WHAT MATTERS MOST WHEN CHOOSING PAINT COLORS FOR YOUR HOME?
If you’re looking for the best paint color for your walls or cabinets, you MIGHT be looking in the wrong spot. That’s right, if you’re looking at your own PERSONAL TASTES, you could be getting it all wrong. So many people look at what they think will be a great color for a space, when in reality, it’s all wrong.
The FIRST place to look is your interior finishes. Aside from sampling different colors, coordinating your paint color with your interior finishes is the HUGEST topic. This doesn’t mean you can’t love this paint color too, but sometimes we have to tuck our personal tastes in our back pocket for a while, while we tune in to the needs of our space. Having the right paint color in your home can create a flow, allowing the transition from each room and living space to feel seamless.
60/30/10 RULE
Paint colors have underlying tones that can reflect differently based on furnishings and other decor around it. The secret to a great looking room is completing a color palette that compliments the existing decor, furniture and space. When choosing a paint color for your room, follow the 60/30/10 rule. This means that 60 percent of your home should have a primary, neutral color. The secondary color should take up 30 percent of your room and the third color should be 10 percent. Following this rule will help to create balance while mixing colors, textures and styles.
Specific items in a space that compliment the 60 percent rule are walls, accent pieces, rugs, sofas, and large foundation pieces. Curtains, painted furniture, side chairs and smaller foundation pieces fall in the 30 percent category. Throw pillows, decorative pieces, and artwork matching 10 percent of the rule.
CHOOSING THREE COLORS FOR YOUR SPACE
To choose the three colors for your space, a color scheme based on the color wheel is the easiest. Let me show you how.
Monochromatic
Using only ONE color and using lighter and darker variations of that color in your space fall in the monochromatic category. This category works best with a neutral color such as gray, cream, white, or greige.
Complimentary
Selecting TWO colors opposite from each other on the color wheel are complimentary colors. One will always end up being a "warm" color and the other will be a "cool" color giving you a nice balance in your space.
Analogous
Selecting THREE colors adjacent (next) to each other on the color wheel, having the middle color being the more dominant color is analagous. An example of this would be blue-green, green, and green-yellow. Green shows up in all three of these variations of green.
Split Complimentary
Similar to complimentary colors, split complimentary adds in a third color. First you select a main color, find its complimentary color across from it on the color wheel, and add in one of the colors adjacent (next) to the complimentary color. An example might be, blue as your dominant color, then orange as your complimentary color and red as the third color.
CAN I BREAK THE 60/30/10 RULE?
There are three ways you can break the 60/30/10 rule. Whichever way you choose, just make sure you focus in on your percentages, otherwise it may get overwhelming and unbalanced.
110%
Add a fourth color to the mix by doing something like 60-30-10-10. This will be done by adding a second accent color in your accessories such as throw pillows, vases on shelves, picture frames, etc.
Go All Monochromatic
Select ONE color and be adventurous from there by including several darker and lighter shades of that same color throughout your space. This can be done with wood tones as well. You may end up with an entirely gray room, but it will have dimension because of the variation of tones you use.
Create Your Own Combination
I think of Interior Styling and Home Decor being about how the space makes you feel. If you are feeling like you have an idea for colors, then give it a try! It may end up being something like 40-30-20-10 or 40-25-15-10-10 or even 75-15-10.
