How do I Coordinate Color Schemes?

Putting together an attractive room requires a careful selection of furnishings, accessories and colors that help to create just the right setting for the space. Even when there is not a lot of money for furniture, artwork, and other elements, a room can still be very attractive if the color scheme is composed of hues that complement one another and establish a unified look. If you are wondering how to go about coordinating color schemes, here are a few simple tips that work well for amateur as well as professional designers.

A time-honored approach to color schemes involves making use of the color wheel. For people who tend to be conservative with color, this option is a great way to begin seeing the possibilities of mixing and matching different shades to give life to a room. The wheel can be used to identify colors that are in the same basic family, as well as colors that contrast nicely with one another. From that point, it is possible to identify which colors to use for the walls, upholstery, carpeting, and other elements of the room.

For people who like to have a little more fun with coordinating colors, creating a storyboard can work very well. This approach to color schemes requires securing a variety of color swatches that can be overlapped on the board. One advantage to this approach to a color scheme is that the swatches may be solid colors or be some type of pattern. By arranging the swatches, it is possible to see how each of the colors play off one another. With that information in hand, it is easier to determine which colors would be more appropriate for major focal points in the room, and which ones would work well as accents.

If the idea of putting together a storyboard seems daunting, grab a box of crayons. Depending on how eclectic your tastes happen to be, you can go with a box of basic colors or have fun working your way through a jumbo box with a wide variety of colors to choose from. This can be accomplished by laying the crayons near one another, or making a few simple marks on a clean sheet of paper. Truly inspiring color schemes can be created using this method.

Whatever method you choose to create various color schemes, it is important that you like the final result. Once you have the selection of shades and colors to your liking, it is possible to move on with the interior design. Select a paint color for the walls, other colors for the window treatments, and more of your selections for carpeting and upholstery.

As you move forward with the interior decorating project, don’t be afraid to alter your color schemes slightly. For example, once the walls are painted, you may be inspired to modify your ideas for the upholstery. It is very common to tweak color schemes as you redecorate, so don’t allow this urge to derail your enthusiasm. As with many artistic efforts, refining the vision is simply part of the creative process.