Logo
Mar 31, 2023

Designer’s Tips: 5 Tips for Selecting a Color Scheme

Young couple painting wall

Selecting colors for your home can feel like a big task.

With many color choices available, choosing the shade, or group of shades, that work best with the lighting and décor in your home can be difficult. It can be even more difficult if you’re planning to update the lighting or décor after choosing foundational colors like wall paint and wood tones.


By following a few professional design secrets, you can select a color scheme for your home that appears considered, cohesive, and visually appealing.


These are some Pro Tips for choosing a color scheme for your home.


1. 60-30-10 Rule

The 60-30-10 Rule is a decorating guideline that professionals have been following for a long time. The breakdown of the guideline for color in any room should be 60% of the dominant color, 30% of the secondary color, and 10% of the accent color.


The rule’s exception would be if you’re choosing to decorate in the bold Maximalist style. Currently Maximalism is trending but it’s not a style that has widespread popularity or appeal.


2. Selecting Color for an Open Floor Plan

An open floor plan can be challenging since you are planning the colors for multiple living spaces in one large room. The whole space doesn’t have to be the same color, but the colors should feel like they flow together. If in doubt, stay within the color shades on the paint sample card to ensure that all colors have the same undertones and use that as a guide to create a visually cohesive space.


Using trim and ceiling color as another cohesive note also helps to unify open floor plans while giving living spaces their own character. You can also add character to open floor plans by adding paint or wallpaper in coordinating colors to the back of bookcases and built-in shelving.


3. Determine the Feeling You Want the Home to Have

Do you gravitate toward warm neutrals? Then you’ll likely be considering shades of white, cream, and griege (a warm grey). If you gravitate toward cool neutrals, you’ll be gravitating toward white, cool gray, and blue shades for your color palate. If you love bold, saturated colors, stay within a jewel tone or bright coastal color palate to ensure it works together. Finally, plan to incorporate plenty of textures and elements that add dimension, like wainscoting and other molding, which give the space depth.


4. Test the Colors in Various Lighting

Once you’ve begun to narrow down your palate ideas, test several variations of the colors on the wall and assess at different times of day. The color of the sample card doesn’t always transfer to the wall in the way you expect. Also, the variation of paint color as it’s visible in morning and afternoon sun, or cool or warm bulbs in the evening, will help you decide what you’ll be happy with all day long and year-round.


In addition to selling paint in small sample containers, some paint suppliers are also selling large, sticky, removable paint tiles, which can minimize mess but still help you visualize a color in your space.


5. Create Contrast

To prevent all the rooms from looking the same, reverse the color order. If you paint your entryway walls with a pale color and the trim with a darker color, flow through to the living room with the same dark trim color on the walls and the pale wall color for the trim. Use that pale trim color on the cabinetry in the kitchen too. Think about the color wheel as well – colors that contrast are across from each other on the wheel, and tend to have more pleasing visual appeal when used together than do colors next to one another one the wheel. (Purple and yellow will have more appeal than orange and yellow, for example.)

Young African-American couple on floor painting wall

Do what you like.

The ideal color palate makes you feel the most relaxed. It feels cohesive with your home’s lighting and décor. As painting is relatively inexpensive and not too difficult, feel confident in trying out ideas because you can always change out and redo the aspects that don’t work well for you and your family.

You may be interested in:

a boy is sitting on a man 's shoulders looking at a house.
19 Mar, 2024
As the spring market approaches, prospective home sellers are gearing up to showcase their properties in the best possible light. One of the most crucial aspects of attracting potential buyers is curb appeal – the first impression your home makes from the street. Here's your comprehensive guide to preparing your home for the spring market and maximizing its curb appeal:
a little girl in a floral dress is running through a sprinkler.
19 Mar, 2024
Testing a sprinkler system is crucial to ensure proper functionality and efficient irrigation for your lawn and garden. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to test your sprinkler system:
a woman is holding a piggy bank and a sign that says buy rent .
19 Mar, 2024
Stepping into the world of renting your first apartment is an exciting milestone, but it can also be daunting, especially when it comes to figuring out your budget. As a prospective renter who's new to living on your own, establishing a realistic budget is essential for ensuring financial stability and peace of mind. Here's a beginner's guide to help you navigate the process:
a beagle dog is running in the grass with a stick in its mouth .
01 Mar, 2024
Following an annual maintenance routine helps homeowners avoid costly repairs, property damage, and keeps home a happy, healthy, and safe place for family and visitors alike.
a man is piggybacking a woman in a cardboard box
01 Mar, 2024
If you’re in the market for a new home, avoid these 4 homebuying mistakes to optimize your experience and set yourself up for success. How do you know if you’re ready to buy? Ask yourself these questions to find out if you’re ready to be a homeowner.
a man in a suit holds a clipboard while standing next to a woman
01 Mar, 2024
No matter what stage of life you’re in, buying or selling a home is a big decision. When you’ve made big decisions in the past, what have you done? You’ve probably done some research on your own, and then asked for advice and guidance from someone you consider to be extremely knowledgeable. Big decisions lead to big changes and moving is no exception. There are a lot of factors at play when deciding on new living arrangements. You need insights from experts to help you feel confident and make the right choice.
a vase of flowers sits next to a sign that says home
21 Feb, 2024
Whether you’re an avid believer in the prediction of our local groundhog, or just eager to feel the warm sunshine again, you may be dreaming of springtime coming early. While we can’t guarantee it’ll be here quickly, we can all prepare to welcome the warm weather into our lives by preparing our homes with the following items.
a flyer about the benefits of homeownership in condos and townhomes .
21 Feb, 2024
If you’re in the market for a new home, but are having time finding something in your budget, be sure to consider condos and townhomes.
a close up of a computer screen showing a graph
21 Feb, 2024
Are you feeling a bit unsure about what’s really happening with mortgage rates? That might be because you’ve heard headlines that the rate is coming down, but then you read somewhere else that they’re up again. Understandably, it may leave you scratching your head and wondering what’s true.
Show More
Share by: