Home renovations are both an exciting and very exhausting part of life. No matter how well our home seems to look, eventually comes the time to refresh it in order to fix the blackened walls, get rid of that old mouldy carpet or to finally get the kitchen of your dreams. Something homeowners find it difficult to decide is what colours to include in their home. Most people are not very good at pairing and complementing colours, which can lead to all kinds of disasters. After all, there are thousands of possible combinations, how to pick the right ones, which will improve the property? Here are a few basic tips on how to pick the perfect colour palette.

Choosing your favourite colours

The first step is to find the colours you like and make you happy; they are the ones you want to see in your home. Most of us already have our preferences, and if you don’t – don’t worry, there are plenty of useful tools, like the colour wheel, which can help you pick something. Today we even have many neat online tools, which will not only show you all existing colours but will give you tips on which shades match them, compliment them or contrast them. In brief, there are primary, secondary and tertiary colours:

• Primary colours are red, blue and yellow. They are pure, which means they cannot be created, all the other colours are created by mixing these three.

• Secondary colours are orange, purple and green. All of them are created by mixing equal parts of 2 of the primary colours. For example, blue and red make purple, while blue and yellow make green.

• Tertiary colours are all the other shades we meet; they are a mixture of primary and secondary colours in various parts. The original colours lose their brightness in order to create new, paler colours. White and black are being used to soften or darken the hue.

Types of colour palettes

Once you get to know all the colours and the colour wheel, it’s time to pick the colour combination which will complement your home in the best way. There are 4 basic colour palette types you can’t go wrong with:

Monochromatic

The monochromatic colour scheme uses different tones of the same colour with the addition of white or black, depending on if you want to lighten or darken the shade. A good example is the latest modern in coastal homes use of blue; you can use standard blue, light sky blue and dark navy blue in the same room. They are all very different hues of the same colour, and they can be implemented to create exciting effects.

Analogous

This type of palette uses colours, which appear next to each other on the colour wheel. This means that blue goes well with purple or green, yellow can be used with green or orange, and so on. These combinations are considered to create a vivid and soothing atmosphere in the house.

Contrast

The contrasting colour scheme is favourite to many decorators and homeowners because it creates a beautiful and bold statement of class in the house. The most popular contrast colour scheme is black and white, of course, but there are also many other options, like red and purple, green and blue, yellow and orange, and many others.

Complementary

In this case, two contrasting colours are being used to create a dramatic and adventurous outlook. One of the colours is dominating, and the other is used to complement it. A very popular combination like that is orange and blue.

Even though these are the basic combinations you can use, it’s still difficult to figure out how to make that information work for you. After all, it’s not as easy as painting a wall – the furniture, flooring and every decoration also have to be considered colour-wise. Interior decorators have a few old, but always modern tricks, which help them in their work:

Choose colours from a chosen pattern

Most people start with choosing colours for the floors and walls, and after that, they start looking for furniture and additions. But in fact, it’s a lot easier to pick the furniture first, and then depending on it, to choose a wall colour which will fit everything. Paint and wallpapers are cheaper than furniture, and by choosing the second option, you won’t have to go around every furniture store looking for the right shade of the sofa. And if you’re a fan of patterned furniture, you can just pick the dominating colour from the pattern and put it on the wall. And if you like more neutral colours for the walls, then focus on the whites and beiges of the pattern.

Go from light to dark shades vertically

This is probably the safest and easiest way to choose colours for your home. The idea here is to choose a dark colour for the floor, medium colours for the furniture, and a light or white colour for the ceiling. This is also called an Earthly method because it replicates the colours in our environment – the darkest hues are usually below our feet, the medium ones are all around us (trees, structures, etc.) and the lightest ones are above our heads, in the sky.

Use the 60-30-10 rule

The 60-30-10 rule is a very popular choice for many homeowners because it takes away all the wondering and gives you simple rules to follow. All you need is to choose a colour palette consisting of three colours you like. Then it’s all decided. 60% of the room is basically your walls, your preferred dominant colour should go on them. The furniture takes up roughly 30% of the interior, and the last 10% is all the decorations and accessories you would like to have in that room. It makes things very easy because many big furniture stores sell matching furniture for basically every room.

Warm and cold contrast

Most people aim for either a warm or cold outlook for a room during renovations. But playing a little with the contrast between the two can create very beautiful interiors. For instance, the cold grey colours go well with honey-coloured hues, and certain shades of blue perfectly complement certain shades of red. These combinations are perfect for living rooms and other common areas because their intensity can wake up everybody.

Make small spaces pop

The usual saying is that you have to paint a small space white if you want it to look bigger. But this isn’t the only option. In the last few years, it’s even more popular to paint small spaces in bright and bold colours. It doesn’t make them bigger (not that white does), but it gives them more character and makes people look twice when they walk past them.