The average DIY home enthusiast isn’t necessarily aware of the detailed facets of the color wheel. There are seemingly infinite combinations and a glance at the wheel might make your eyes cross. However, there are a handful of color combos that are straightforward and easy to use. One of which is called the Split Complimentary. This combination uses a base color, in this case a buttery yellow, and two additional colors. In our example, these are purple-violet and magenta, and both are on either side of purple on the color wheel. This means that they coordinate very well with yellow, because yellow is directly across from purple on the wheel. (This means they are complimentary.)
This pallet works bea
utifully with just three colors, but all three are rather vivid, which could possibly make your room feel a bit intense. If you’re going for a high energy environment, forge ahead. But, if you want the space to feel a little more harmonious, add in two soft pinks: ballerina pink and true rose pink. They will serve as a backdrop for the bolder hues, as well as soften the pallet over all. Notice they are present in our example and inspiration picture – the horse and sunset graphic.
A split complimentary color scheme is great for beginners. As long as you stay focused on the three main colors, you can rest assured that the outcome will be successful. If you like our suggestion to add two additional colors to provide balance and harmony, but you’re not interested in two pinks, try another variation. Go for two complimentary versions of the purple-violet. You can use a true light purple tint and a light violet tint. This will require a little guesswork, making it great training ground for developing your eye for color. If that isn’t your goal, stick with our suggested pinks. Or, better yet, make a trip to the art store and buy yourself a color wheel! If you do, we would love for you to revisit this blog post and tell us about a wonderful split complimentary color scheme that you devised on your own!
Leave a Reply