Colour combinations are an enigma of sorts. For some, choosing complimentary colours is something they can do intuitively, others learn through trial and error, but for some they just cannot get their heads around the vast world of colour.
If colour is something you struggle with we’ve got a few tricks you can use to help you navigate your way round the often confusing world of colour pairing.
Firstly, its important to clear something up. There is a misconception that an Interior Designer can walk into a room and instantly ‘know’ the colour that would best suit the space. This is far from the reality of design. Colour requires careful consideration and a colour palette does not just happen.
So how do you develop a colour palette? Inspiration!
Look to things that inspire you whether they be physical spaces, abstract art, places you’ve traveled to – there is no right or wrong. Look to magazines, the internet, pinterest, instagram to help build an image of the type of space you want to create. There is a wealth of resources out there are sure to help you arrive at your perfect palette.
A well designed colour scheme has a clear ‘feel’ to it. Consider what you want that ‘feel’ to be and how you can achieve it. Do you want it to be romantic but also a little edgy? Do you want a soft and serene space or a stimulating and productive environment? Colour is a powerful tool and has a definite way of creating a ‘mood’ or ‘feeling’. Check out some of our colour posts for more on colour psychology.
But how can you be sure what you are doing will look good? Colour, in particular, paint seems to hold a serious fear factor for a lot of people. The best way to have confidence in what you are doing is to create a colour board or mood board. Here you can paint the colours, stick on fabrics and inspirational imagery for your space to see it all come together before you commit to anything. This board will also allow you to tweak the design if there are aspects you are not happy with.
Its also really important to test colours out within the context of the space. Just because a colour looks great in one room does not mean it will work the same universally. Lighting plays a huge part so its always a great help to test the colour and refer back to it throughout the day to see how the colour changes with the light.
To demonstrate the versatility of colours we used the colour pink here to show how different one colour can be from one tone to the next, and of course how this affects the colours and particular tones it will team best with.
Pink is a colour associate with femininity and romanticism but there are so many variations of the colour. From pale pink to fuschia, there is a spectrum for each colour and a whole set of shades that might work well with one tone of pink but not with another. Here are some combinations for the colour pink that we really love:
Coral Blush & Earthy Green
Navy Blue & Musty Rose
Powder Pink & Gold
Marsala & Dusty Pink
