How to Choose a Color Palette for Your Home

When my husband and I renovated our first home, we did one room at a time. Just married and having made the biggest purchase of our lives, we didn’t have the budget to do a full gut & renovation. One of the biggest mistakes we made was not selecting a color palette from the start. We painted one room at a time, and at the end we had used 4 different shades of white and 3 different greys, and it felt very disharmonious. You don’t have to paint everything at once, but you do need to give thought to the overall plan, particularly the color palette.

The Importance of a Color Palette

A color palette ensures a cohesive and harmonious look throughout your home. In other words, you won’t end of with a chaotic mix of 4 different white tones. Choosing complementary colors will create a sense of unity and flow from one room to the next. It also makes it easier to select furniture, decor and accessories that work with the overall design scheme.

How do I decide on the Colors?

Formula for a Color Palette

If you are type A like me, you might be thinking “just give me the magic formula!” Well, here it is. I use the 60/30/10 formula when choosing a color palette. 60% makes up the primary colors. This can be 1-2 main colors that make up things like the wall colors, flooring and big furniture items. 30% are the 2-3 secondary colors, which can also include wood/metal tones. Things like cabinets, accent walls, furniture items, rugs and bigger decor items. 10% are the 2-3 accent colors. These are pops of color in textiles like curtains and pillows, artwork and decor. You should end up with a color palette of 5-7 complementary colors.

Does this mean you have to stick 100% to just those colors? No. If you get a rug, a piece of artwork or something with multiple colors, it’s not going to throw everything off. But if you choose a color palette with white, black and blue for example, it might not be a good idea to buy that red armchair on sale at HomeGoods. The color palette is meant to guide you. If you know you want to incorporate red, include that in your color palette, and avoid the impulse buys that don’t tie into the theme.

For those of you who are more visual, let’s look at some photo examples of a few of my home designs. My process is to outline the color palette and design style at the very beginning of a project and every design decision is made off of those choices.

Example 1.

Tone: Cools.

Colors: 60% white, ash brown 30% blue, black, 10% white oak, green.

Paint colors used: Sherwin Williams alabaster, steely grey, egret white, jubilee.

Example 2.

Tone: Cools.

Colors 60% black & white, 30% green, white oak, chestnut 10% greige, taupe.

Paint colors used: Sherwin Williams alabaster, iron ore, pewter green, evergreen fog, agreeable gray.

Example 3.

Tone: Warms.

Colors 60% beige, brown, 30% green, black, 10% taupe, blue, cream.

Paint colors used: Sherwin Williams accessible beige, urbane bronze, evergreen fog.

Did you notice how the colors are incorporated in each room? Look back at some of those inspiration photos again and you will likely be able to identify the color palette. It’s not about having a good eye, a well thought out color palette is a foundational element in home design.

Talking about color can open up a whole can of worms. There is so much information out there about color it can be overwhelming. My hope is that this article will provide at least a little insight into the starting point when it comes to choosing a color palette. If you’d like more hands-on assistance with your home design, check out my home design services in the menu! If you found this information helpful or have any questions, I’d love for you to leave a comment below!