Back to: Whole House Color Schemes
Creating a house-wide color scheme is essential when searching for a fabulous and cohesive feel. Perhaps selecting a whole house color scheme is not something that’s been considered. Many of the world’s most excellent interior designers promote a consistent color scheme as something that can elevate a home’s feeling and create a sense of continuity across rooms.
Finding household color consistency can seem daunting; a single room can feel challenging, but the color planning will flow smoothly once essential shades have been selected. Here are ten simple steps that will elevate the color palette of the entire home.
Create continuity and flow with whole house color schemes
An essential element of creating a whole house color scheme is considering what flows together and is gentle to the people entering the space. While each room must have its personality and diverse touches, it is necessary to ensure the areas do not compete against each other. Unexpected jolts of color can create a sense of unease in the home, while repetitive colors can make the space feel dull. The key is to utilize each room’s function to facilitate the design choices. While a family room or media space can be more playful than a bathroom or bedroom, colors can be subtly carried from one room to the next to create a sense of flow and cohesion.
Consider inverting shades in different rooms.
Perhaps there are a handful of colors that feel perfect for the home. Try inverting shades from one room to the next to avoid creating a sense of dullness. For example, if there’s a lovely pale blue on the living room walls with soft yellow accents and pillows, try painting the bedroom that soft yellow and having pale blue blankets and accessories. This choice adds a pleasant dimension to the home while maintaining the chosen color palette and can be echoed in other rooms by switching up the dominant color.
Neutrals can create a calm color scheme.
If bold colors aren’t working for the home or selecting a bright color palette feels too ambitious, try pulling together a calming palette of three neutrals. Having just three colors will keep the palette manageable. Neutrals, notably lighter colors like cream or beige, can quickly lighten up a room that receives little sunlight or create the illusion of more space. Neutral shades will create a classic and clean look, and if a bit more depth is needed, a mid-toned grey is a versatile color that can be used throughout the home.
Adjust the color palette to the lighting of each room
Select colors tonally, rather than purely based on the color, so they can be adjusted according to the room to suit the natural and artificial light each space receives. To select colors tonally means considering the color’s intensity—pale shades are less intense, bold hues are more. Shades that match in tone will feel harmonious regardless of color because they have the same shade strength. When considering each room’s lighting, remember that north-facing rooms are best with warm colors and south-facing spaces with unique colors.
Whole-house color schemes are comforting.
A fully schemed home will create a feeling of fluidity throughout the space rather than a collection of individual rooms. A color-coordinated home does not have to be one static color but can consist of spectrums and themes. Using a seasonal method and modeling a home in autumn, spring, summer, or winter colors would help create a consistent range of colors. A spectrum approach creates continuity while allowing each room to retain a unique character. Complementing rooms make a comforting and naturally calm environment to live in, especially in a smaller home.
Consider the most-used room.
Consider the most room used in the house; usually the kitchen, primary bedroom, or main living room. This room will be the perfect environment for experimenting with different colors, tones, and schemes. Testing new colors in localized areas such as a kitchen island or side tables is an excellent method to add consistency to the whole-house color scheme. The main room is the perfect spot to introduce tonal colors from the same spectrum and carry these colors throughout the rest of the home.
Whole-house color schemes can blend open-plan layouts.
If keeping the whole home to one color scheme still feels intimidating, try keeping the same color scheme to one section of the house, and switch it up to another area. For example, use one color palette for the downstairs rooms and another for the upstairs. Or maintain the color palette and switch up the dominant shades. Perhaps the primary wall color downstairs is a light grey with accents of pale purple. Upstairs, try painting the walls or getting the essential furniture in that pale purple, and accent the rooms with light grey. The house will flow together and blend nicely by switching the accent shades.
Use color families to create a coordinated scheme.
The family of colors answers all the difficult questions about building a coordinated and cohesive color palette. Shades from the same color group will create a timeless look and effortlessly coordinated palette for the home. The consistency of colors will provide natural flow throughout the house, and they are easy to use in combination with big things like walls and sofas and small things like pillows and decorations. Using the two most vibrant related colors in the family (the darkest and the lightest) will create natural highlights and textures without discord throughout the home.
Adjust the color schemes to suit the mood of the room
The household color palette should not limit creativity in the space. Selecting a color palette will liberate other design choices and allow for a natural fluidity in the home. These color palettes are neither neutral nor traditional; deep jewel tones can create a dramatic and moody space, while pastels can create a fairytale aesthetic. If deep jewel tones are perfect in the living room but not ideal for the bedroom, try picking paler tones.
Integrate forgotten spaces with coordinated colors
It is easy to forget about that one hallway off the kitchen or the importance of the entryway. The whole house color scheme will be the most important in this area. By linking together even the smallest forgotten rooms, these spaces will feel more naturally integrated into the home and make the place more significant.