Choosing the right colours for your space

“Mere colour, unspoiled by meaning, and unallied with definite form, can speak to the soul in a thousand different ways” – Oscar Wilde

When choosing the right colours for your space, you may not even be aware of what colours speak to your own personality, so how do you go about deciding which colours will work in your home? I’m going to give you some guidance on how to choose the colour for your space during your next interior design project. 

 

Take a look at yourself (and your wardrobe)

When choosing colours for your home, a good guide is what colours you feel good wearing, as they often translate into your space too. Take a look inside your wardrobe… is there a pattern of colours emerging? Do you lean towards any particular colour or shade when you’re choosing your clothes or accessories?

Colour, pattern and texture go hand in hand, and so the same concept applies. If you are a person that wears patterns, stripes for example, you would be comfortable seeing them in your space. If you like a linen texture and would be happy to wear linen, you are also likely to be inclined to enjoy relaxing on a sofa covered in linen. The familiarity around the colours, textures and patterns that you choose to represent your own style with, can also be an excellent guide to the decor for your home. 

There are other ways to consider colour in interior design. Let’s take a look at some different approaches to deciding on your perfect combination of colours for your space.

 

A piece of art

Try working with a piece of art as the starting point, for example a painting. You can take the colours from the artwork and use them to help create a colour palette for that space. 

 

Using colour to combine spaces

Using colour from one space to another can be a cohesive way of achieving harmony between two areas. For example, if we take colours from the exterior environment of the home and then bring them into the inside areas, it creates a beautiful flow from the outside to the inside.

 

Tones matter

It’s important not only to carefully select colour, but tones matter too. I like to consider the same tones in a space, it’s much calmer on the eye. 

 

Colours that work well together

It’s not always easy to know which colours will work well together. You may have found a colour that you love, but are struggling to find ways to incorporate a secondary colour without worrying it just won’t sit well.

Picking colours that work well together can be as simple as pairing pastels with pastels, or warm colours with warm colours and cool colours with cool colours. This way you can create beautiful combinations, without overpowering. 

Or try taking colour combinations found in nature, such as earthy shades (taupe, green, tan) or sunset colours (burnt orange, greys, pink). Or consider the colours you would associate with your favourite location or country…

My own personal favourite colour combination for my own home is ‘Out of Africa’; warm, earthy, stone, flax, taupe, ochre, green, burnt orange, a touch of purple and lots of black and white.

 

Complementary colours

Complementary colours are those that are opposite each other on the colour wheel. So if you like the colour blue, the complementary colour is orange. Or if you are wondering what to combine with green, you could consider red tones.

I hope that at the end of reading this you have a little bit more confidence in your ability to refine and select the perfect colour palette for your space or home. If you’re still not sure, you can always speak to us about selecting a colour palette for your home as part of our interior design process, contact to find out more.