There are many ways to inject colour into your home, from painting walls and furniture to buying colourful home accessories and artwork.
The four main colour groups are:
- Warm colours – red, orange and yellow
- Cool colours – blue, green and purple
- Neutral colours – grey, white, black and beige
- Metallic colours – gold, silver and bronze
Use the 60-30-10 decor rule when creating a colour palette for your room. 60% of the room should be a dominant colour (walls, floor and curtains), 30% should be the secondary colour or texture (furniture and décor), and the last 10% should be an accent colour (accent wall, artwork, rug or décor).
Most interior spaces are designed in a neutral colour backdrop, i.e. walls and floors. For smaller spaces it’s best to stick with white walls, which will make a room appear bigger and more modern. Darker palettes make a space feel more cozy, but smaller.
It’s best to choose one colour scheme for your entire house instead of having different colour schemes for each room, which might leave your home looking like a circus. Either use one colour in different shades or a combination of colours that matches the colour palette of a theme, e.g. tropical theme (greens, pinks and gold) or beach theme (blues and red).
You can reduce one of the theme colours in certain rooms to make them appear slightly different, e.g. if you use the tropical theme you can eliminate pink in the bathroom. Or you can bring in additional colours with patterned pillows, e.g. tropical jungle pillows with colourful parrots in red, blue and yellow on a green background.
Walls
You can either paint a single focus wall or the entire room in a bright or soft colour. Another option is to cover a wall with patterned wallpaper. I prefer using cooler colours for walls like sage green or teal blue, as bright and warm colours can start to annoy you or other family members. Neutral colours like off-white and grey are a save option, as they form a neutral and calming backdrop which you can match with many different colours.
If you prefer a neutral theme for your walls, then go for large, colourful artwork on your walls. One large painting on the wall will create a wow-effect and is less busy than a collection of different artwork pieces or picture frames.
Furniture
Give new life to old furniture by painting them in a colour that matches your overall colour scheme. Painting furniture is especially useful if there isn’t budget for new furniture. You can find great bargains in second-hand shops. The trend is to recycle old things instead of buying new things all the time.
You can also bring in colour by investing in a colourful couch or coloured dining chairs, which will add a pop of colour to the room. Another effective way is to place a large, coloured rug on the floor.
Home Accessories
An easy and cost-effective method for injecting colour into your home is through changing the colour of a few minor things in each room. You can change the entire appearance of your living room by adding a few colourful pillows, a throw and small decor pieces. Spruce up the kitchen with coloured bowls, tea towels and placemats. Place colourful towels and floor mats in the bathroom and add colour in your bedroom with new curtains, pillows and a bed throw.
Arranging your items like books, toys and stationery according to colour is a big trend at the moment. Check out “Get Organised” on Netflix. Another alternative is to display colourful flowers, which will make the interior more homely and inviting to guests.
“Live your life in full colour.”
Follow my 52 Week Organise your Life Programme
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