How did you decide your color palette in your home?

My primary choices were pretty easy for me.  The key was to determine the right accent color to coordinate and add that pop!

Today I am going to try to help you do the same.  I can’t pick your specific colors for you in this post obviously, but I can tell you how to:

1. Choose your accent or pop color once you have your primary palette and
2. Help you tie it all in together with your decor

But before we can choose colors, first we need to decide whether to paint the walls in the palette schema or whether to keep them neutral.

I, personally, like my rooms to have neutral walls and allow my furniture and decor to bring in the color such as this example:

But there are many people who hate a neutral or bland color and would prefer to have the walls painted a specific color such as in this room:

And quite frankly, there is no wrong or right answer.  In fact, both rooms above are in my house.  So while I do love a neutral wall color, for my daughters room, I thought that it would be fabulous to paint it pink.  You can have a mixture of color AND neutral walls in each space.  There is even that option to paint just an accent wall such as this one:

Now lets talk about the actual color palette itself.

You want to choose a color that you love!  I LOVE red:

Red everything!  Ha!  Well…not everything.  How boring and plain would that be??  But red as a primary.  Since my walls are neutral, and as you know from above, I want my furniture and accents to carry the color, I needed another strong, primary to coordinate with the red.  I chose brown:

I am one of those people who takes their time to find the right pieces to add to the design.  So it took a while to realize that there was A LOT of red and brown in my house and that I needed a pop of color.  I chose turquoise:

How did I choose?  First I knew it had to be a contrast to the red and brown, but be cohesive.  Then I searched for patterns that had those color combinations.

Patterns can be found in just about anything such as fabrics:

Wall Art:

Rugs:

My inspiration was this memo board:

Next step was to take that memo board and go to the paint store to choose the right shade or at least know my shade options so that I did not have to find the exact color each time I searched or found a decor accessory.

As you can see…I still carry these around with me at all times.  🙂  Red is an easy one for me to eye and know right away whether it matches but the blues are harder for me.  I would recommend doing the same.  Keep your shade options (swatches) in your purse, your car, your wallet or anywhere you know you will always have around to reference.

The key is only to use your accent or pop color as just that.  What you don’t want is a carousel of colors that create this circus effect:

Keep in mind though, that everyone has a different style or design aesthetic.  There isn’t always a clear right or wrong.  And what doesn’t match or go together today…may tomorrow…based on the trend.  So choose the colors that make YOU feel good when walk into the room.

You may like it light and airy:

How about nice warm colors:

Colors are limitless in blues, reds, greens, yellows, pinks, etc:

Once you have your color palette though, use it to choose your Wall Art, Accessories, Rugs, Pillows and such.

In later posts I will share how to use a color wheel and discuss the flow of colors in your house.

In the meantime, your challenge is to pick your favorite room and observe whether you can see your primary and accent colors right away.  If you cannot, then its time to assess and do something different.  Choose another palette, add an accent color, add some additional accessories, paint the wall, add some pillows or just change the wall designs.  Lots of options.  Good luck.

Feel free to brag about your space or ask for advise.

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• Home Designs (denisedesigned.com)