Ultimate Guide: How to Choose and Combine Colors for Your Home

Are you in the process of setting up, redecorating or renovating your home (or someone else’s) and now approaching the step where it’s time to set the color scheme? We know this can feel hard!

So many people choose to stay away from color and instead opt for white/gray/beige only because they don’t know how to choose complementary colors and fear creating a cluttered impression.

So how do you do it? How do you successfully put together a color scheme for a room, or home, that feels fun and personal – without a messy overall impression? There are several ways, and one tried-and-true method is to use the classic color wheel.

Color Wheel
Pantone Formula Guide Coated & Uncoated 2022

In this post, we’ve gathered a few different types of color schemes that can serve as a good starting point for those who want to work with color in their home, whether for themselves or for a project. And for all of them, we’ll be using the color wheel as our guide.

Complementary Color Scheme

A complementary color scheme means that you choose two contrast colors on the opposite side of each other in the color wheel. These combinations of colors will make each other pop! You can choose and combine any shade of the color, as long as they are on the opposite side. 

Pink Scandinavian Living Room with Green IKEA Chair.
@jaskesradhus added some green details to her pink living room, making the colors pop!
Green/Blue Danish style living room with verner panthon chair in red.
The pop of red in @byjaynehansen blue/green living room makes the color enhance each other.

Monochromatic Color Scheme

A Monochromatic color scheme is when you stick to one color but differents it in the room with a variety of shade of the color. This scheme can be really cool if you dare to do it, but it’s worth to note that it needs its differents shades to not appear flat. 

Here are som beautiful examples of rooms and homes with a Monochromatic colors scheme:

Scandinavian coral red kitchen with a monochromatic color scheme.
@lisemlarsen went for a beautiful coral red kitchen with different shades of the same color.
Soft light in a yellow monochromatic bedroom with details in different shades.
All yellow bedroom in @lejlighedslys bedroom.

Analogous Color Scheme

This color scheme is when you combine colors that are next to each other in the color wheel. In this scheme you’ll be able to add three color blocks from the wheel and combine in different shades. This one is great for beginners since it’s hard to fail. 
 
Here are some great examples of Analogous schemes:
Danish livingroom in vibrant colors.
@laurataka's home goes in different blue, pink and red shades, all color blocks are next to each other in the color wheel.
Pink and red striped colorful room in a Danish home.
@thusthefuss never disappoints with color choices, pink and red never goes out of style.

Triadic Color Scheme

A triadic scheme is a little trickier to achieve balance with, but will leave you with a very interesting and fun room if you go for it! What you do is that you combine three main colors from the color wheel which will make each color stand out. 
 
Here are a couple of good examples of this:
Green and minty details makes the perfect combo together with a pink and yellow base in @alettehk Danish Colorful home.
Scandinavian Colorful home with a triadic color scheme.
@house_in_oslo has gone for a Triadic color scheme, using three main colors in combinations. Green, blue and red.

To Summarize

There are several combinations to make but using one of these techniques can be helpful in making sure things will feel right and balanced when you’re done. Please keep in mind that these are just tools and not at all rules, so please feel free to combine colors as you want, highly encourage you to try.
The worst thing that can happen is that you need to repaint it again. 😊
 
Good luck with your project and don’t forget to tag us if you share your project on Instagram, we would love to see!
 
Use the hashtag #mydanishdeco or tag @danish_homedeco in your content

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