Colour Wheel
When choosing colours remember that the actual colour you'll see in your home is determined by many different factors, such as the surface and the available light. Colours are closest to their true appearance in outside daylight, or in light from a window that does not face the sun. The best way to decide on the colour is to take a sample and see it in situ, and you'll get a better impression of just how it works in your space.
Use this colour wheel as a guide to help you choose colours that match. The three “primary colours” on the wheel are red, yellow and blue. When you mix two of these colours together you create “secondary colours”. These are orange, green and violet.
When you mix a primary colour with its adjacent secondary colour you create a ”tertiary colour”, classed as third in order.
Working with Colour
Colour should not dominate the scheme, or compete for attention. Cross pollinate and use the same colours and elements in different ways throughout the home. Use brighter, stronger and deeper colours in the smallest amounts.
Be Warm
Warm colours are red, orange and yellow. They are the colours of fire and sun. Warm colours tend to come toward you or feel closer to you, and make a room feel cosy.
Be Cool
Cool colours are blue, indigo and greens. They are the colours of water, ice, pastures and sea. Cool colours tend to go away from you or recede, and open a room up, making it feel bigger.
Be Complementary
Achieve a balance between ‘warm’ and ‘cool’ when creating a colour scheme. Complementary colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel. The same two colours that are opposite each other, when put side by side, contrast with each other. Complementary colours when mixed together produce a neutral or grey colour.