Have you ever considered why some colors clash and some just work? It’s mainly due to the way that they’re related. Whether you’re choosing colors for your new home or just decorating a room with accent pieces, knowing the color relationships and different types of color harmony will help you to improve your visual strategy.
When choosing colors for your home, the common question is, what goes with what? But once you’ve learned how to use colors effectively, you’ll never again be worried about what colors to try in your home. Before you start to consider color choices, read this home color guide to learn different types of colors and how these colors communicate to create different types of color harmony.
Table of Contents
The color wheel
First, you need to know the color wheel to understand color harmony better.
Primary Colors
In classical color theory, the colors which are considered primary colors are red, yellow, and blue. These are the primary hues from which any other colors can be formed by mixing them.
Secondary Colors
Secondary colors are used as often as primary colors and are formed by mixing two primary colors. For example, combining blue and yellow forms green, yellow and red records orange, and blue and red forms purple.
Tertiary Colors
Often known as intermediate, these colors are obtained by mixing one primary color and one secondary color. Examples of tertiary colors are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, and yellow-green.
Color Harmony
Monochromatic Color Scheme
A monochromatic color scheme is the most straightforward scheme of the rest, as it uses light, medium, and dark versions of only one color. It may sound boring to you, but with a careful selection of shades of the primary color, you will create a harmonious and visually cohesive look. Your piece of color decides whether you want to give a dull look or an attractive look, so choose color wisely.
Example of monochromatic color Scheme: Gray
As shown in this image, this bedroom offers how to use different shades of one primary color on almost all surfaces. Here, the monochromatic look is achieved by painting the wall in a dark shade of the primary color and using furniture & other decorative items like pillows, wall art, and ottomans in lighter shades of gray. This room doesn’t look overwhelming, as the bed in white color creates a contrast to the monochromatic theme.
Complementary Color Scheme
The complementary color scheme creates a high contrast as it uses any two colors lying opposite to each other on the color wheel (I.e. red-green, yellow-purple, blue-orange). Due to this reason, this scheme is also known as the contrast or opposite color scheme. However, this color scheme is very difficult to use in an ample space but works well when you want to give a formal look in small areas like the dining room and living room.
Example of complementary color scheme: Red and Green
The two complementary colors, red and green, create this living room’s vibrant and refreshing appearance. Here, a lighter tint of red rug contrasted against a darker green curtain. The red armless chairs and green lounge chairs balance each other visually and also help to eliminate the use of one color repeatedly.
Triadic Color Scheme
If you want to use only one color in your space, consider a triadic color scheme, as it uses three colors placed at an equal distance on the color wheel. In this color scheme, you do not need to use the same amount of each color. Nowadays, more people are incorporating this color scheme in their space as it gives a colorful yet controlled look.
Example of a triadic color scheme
This living room demonstrates a triadic color scheme of blue, yellows, and red. In this example, the predominant color is blue. Yellow has been chosen as the additional color, and red is found in the chairs. From the stack of colorful books laying down on a bench to a beautiful flower pot on the coffee table, everything helps in creating this triadic color scheme.
Analogous Color Scheme
An analogous color scheme is created by grouping three colors placed next to each other on the color wheel. In this color scheme, it is not necessary to start with the primary colors; choose one color from the color wheel you intend to use most in your room and then select another two or three colors lying on either side of it.
Example of an analogous color scheme
The blend of yellow, yellow-orange, and yellow-red creates an exciting feeling of consistency in this living room. Here, the dominant color is yellow, used on the wall. The other two colors are used in the accent pieces; for example, as shown in this image, red wall art and orange chair work well in conjunction with each other without being too dull.
So, this is all about the color guide, and now you can decorate your home according to your color taste.
