Furnishing Your First Home:
Color
and
Design
Color is a very important
decorating tool. It is the first
thing you notice about a room
and its furnishings. Color has
the power to change the shape
and size of furnishings as well
as the shape and size of the
room itself. This key to your
decorating plan is exciting and
fun to work with, but
frightening, too.
To have a beautiful home, you do
not have to worry about trends.
Color trends will come and go.
The people who live in a home
make it beautiful by choosing
colors that reflect their likes
and their personalities. The
trick is to blend those colors
you like into a pleasing
combination.
To help you, let's start with
the basics. What is a color
scheme, and where can you get
ideas for your color scheme?
What is a color scheme?
A color scheme is a planned,
pleasing combination of colors
for a room or a house. A
pleasing color scheme is limited
in the number of colors used,
but it has enough colors to give
interest.
Where can you get ideas for a
color scheme?
Present
furnishings
Suppose you plan to keep all the
furniture in a room, but you
want a new window treatment. If
there are one or two printed
fabrics in the room, select a
plain fabric that brings out one
of the colors in the prints. If
everything in the room--the
floors, the sofa, and the
chairs--has no pattern, then you
might choose a printed fabric
with the colors from the sofa,
chair, and floor in it.
Nature
Look around you in the flower
gardens, the woods, the fields,
and the streams. Nature has the
best combinations of colors you
will ever find.
Accessories
A picture or a vase with nice
colors may give you an idea for
a color combination.
Personal likes
If you like certain colors
together, you might want to use
them in a room. Find a printed
fabric with colors you like. Use
the printed fabric as a guide to
help you in choosing other
colors to go in the room. Pick
out the colors from the printed
fabric for the sofa, chairs,
draperies, etc.
Color
wheel
Colors that are next to each
other or colors that are
directly across from each other
on the color wheel can be the
basis for a color scheme.
When selecting a color
scheme, consider the following:
-
You and your family's color
likes or dislikes.
-
Your possessions. The
furniture you plan to buy
and the furniture and
accessories you now own both
limit and suggest possible
color schemes.
-
The size and shape of the
room. If the room is less
than 12 by 15 feet, light
colors will make the room
look larger. Paint woodwork
around doors, windows,
floors, and ceilings the
same color as the wall. When
woodwork is painted in a
contrasting color or left
natural, it emphasizes the
windows and doorways and
makes a room look smaller.
In a small room, draperies
and upholstery should blend
with the walls and have
little pattern. Large
patterns in a small room
will make the room seem
smaller. A print with a
small design on a large
amount of open background or
one with a small allover
design are more suitable for
rooms less than 12 feet x 15
feet. Colors in the printed
fabric should be light and
harmonize with all other
colors in the room, not
contrast with them.
-
The size and shape of the
furniture. Is the furniture
heavy and massive in size or
is it small? An overstuffed
sofa might look better in a
room if it is covered in a
fabric that matches or is
similar to the walls behind
it.
-
Relationship of a room to
adjoining areas. Is the door
between the rooms kept open?
If so, the color scheme in
the two rooms should be the
same or very similar.
-
That coordinating colors
between rooms makes the
house seem larger. To
achieve the color
coordination:
-
Use the same color on
the walls or the same
flooring color in
adjoining rooms.
-
Use the same color
scheme in several rooms
but vary your choice for
the most important
color. This means that
you can repeat one color
throughout the house but
emphasize a different
color in each room. A
small house feels more
spacious when the
background is all the
same color and light in
value (pastel or
neutral).
-
Keep rugs and draperies
in adjoining rooms
alike.
Decorating Guidelines for Using
Color
Some basic guidelines will help
you put colors together
effectively and mix patterns so
that you add interest without
creating a cluttered, confused
look.
Limit the number of colors in a
room from two to four.
Use colors in distinctly
different quantities. One color
should always dominate a scheme.
Repeat colors more than once in
a room.
Balance color in a room by
repeating the colors throughout
the room itself, not just in one
section of the room.
Camouflage architectural
defects, such as changes in wall
materials or a mantel that is
too small for the fireplace,
with neutral paint colors that
blend with neutral walls,
ceiling, and floor.
Emphasize desirable
architectural details like
fireplaces or windows with
strong color contrasts.
Use subtle color schemes or
color schemes without strong
contrast to make small rooms
appear more spacious.
Connect adjoining rooms with
color.
Give a room a more spacious feel
by using furniture that is the
same as walls; the furniture
will seem to disappear.
Use bright colors when you want
the room to be stimulating and
dramatic or if you want to make
a large room to feel cozy.
Decide whether your color scheme
will emphasize the background or
the furnishings. Play one up and
the other down. Every aspect of
the room can't be screaming and
yelling for your attention.
If furnishings and accessories
are the most interesting feature
in the room, then draw attention
to them by using the same light,
subtle color on the background
walls and floors.
If the furnishings are sparse
and uninteresting, then use a
dramatic color scheme on walls
or floor.
If you have beautiful
floorcoverings or wallcoverings,
draw attention to them by using
neutral or subtle colors on
furnishings.
To create a neutral color scheme
in a room, use a range of
"un-colors" like brown, beiges,
gray, taupes, and whites.
Another way to create a neutral
scheme is to select one basic
neutral like beige, and use it
everywhere, varying its
intensity and value.
Neutral color schemes are
excellent choices for smaller
spaces and contemporary rooms.
Even period furnishings look
good in neutral colors.
To avoid the pitfall of a bland
color scheme when using
neutrals, balance light, medium,
and dark color values of those
colors around the room.
Pattern and texture are
absolutely essential ingredients
when using neutral color schemes
or "one-color" schemes in a
room.
Pattern size should be
compatible with size of
furniture and the room. Large
rooms and large furniture can
use large patterns.
Mixing Patterns
When combining patterns,
establish a common denominator.
The common denominator may be
the color, the pattern, or the
theme of the pattern. Color is
the easiest common denominator
to establish. Some possible
combinations might be:
-
Different patterns in the
same color scheme.
-
If different patterns in the
same color scheme are used,
it's safe to go on adding
patterns almost
indefinitely, especially
when the patterns themselves
are simple.
-
Same pattern in different
color combinations.
-
Reversing color combinations
or using different color
combinations of the same
pattern are interesting ways
to mix patterns. Two or
three different color
combinations are enough in a
room.
-
Same pattern, different
sizes, in same color
combination.
-
Same pattern in several
different sizes. This works
especially well with dots,
stripes, or checks.
-
Different patterns with a
related theme. Two different
prints with a related theme
make an interesting
combination if colors also
have something in common.
The prints should be either
approximately the same size
or very different in size,
with one print quite large
and the other print small.
These guidelines make mixing
patterns easier:
-
Be sure there is contrast
and compatibility. The
patterns must be different
enough in design, yet have a
compatible color in common.
-
In developing a color
scheme, select the dominant
print and then choose a
quieter, more passive print
in the same or similar
colors. Finally, tie the
room together with a solid
color or two that appears in
both prints.
-
Use no more than one bold
pattern in a room. Select an
"active" print and one or
two "passive" prints for a
successful mix. Use solid
colors in the room for
relief.
-
Choose a soothing solid
color related to the prints
in the room for background
areas. The large proportion
of solid color areas will
balance the smaller areas of
various prints.
-
Do not combine two floral
prints that are similar in
size in the same room. A
small floral print can be
combined with a large floral
print if the two have
similar colors.
-
If the room is small,
combine prints that are
color related and use solid
colors for the background
area. Solid colors on the
walls and floor and low
contrast in color of prints
will make the room look
larger.
-
Stripes work almost as a
solid. They can mix with
florals, geometrics, and
plaids, but do not use all
the patterns together.
-
Avoid clustering all of your
patterns in the same area.
Clustering would give one
area too much weight and
create an unbalanced effect.
Distribute the patterns
around the room.
-
If the pattern on the floor
is a busy one, everything
else in the room should be
plain or textured. Oriental
rugs are an exception to
this guideline. They work
well with other patterns, so
you can use them anywhere
with anything as long as the
colors are related.
-
If the pattern on the floor
is a medium impact pattern,
you can use a smaller-scaled
pattern of similar colors on
some furniture.
Prepared by
Wilma S. Hammett, Ph.D.,
Extension Interior Design
Specialist, North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service,
North Carolina State University
This publication was issued
in print by the North Carolina
Cooperative Extension Service as
FCS-439 (May 1995).
Published by
NORTH CAROLINA COOPERATIVE
EXTENSION SERVICE
Electronic Publication Number
HE-439.html
7-95--JMG
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