Wheel The color wheel arranges the color spectrum in a circle. It really is a sensible way to see which colors work very well together. It includes primary colors (red, blue, and yellow), secondary colors (green, orange, violet), and tertiary colors (red-blue, blue-red, etc). Secondary colors are made by mixing two primaries together, such as blue and yellow to make green. A primary color such as blue and a secondary color such as green can be merged to make a tertiary color--in this case, turquoise. Now that you've got a color wheel before you, utilize it to help you envision certain color combinations. An analogous plan includes neighboring colors that share an underlying hue. Complementary colors lie opposite each other on the color wheel and often work well in concert. Say for example a red and green living room in full intensity might be hard to stomach, but consider a rosy pink room with sage green accents. The same complements in differing intensities can make attractive, calming combinations. A double complementary color scheme involves yet another set of opposites, such as green-blue and red-orange. Alternatively, you might choose a monochromatic scheme that involves using one color in a number of intensities. This ensures a harmonious color scheme. When creating a monochromatic scheme, lean toward several tints or several shades, but avoid too many contrasting values, that is, combinations of tints and shades. This can make your scheme lo ...
45 views • 3 slides