How to ace color combinations.

Combining colors inside our home can often become overwhelming, sometimes because there are too many options, sometimes because they are not enough. There are a few helpful tips I would like to share with you for the next time you decide to spruce up your space.

Color combination made easy: many paint companies have collections of pre-combined number of colors on cards or fan deck. In particular, Benjamin Moore paint company has put together an Affinity Collection that makes combining colors really easy. According to their website, the Affinity Color Collection allows you to pick any combination and the colors will still complement each other harmoniously. You don’t have to actually buy their paint, or even need paint at all, the collection can work for any material or object really, and it is a pretty consistent way of picking elegant and sometimes audacious combinations for your home.

Helpful tip #1: all colors have a set amount of saturation and they are either analogous or complimentary in regard to the color wheel. Making a monochromatic choice is probably the easiest route, which means picking different tones all from the same color (going from a lighter to a darker version of it). Another really easy choice is using complimentary combinations, like yellow with purple, or blue with orange for example. In these type of combination colors typically complement and enhance each other, and it is also a very bold choice. The triadic color scheme is probably the most fun and classy at the same time, which is achieved by picking 3 colors evenly spaced on the color wheel. In a nutshell, if you want to make everything blend together pick analogous colors. If you want the colors to make each other stand out, pick complimentary combinations.

Helpful tip #2: the more saturated the colors are, the hardest it is to gracefully combine them. My recommendation is to pick lighter or darker tones of each color involved in the combination, such as cornflower blue along with a light peach orange.

If you are combining more than two colors, alternate picking a darker and a lighter version of each color you chose. Like combining a darker purple with a lighter yellow and a darker green, for example.

Helpful tip #3: when it comes to your space, pick the colors that make you feel comfortable and welcome. Try to imagine yourself surrounded by the colors that inspire you and make sure those are colors you can spend any length of time with. I absolutely love royal purple, and at the same time, I don’t think I could ever feel comfortable in a room with the walls painted in that color. Loving a color and feeling good being surrounded by it are two very different things more often than not.

Helpful tip #4: if the room you are picking colors for is very well lit, especially by natural light, picking darker colors could be a bold and classy choice. If the room is poorly lit, and needs a lot of artificial lighting, I would highly recommend lighter color combinations, preferably closer to neutral tones, so that the light can freely bounce off surfaces and multiply the little natural light that the room has available.