8 Things About Color You Should Know
Decorating is made easier when you know a few things about color. Here are 8 important things to know about color and how to use them when you decorate.
I get asked about color only second to “Where did you get that”! So today, let’s chat about 8 color lessons that will change the way you think about decorating! These color lessons will help you be a better decorator! Today’s post is a MUST-READ!
Color is a very complex topic when it comes to decorating, but my superpower is the ability to break down these very multifaceted concepts and give you easy to understand doable lessons that you can use in your home!
Here are 8 COLOR LESSONS that will make you a better decorator…
IT’S EASIER TO DECORATE WITH A FEW GOOD COLORS
A color palette is a beautiful thing when it comes to decorating! Choosing colors for a room or prefer for your home and sticking to them is super important and our first color lesson.
A few sure ways to complicate the decorating process are to…
- work with too many colors in your home
- use only a couple colors in your home
- constantly switch or change colors in your home
- not know what colors you are working with within your home
Choose a color palette that works together and is uncomplicated! You will be so happy if you keep things simple.
Choose 3-5 great colors that work well together, and then add white and black. You can also use tints (lighter versions) and tones (darker versions) of one of the core colors from the color palette.
This seems like a simple thing to do… and it is! But it also is a gorgeous thing to do!
INCLUDE COLORS YOU ARE STUCK WITHIN YOUR HOME AS PART OF YOUR COLOR PALETTE
Do you have a red or rust brick fireplace you cannot paint? Or floors with the orange tinge of golden oak? And you just can’t change or replace them. Is there something in your home you have and are stuck with and really can’t change it? And don’t like the color?
Listen, this is a hard fact… we all have things we don’t like but have to live within our homes! And oftentimes, there is really no way to hide them. So we need to put on our big-girl pants and deal with them. This is a little tough love, but it will really help you decorate, my sweet friend!
I think the best way to deal with those dreaded unchangeable colors is by incorporating them into our color palette! Yup!
You have heard the saying, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em”. And that is my best advice when it comes to a color you don’t like and have to live with.
If you don’t add that bit of red from your fireplace to your color palette, then the red in the brick will AWAYS look out of place and awful! Always!
The image below has both rust and blue in the fireplace, so the homeowner choose to pick up the gray-blue and used it as more than an accent color!
And included some rust accents in the color of the rug. Very clever! And pretty!
If you are stuck with a purple sofa, incorporate a bit of violet or a pretty periwinkle into your decor by using accents in that color. A pillow or a throw, or a vase are great things to use too in an unfortunate color. It’s best to use something small, so if and when you can change that purple elephant in the room, you can also let go of those purple inspired accent pieces and not give them a thought!
Embrace the color you are stuck with as an accent color. Just a couple items in a color close to the one you are stuck with placed around your room will pull the whole room together.
COLOR IS ALL ABOUT THE UNDERTONES
One of the biggest reasons color is so complex is every color has an undertone! Undertones are the subtle colors that hide behind the primary color that help it to play or fight with other colors!
Take the color white, for example. Did you know there are over 5,000 colors that are classified as white? Why so many variations of one color? The answer is… undertones!
Whites can have cool undertones such as gray or blue, or green. And they can have warm undertones such as red, pink, or peach.
The subtle color or undertones added to a clean or pure color to make it interesting is what really defines the color!
Undertones are so worth being familiar with! You can read about WARM AND COOL COLORS HERE.
KNOW WHAT CLEAN AND DIRTY COLORS ARE AND USE THE RIGHT ONE
When I learn about clean and dirty colors, it was like a big old lightbulb going off in my mind! Oh, this is something you really need to know about if you are a home decorator!
Why should we know about clean and dirty colors? Because we all want a beautiful home! And knowing what makes a color clean and what makes a color dirty will make decorating so much easier! You see, clean colors like to live with other clean colors, and dirty colors like to live with other dirty colors. And when clean colors are mixed with dirty colors, then it’s really quite a mess! And a room begins to look “off” and “dingy”.
Here’s a huge post with everything you need to know about CLEAN AND DIRTY COLORS.
USE LOTS OF WHITE
White has the magic ability to make everything in a room look fresh and clean! I also think white keeps a color palette from looking too dull! My best advice is to use lots of pretty white when you decorate!
DON’T CHOOSE A COLOR IN ISOLATION
Color looks different around other colors. So never, and I repeat, NEVER choose a color in isolation!
That goes for a wall color, a sofa color, and even a lampshade color!
Colors affect one another! So the colors of things in your room need to be seen together. If something looks off or the colors look dirty, that is probably because one or more colors are not working together. And when the culprit or culprits are removed, your room will look better!
Many home decorators choose things like wall color or big ticket items like sofas or leather chairs in isolation, looking at little swatches or no swatches at all!
We really need to see colors together in the room or rooms they will live in to see if they work.
I am the queen of the returned item! I will not live with things I don’t like or are the wrong color. Yes, it’s a pain but living with things that don’t play well together is even harder.
COLOR LOOKS DIFFERENT IN DIFFERENT LIGHTING
So many readers and clients ask me, “How will (name a wall color ) look? But I know what they are really asking is how do you think this wall color will look at different times of day and in different lighting?
And there is no easy answer to that question. But there is an easy way to tell what a wall color will look like… paint it on your walls! Paint big swaths of paint on different walls and look at them in daylight from the time you wake up until it gets dark. Look at it in the incandescent light you will be using in the room too.
Light affects color. There are huge changes in the way color looks in different light. And often big items can reflect or cast their color on a wall too.
All the walls in our home are painted Benjamin Moore Simply White. The picture above was taken at about 10:00 am. The dining area and kitchen get lots of bright, almost direct light, and the living room gets light but nothing direct. Look at the walls! I love this picture because it shows the effect light has on one wall color!
Light affects all wall colors! Not only white.
We painted two bedrooms in our StoneGable home StoneGable home Simply White. One room I just loved and the other room not so much!
The difference? The room I did not like had a huge tree outside, and a big window in the room, and the green from the leaves reflected off the white walls making the ugliest sickly green.
I painted the room Benjamin Moore Indian White, which looked much better!
Light and the reflectivity of the paint you choose have a huge effect on color!
KNOW THE 60-30-20 COLOR RULE
I think this rule is older than the hills! And it’s that old because it works! And it is pretty easy!
I also like the 70-20-10 rule too, which is a close cousin to 60-30-20.
The sixty part of the equation means that sixty percent of a room should be one color. That is taking the total of all the things in the room.
And a very savvy decorator would know that the sixty percent color should be a neutral. I’m not saying white or even beige, but a neutral. There are tons and tons of beautiful neutral colors. Gray and all its sub-colors are neutrals.
White, sand, bone, caramel, cognac, buff, sepia, blond, and on and on are all neutral colors.
Saying that, I do love beige. It is such an interior design workhorse, and it is often maligned! You can read WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE COLOR BEIGE here.
My personal preference is a light neutral, but use a neutral you love!
Now let’s look at the thirty percent number. It should be a secondary color. Choose a color that works with your primary color. If your primary is darker, think about going lighter for your secondary color.
And twenty percent of the 60-30-10 equation is an accent color. Many people call this “a pop” of color. Choose a color that works with the primary and secondary colors.
White and black don’t count. You can add them in as you wish. Just make sure the white looks good with the other colors. See clean and dirty colors above.
Having a working knowledge of color by learning and using these color lessons can make you a better and more confident decorator! These topics are so important and worth remembering when decorating your home!
HERE ARE OTHER POSTS ABOUT COLOR AND DECORATING THAT YOU MIGHT LIKE…
Color… An Important Element Of Design
How To Choose The Perfect Paint Color
7 Tips For Decorating With Neutrals
Can You Mix Cool And Warm Colors In Your Home
Hello Yvonne – could you tell me where you purchase the beautiful planter on your dining table? Thank you
Hi Betsy, I found it locally. Sorry I don’t have a source for it.
Thank you so much for this informative post. I cannot tell you how many mistakes I’ve made (but my husband can) when selecting paint colors. Now for the first most asked question…where did you get that gorgeous floor lamp beside the chair? Thank you, Yvonne!!!
I’ve had the floor lamp for ages. I found it on Wayfair, but I don’t see it now. Sorry! Look there for something similar.
First- you are better, I hope and pray? Wishing you good health from upstate CNY.
Then thank you, your post today could not have reached me at a better time, or moment, actually.
Just came home from a shopping trip, looking for inspiration…found none. I was empty inside and sad. I am single, older, live alone with my pets. It is below freezing here and dark early in the mornings and at night.
I have so many color loves and have been constantly re-doing my 1515 sq ft home, built in 1880 with some weird re-does over the decades, lol home for ten years now, with no satisfaction. Always thinking “next time, I’ll get it right”. And I have huge bags of fabrics, bedding, etc to show for it, all taking up way too much space in my house and in my mind. Now I have a real plan! Thank you again.
Your post took me to others online along a similar theme and now I am so sparked, feeling creative and “sure” about where I am headed not only in my home, but in my life!!!
Funny how we find just what we need at the right moment, you saved me today!
I’m so happy to help! Happy New Year!
I have a burnt orange sofa in my family room that I
Absolutely hate. We lived by a lake before and the color went
Well with those surroundings. I have changed the pillows
But still feel like it’s sticks out like a sore thumb. Any suggestions for me?
A sofa is like an elephant in the room… hard to hide! Bite the bullet and replace it. You will be so much happier! Sorry I don’t really have a fix that you would be happy with.
Very helpful….thank you!
I’m in the middle of a renovation. I had the bedrooms, office, both baths, and laundry painted in a soft cream colour. Just enough contrast between the walls and casings. The color is perfect in the bedrooms and office, But in the ensuite with marble walls, it casts a golden tone on such. I’ve now picked a very light griege for that room. I thought white would be too sterile with white trim, white vanity, white quartz countertop and white & grey marble. I hope looking from the bath to bedroom or vice versa that the griege will look good with the cream. Paint is not easy for the layman!
Thank you for another great lesson. I love how you pick apart a design issue into bite size pieces so we can learn from it.
Yes, paint is complex. When working with greige it is all about the undertones!
I picked Wish by BM. I have read that in a southern light some see a red undertone but I’ve read others were they say the undertones are yellow & gray and really shows no undertone just a soft, light griege. ?♀️ It’s not a south facing room so I believe it will look good with the grey & white marble. ??
Yvonne, I have returned 4 rugs trying to find the right neutral rug for my livingroom. I just love your rug and think it might work, so would you mind telling me where you found it?
You will love this rug. It’s so well made and thin for a sisal rug which is a big bonus:https://rstyle.me/+DF9OcYN_rlfzShtOr5HJgw
With the 60-30-10 rule I have a warm walnut as my 60, black as my 30 and green is suppose to be my 10 that has now turned into 30+. I have a tons of green leafed house plants that I love and don’t want to get rid of. Is there another way to make this rule work around outdoor-indoor styled home?
Use the same principles, Bonnie. They work indoors and out. However, I would not count green outside. There is just too much of it!
Yvonne, was this rug available in multiple colors? Your rug does not appear to have an “orange” undertone like the one on the website you referenced?
How do you get large items returned?
We need this secret! Is it in your purchase agreement? What is the charge for return?
Details, please.
I ALWAYS keep the packing! If I don’t like something I pack it in the original packing, print the label and send it back. I read all the return requirements of everything I buy!
Love all this info re: color, especially white. I love the lumbar pillow in the first picture. I am redecorating using ivory and a camel beige. That pillow would work beautifully. Any info on where/how to purchase?
Hi Sheryl, I got this pillow years and years ago from Ballard Designs. Here is their more current version;https://rstyle.me/+fIck1x64IucOdy1Qoz-vng
This is a great post. Very helpful as I am trying to decide if I want to keep my Sherwin Williams “Believeable Buff” walls or change to white.
Thanks!
I’m so glad this post was helpful. Believable Buff has very strong yellow undertones.
I was thinking maybe with some eyesore things, you may be able to hide them. I have a random cord coming out from the wall I don’t know how to remove that I think the prior homeowners had for something related old school internet hookup. I hid the whole thing behind a furniture piece. I used to have a loveseat in an apartment, and it had a frumpy pattern and a streak from something that would not come off one arm. I bought a white slipcover cheaply and used that and cute pillows and a white throw until I later replaced it with a nicer couch. Now I am in a house and there are options in a house you do not have when you are in an apartment. Some things you can’t DIY or hide or replace, I know, in an apartment OR a house depending on circumstances. . Sometimes it is not in the budget in any home you are in, and maybe you can change it later on. I think maybe a big focal point like a painting, for example, maybe it has burnt orange within it, which maybe isn’t your favorite color and the same orange is your fireplace brick tone, but if burnt orange is not the MAIN color in the picture, it ties in the brick without making the orange so dominant you hate the artwork and the brick fireplace. It is hard to live with something very unattractive. I think I have focused on keeping the home neat as I can, then I feel better about whatever the thing is I am stuck with.
Great tips and advice. Plus your lovely home shows how it all works! I agree with your comment regarding being happy with what you surround yourself with. It makes all the difference in the world.
Have always just used color in my decorating but after reading your article replaced somethings with white items. Much to my delight they made my favorite colors pop more! Am now working room to room adding white and beige to make every room special. Thank you for opening my eyes to the use of white/beige.
Where can I purchase the white vases with wire hangers and open drops on your side board?
Thanks! Keep the post coming.
Hi Nan, they are really pottery lanterns. I like to use them as vases. They came from Pottery Barn years ago. I have not seen the lanterns on their site recently.
I just put our guest bedroom together for a family visit. The decisions to what colors to add was so hard. I love whites but needed to add in some color from the rug we placed under the bed that had whites with navy/ light blues. So of course I added some blue in the pillows, sheets and chair throw but yet I needed one more color for the bed throw and table flowers…go more blues? add another color? ( I had wood, wicker baskets and tall wood armoire)…so I added burnt orange on the end of the bed and roses in the vase. It works! I always love all white with texture but many times I need a tad bit of a pop of color. Great color tips.
A few things that I have learned about decorating with five houses in two areas of the country, NJ and now Aiken, SC. Instead of buying numerous cans of paint to test color – get Samplize.com samples. They are very inexpensive and are painted with the actual SW or BM paint, have sticky backs that won’t harm walls so they can be moved from wall to wall. I think that most “DIY decorators ten to be too “matchy, matchy” to be safe. I would recommend hiring a professional decorator, even for just a consultation. (No I am not a professional decorator). Another set of eyes can bring a whole new and different prospective and the fee can offset money spent on mistakes. I used a great decorator for my current home and it always gets a “WOW” when people walk in.
Hi Carole, what great tips! I think hiring a decorator is a great idea.
Love your posts, so inspirational to me!
Can you please share where you purchased the white chair with the spindle detail ( has two pillows on it).
Thank you ?
Hi Cathy, I’ve had that chair for over a decade. You can see a similar chair here:https://rstyle.me/+PbH9DvQvU56_2EVhNsm7pQ
Thank you for all of your inspiration. Because of you I’m learning how to be a better decorator. Loved reading this.
Yvonne, I always enjoy reading all your posts. This one on color is really helpful. I really liked your suggestion about picking out a color and then painting a sample on a few walls to see exactly as it would look at several times during the day. This was so helpful when we painted our Living Room. I always appreciate you sharing with us. You always have such wonderful suggestions. I know that our home is so much better because of you and your posts. You spend so much time on your posts and I thank you for the knowledge I have acquired because of you, Yvonne! Bless you!
I love the rug in your beautiful sunroom! May I ask where you got it? I think it might be just what I’m looking for! Thanks Yvonne for any help you can give me.
This rug is very popular, Debbie. However, it is out of stock and I can’t find another source for it. So sorry.