A basic palette is far less stressful if your mindset changes from “what color should I use” to “what colors do I already have?” The floor, doors, window trim, large furnishings, and natural light all have a color. Those elements should be considered part of the room’s palette first. Before you start adding new paint colors, fabrics, or accessories, examine those elements first.
Pick a room, and then spend time in that room at two different times of day. Morning light might change the color of the wall slightly more toward blue. Evening light might make the wall color feel warmer or slightly faded. If the room doesn’t get a lot of sunlight, vivid colors might feel darker in the space than they did on your screen. Conversely, if you have a bright room with a lot of sunlight, light colors can change in the room very quickly. That’s why you should bring your paint swatches and fabric samples to the actual space you’re planning, instead of only viewing them in the store or on a digital mood board.
A good place to start is with a neutral color base, one main supporting color, and one accent color. The neutral base might appear in your wall paint, flooring, couch, built-in cabinets, or draperies. The main supporting color might be used in an area rug, an accent chair, your bedding, or a larger textile. The accent color should be more limited and easier to swap out later: maybe a throw pillow, a lamp, a vase, a detail in a piece of art, or a group of accessories. When you limit the number of colors in the room, it’s easier to keep things from appearing to be fighting for attention.
A lot of beginners to color pick colors one object at a time. The blue chair looks cool. The green pillow looks good. The warm wood coffee table looks fine. The printed rug looks interesting. Each element might be perfect on its own, but the room can still feel busy. Choosing a color scheme can help slow you down when you’re deciding if a new item belongs in the room. It gives you a framework when deciding how a new item interacts with the overall room layout, the finishes in the room, and the feeling you’d like the room to have.
To check if a color scheme is working, gather your samples in the room and place them together on a table in or near the main source of natural light. Put the wall paint next to the flooring. Then add your fabric sample and photo of your couch or bed, and a sample of a metal or wood finish if necessary. Step back from the table and see what overall color direction you see. If all the colors have the same level of saturation, then the room may feel like it lacks contrast. If each item has its own individual color tone, the room might feel like all the colors are fighting each other. If the accent color is repeated in a few different small ways, then the room might start to feel like a more cohesive design scheme, rather than an over-matched design.
Keep in mind that texture can impact color. A smooth paint, woven fabric, shiny tile, matte wood, and soft accessories can all absorb and reflect color differently. A beige wall and a beige linen cushion might not actually feel alike, as the wall reflects the light more than the cushion does. This isn’t a problem; it actually contributes to adding more depth to the room. Just make sure you look at the fabric in its texture before you decide whether it’s going to work with the colors in the room.
Another thing you should try to do when selecting a room’s color palette is to think about what would happen if you left out one of the proposed colors. It doesn’t have to be the accent color. It’s about making room for the best color choices you’ve made. A room doesn’t always have to be neutral. You just don’t want the most dramatic color choices to be competing for your attention. When you work with fewer colors, you actually have more room to use furniture, lighting, accessories, and focal points. Once you feel like your colors are working in the room, not against it, your room will be much easier to live in.