Color Considerations

Color is what gives a home personality... just like our wardrobes do.  The common denominator between the two is you should start with a color family you love and pick hues that work together.  Here are three tips to consider when choosing color. 

1. Get Inspired

Start with a photo that interests you, a piece of artwork you love, or a striking fabric design, and center your palette around it.  If you have a large patterned piece in a room (Oriental rug, upholstered furniture, etc.), use it to guide you when creating your color scheme.

Nowadays, there are many color scheme creators available on the web that will generate a harmonious palette for you.  Degraeve is an online service that creates a color scheme inspired from an uploaded image.

Design Seeds and Photo Card Boutique are two other favorite sites of mine when I need color inspiration.  Both offer pre-created color palettes you can select from.

2. Create a Mood

Let's take a moment and talk about feelings.  Color definitely influences how you feel.  When making color choices, consider the purpose of the room and how you want yourself and others to feel when they enter it.  Peaceful, energized, warm?  Blues (and colors with blue undertones) typically evoke a feeling of relaxation.

On the other hand, yellows exude positivity and energy.

However, overly bright shades may cause some to feel anxious or overstimulated.  Breaking up the room below with a neutral wall helps eliminate eye fatigue (seriously).

Good news is it's your home, so your feelings toward a color win out!  Unless, of course, you plan on selling your home in the near future; if that's the case, pick a hue that is pleasing for most.  Your safest bet is to stick with neutrals.

3. Build Relationships

Colors should not be considered in isolation.  The same color can look totally different when paired with two different colors.  For example, lets consider this one:  a tride and true blue.

If we combine this color with whites, creams, browns, and golds, we get a very sophisticated color palette....

Now, if we take the same navy blue (and Greek Key "ish" embroidered pillows), but add a little lime green, we get a much more playful look...

The point is, color is relative to the colors it is grouped with.  When planning a color palette for your home, start with a color family you like.  Let's say you like grey.  Select 2 or 3 greys that interest you, but make sure they are all either "warm" or "cool."

Warm colors have undertones from the red end of the color wheel, while cool colors have blue undertones.

After selecting 2 or 3 greys, then select a neutral white or off-white that works with all of them.  Pay attention to undertones!  Whites ARE warm or cool as well.  This color will mainly be used for trim, doors, closets, cabinets, etc.

Lastly, select a few accent colors to intermingle in various rooms in your home.  This will simply create harmony as you move from room to room.  For example, let's say this was your bedroom... grey with muted blue accents.

Create harmony by using complimentary blues and greys in the adjoining bathroom.  Think about it, if you walked into this bathroom and it was hot pink, you'd be surprised (maybe shocked).  Even if you liked the color pink, it would not provide continuity with the adjacent room.

I hope you feel a little more equipped and encouraged about making color choices.  I'll leave you with just  a little more "color inspiration" today:

{Photo Credits: Google Images, Degraeve, Design Seeds, Photo Card Boutique, Brock Design Group, Country Living, Home-Designing, Decorpad, Quadrille Fabrics, Herblog, Pinterest}