Have you done your best at decorating your home but feel that there is something missing?
Does your home not have the design magazine flair that you desire?
Does your room make you smile when you enter or make you sad because it looks so basic?
You might be missing a cohesive color scheme that can transform your average home into an amazing home.
Here are some interior designer tips & tricks for how to create a cohesively decorated home using color.
Start With the Largest Room
When creating a cohesive color scheme, start decorating in the main room of your home, probably your living room.
Whatever color scheme you select for this room should complement the color schemes in all adjacent rooms that are not separated by a door.
Basically, you will be using the same colors in all adjacent rooms except the dominant color in your color scheme of one room may be a less dominant color in your color scheme in another room.
Make sure that you really like the colors that you choose since they will be used throughout your home.
Think about whether you have just started liking the colors recently or if you have liked the colors for many years.
Consider whether the colors you select are trendy or timeless and whether you will want to redecorate again in a few years if you choose trendy colors.
3 Color Method
There are many different ways to decorate a room, however this article will discuss the 3 color method of creating a color scheme.
To use the 3 color method, first look around your main room for a large item with at least 3 colors.
The large item could be a large piece of art, a rug, a sofa, or your curtains.
If you do not have a large item with at least 3 colors, you will need to get one that has the colors you desire in your room.
This item will tie all of the colors together and make the room's interior design feel intentional and not look like your room is a storage room full or random stuff.
Pick at Least 3 Colors
Select at least 3 colors in your large item that will become the color scheme of that room.
For example, your colors could be emerald green, burgundy, and mustard that are in a colorful piece of art.
Neutral colors such as black, white, grey, brown, greige, or beige can be used, but tend to look a little boring compared to other colors unless they are used in very high contrast.
Select the colors in your large item that appeal to you most.
If you prefer a more dramatic room, select more bold colors.
If you prefer a more subdued room, select lighter colors.
Feel free to use some bold colors and some lighter colors.
3 Colors in 3 Places
Each of the 3 (or more) colors in your large item should be incorporated around your room in at least 3 places, but feel free to use the colors in more than 3 places.
Try to use the 60/30/10 rule so that one color is more dominant and you use larger and/or more of that color to make up 60% of the color in the room, then your second favorite color should be around 30%, then your 3rd favorite color around 10%.
You could have gold decorative pillows, a gold candlestick with a burgundy candle, and gold walls with burgundy and green books sitting on an end table, burgundy curtains, a green plant, and a green platter.
Decorate with whatever accessories you find appealing.
If you are using a collection of small accessories grouped together, that collection would count as 1 place in your room.
Also, your are not limited to only using 3 colors, so don't be afraid to add touches of accent colors that are not in your 3 color scheme.
Different Values of the 3 Colors
For a more designer look, use multiple values (lighter or darker versions) of the 3 or more colors in your room.
A darker value of a color is called a shade (black is added to the color).
A lighter value of the color is called a tint (white is added to the color).
You can also use a different tone of the color, which is the color mixed with gray.
If aqua is one of your colors, you can add a darker version of aqua (turquoise) and a lighter version of aqua (white with a drop of aqua) to give your room's colors more interest.
The lighter and darker values give a greater depth of color and make a room feel less prescripted, more unique, and less cookie cutter.
A Touch of Black and White
For contrast, add some white and black. It doesn't have to be exactly black or exactly white, but a really dark color and a really light color.
You can add a pillow with a small amount of black in the fabric pattern and a piece of artwork with a white background.
Contrasting Texture
Finish off your room with accessories of contrasting textures for interest and so your room does not feel sterile.
Rough textural items tend to make a room feel more cozy and welcoming since they reference the outdoors, while sleek textural items tend to make a room feel more refined and luxurious since they feel almost perfect.
You can have a rough wicker basket with a slick metal tray, a soft velvet pillow with a hard stone statue, and a shiny metallic lamp and a matte fabric lamp shade.
Hardback books without the paper cover add amazing color and texture to a room, especially vintage and antique books with fabric binding.
Move on to the Next Room
Once you are finished decorating the first room in your home, start decorating an adjacent room using the same colors that you have used previously.
You should use the 3 same colors, but you can switch the proportions around, so your 60% dominant color in your first room can become a 10% dominant in the adjacent room.
Feel free to change the little touches of accent colors to be different in each room.
The rooms in your home should not look like they are exactly the same, however they should complement each other in color and style.
Do not use the exact same rug, art, or decor in different rooms in your home else your home will be too matchy-matchy.
