Have you listened to exciting stories of emotion and relaxation, amidst taupe walls, accented beautifully by notes of brown or dark royal blue? Don't these tales get you to sleep at night, when you dream of the perfect color scheme for your living room? Whether you are driven by the mood you want to recreate or by the tendency to surround yourself with themes with a proven beneficial influence, it will be useful to understand how to match colors and how to determine dominant, secondary and accent tones.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Deciding which Atmosphere to Create
Step 1. Decide which emotions you want to arouse with your choice of colors
The term "atmosphere" refers to the tone, character and style of an environment. These characteristics can greatly influence the emotions aroused by a room. Think about the role the room should play in your life. The following are some of the most important factors to consider:
- What hours of the day will you use the living room most often?
- Would you like the room to give you energy or help you relax?
- Do you usually open the windows to let the sunlight in?
Step 2. Take advantage of natural light
Some color combinations are designed specifically for sunny areas. If your living room is particularly well lit by sunlight during the hours you use it most, paint the walls with saturated jewel tones or earthy shades.
- Bright tones, such as sapphire blue or emerald green, look very beautiful when illuminated by the sun.
- Likewise, dark earthy shades are only suitable for rooms with a lot of natural light, which allows the living room not to look too gloomy.
- Note that these colors have a tendency to be too noticeable in lower lighting conditions; therefore you shouldn't use them in dark rooms.
Step 3. Brighten up a dark room with sunny shades
If, contrary to the above, your living room doesn't get a lot of natural light, or if you spend most of your time in that room at night, some colors can help make it brighter.
Ivory and buttercup yellow can make a room that doesn't get a lot of natural light much brighter, especially if those colors are used predominantly
Step 4. Create a cozy space with warm tones
One aspect to consider, similar to the previous one but distinct, is the warmth of a room. Dark reds, burnt oranges, almost any shade of gold and brown can be used to create a cozy and bright ambiance, especially suited to a living room.
- These combinations are excellent for living rooms used both during the day and in the evening, because they focus more on comfort than on the release of energy, and are also not too dark for the hours of light.
- However, avoid using bright shades of red or orange as dominant or secondary colors, as they have a tendency to transmit too much energy and can be overwhelming.
Step 5. Create a relaxing environment with cool tones
Unlike the colors described above, blues, purples and grays are particularly useful for creating an atmosphere that calms you, your family and your guests.
If your living room is mostly frequented in the evening, cool tones are probably the most suitable, particularly if you use that room to relax
Step 6. Narrow or expand your living room with colors
This aspect is also very important. Manipulating the depth perception of a space is one of the biggest influences colors can have on a room. Light tones open up an environment, while dark ones make it more cramped.
- If you have a small living room, you can make it look bigger by painting it in light shades.
- Conversely, you can make a large room look cozier, with dark or medium-intensity colors.
Part 2 of 3: Follow Proven Color Schemes
Step 1. Follow the 60-30-10 rule
Whichever tone you choose, it will help you to determine in advance how much space it will take up. As a general rule, 60% of your living room should have a dominant color, 30% should have a secondary color, and 10% an accent color.
- Choose dominant and secondary colors that make you comfortable. The choice of the dominant color will have the greatest impact on the sensations that a room transmits; do not choose tones that you are not absolutely sure about.
- Use only bold tones for accent colors. A hint of a powerful hue can do wonders to give energy and character to an environment. To spice up a room, choose the brightest color in your scheme as an accent color.
- Make sure the three colors are well combined. Try them together in a small area before you decide to paint the whole room with them.
Step 2. Match the color scheme to your decor
For example, if you have modern decor and furniture, you should probably choose a current tone scheme, with white, black and gray. In that case, you should avoid traditional colors with rich hues.
If your furniture follows the same color scheme, complementing it with a secondary or accent color is a great idea for finishing off a room
Step 3. Always prefer the simplest and most effective option
White is a safe choice. While some people favor more interesting dominant colors, there's no denying that an all or mostly white scheme can create a very clean and tidy living room.
Step 4. Use a current color scheme
Contemporary colors include natural tones in subtle and muted shades, which help to create an atmosphere of calm and an environment with a marked personal style.
Light browns and light grays can be dominant colors, while you can use their slightly darker shades as secondary and accent colors
Step 5. Make your living room more modern
To renovate the living room, one of the most used approaches is to make it more modern. Certain color combinations can help you achieve this. In general, you can achieve a modern living room by using neutral tones.
White is the dominant color in almost any modern living room. Black and gray are great choices as secondary colors. As an accent, you can add an intense and bright hue, such as a vibrant green or a fiery red
Step 6. Use a traditional color scheme for your living room
Classic designs adopt deep shades of elegant colors, to give your living room an air of class, almost formal. Use neutral tones for walls and other more prominent spaces, but use rich shades of red, blue, or brown as secondary and accent tones.
Step 7. Adopt a transient color scheme
These schemes combine the shades used in traditional and contemporary environments. Alternate modern shades of vanilla and ocher with rich shades of brown and navy blue.
Transient patterns are a perfect choice for those who want to combine fun and class
Part 3 of 3: Choosing the Colors Personally
Step 1. Get familiar with the color wheel
To understand how to balance colors, you should have a general idea of where they are in relation to others on the wheel. Usually, complementary colors (those that are at the antipodes of the wheel) match well with each other.
Step 2. Compare the samples
If you're not sure what a potential color scheme might look like, place swatches on paper, fabric, or other materials next to them to compare. Take the samples home and try them out in the spaces you want to repaint.
- Use this little test before investing time and money to paint the living room.
- You can find color swatches on paper at hardware stores and paint suppliers, while you can find fabric swatches at furniture stores. You can also have them sent directly to your home by the producers.
Step 3. Choose the colors you love
Instead of trying to create an impressive-looking living room, try to achieve a comfortable environment. After all, this is your home and you should decorate it however you like. The more comfortable you feel inside it, the happier you will be to show it to everyone.
Step 4. Choose a color scheme based on one of the furnishings in the room
If you are looking for inspiration, look at the objects that occupy the living room. Showy artwork or furniture can complement the color scheme you choose.
- For example, if you have a sofa with a pattern, use the tones on it to create the room's color scheme.
- If you want the space to be dominated by a work of art, choose shades that make it particularly noticeable. For example, you could combine an accent color with one of the main colors in the work.
Step 5. Match complementary colors
Since complementary colors are, in effect, opposites, they tend to stand out from each other. Here are some examples: red-green, orange-blue, yellow-purple.
Given the vibrant nature of complementary colors, you may want to adopt subdued shades of your chosen ones. The bright shades of the complementary colors have a tendency to attack the eye, while the muted ones add a pleasant boost of energy to your living room
Advice
- Look for ideas in your closet. People often wear clothes of their favorite colors, without having to think too much.
- Paint the living room in progressively lighter colors, from floor to ceiling. Use the darker colors at the bottom, medium shades on the walls and lighter ones on the ceiling. This strategy can create an environment that mimics the natural world: in nature, the rich hue of the ground is darker than the flowers, trees, structures visible at eye level and the sky, which is very bright on sunny days.
