How To Pick A Colour Scheme
Interior writer and journalist Kate Watson-Smyth from Mad About The House is my Guest Writer today, with her seven top tips on how to pick a colour scheme for your home.
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Right, now over to Kate for her top tips!
Putting together a colour scheme from scratch can be a daunting prospect. Even when you’ve managed to narrow down a shade for the walls it can be hard to figure out the rest of the room. How do you stop that wallpaper looking fusty and old-fashioned - Grannycore is fine for the 20-something TikTok generation but it ceases to be ironic in your 40s. Having blown most of the budget on tester pots for one room how do you then make it fit with the rest of the house? Are you holding back from your favourite colour in case you go off it? If any of these questions resonate then read on. I’ve put together a guide on how to create a palette that works for you in any room.
Lisa changes her home all the time. She has painted her kitchen cupboards five times but never quite found the colour she wanted. Looking for an outfit for a wedding recently she tried on dozens of floaty dresses thinking that – to paraphrase Miranda Priestley – florals for a Spring wedding don’t have to be groundbreaking. She finally rented a burgundy corduroy dress and realised that actually she really does prefer to dress how she decorates (I also pointed out that she was basically attending as the human form of her pink cord Togo sofa).
So on that note let’s go through the basics of planning a colour scheme whether it’s for one room or the whole house.
1. Look In Your Wardrobe
The hashtag #dresslikeyoudecorate has been trending on Instagram for years but the reverse #decoratelikeyoudress is perhaps even more valid. The simple point being that if you are happy wearing it you will be happy living in it. It is, at the very least, a good starting point if you are stuck. And, for everyone immediately shouting that they only wear black, do you? Really? What about your earrings? Your shoes? Your socks? If you dress in neutrals – black, white, beige – perhaps, for you, decorating will be more about texture and shape. Look instead at where you like to shop; I would suggest that a love of Cos would indicate a preference for the simple, pared-back lines of mid-century furniture. Someone who loves the more boho and less-structured look of Anthropologie would lean towards a more maximalist interior with gold accents and the odd pompom.
One way to work out your preferred colours is to go to a large department store where there will be a good mix of styles and brands. Grab things that instinctively appeal to you. It doesn’t matter about size or shape, just go with your gut. You will find there is a link between colour and pattern – tiny ditsy flowers or large scale florals, stripes or plains? And examine the colour combinations as these will have been put together by trained textile designers. So don’t worry about mixing warm and cool shades – often one of the most daunting aspects of picking colours – just find a fabric you love in a colourway you love and use that as your starting point.
2. Consider The Mood
This is a key part of choosing colours for a room. It’s not enough to simply love emerald green. You need to take a few minutes to understand how that colour makes you feel and, from there, assess if that feeling is right for the room. If cobalt blue makes you feel energised and raring to go then perhaps it’s not right for the bedroom. Slide your blue up and down the colour scale until you find a version that works for you. One of the biggest issues to come out of the Covid lockdowns was the understanding that our interiors can have a huge impact on our mental health. Stuck at home for days on end we began to understand that chic shade of French Grey was actually draining our brains and making us feel miserable. As someone who hates yellow I spent several weeks contemplating a yellow kitchen – it doesn’t take a great leap to understand where that came from after spending so long inside. In short – you cannot pick a colour without understanding the feeling it gives you. I prefer to use fewer colours in varying tones rather than lots that sharply contrast as, for me, that’s calmer and more relaxing. Other people may find their creative stimulation comes from lots of different shades all bursting into life at once. There’s no right or wrong only what’s correct for you and what you need from the room.
3. Lean Into The Nostalgia
Next I’m going to suggest you look backwards. This doesn’t mean recreating your Granny’s house, but think of some good memories and rather than focusing on the actual events think about what colour they were and the emotion that evokes. We all want to live in a home that makes us feel like the happiest version of ourselves and sometimes the colours of that camping holiday, that trip to the theatre, that day we went walking in the country can provide a clue to the colour palette that makes you feel that way. It can also provide hints as to why a partner is refusing to sign off on a particular shade that you want, but that’s for another post.
