When you set out to decorate your home it usually begins with a million and one ideas about what colors to use, all of which can overwhelm you and leave you feeling like you have too many to choose from. This can make deciding on your final color scheme seem like an impossible task but there are great tools you can use to narrow down your thoughts and inspiration and channel it into the design you envision.
There is a golden rule when it comes to decorating a room and it holds true for any room, no matter what. This is the 60-30-10 rule and this is a great way to begin organizing your ideas and color schemes. What the rule means is this—about 60% of the space you are decorating should be the dominant color. This means that the dominant color in your room will be the walls, and a general rule of thumb is to keep this dominant color a neutral color. This way if you decide to change color palette elsewhere in the room, the walls will always match.
The next 30% of your room should be your secondary color. This will account for much of your upholstery on your furniture. You can get a little more creative here, but it is a good idea to not stray too far from the neutral color family for the same reasons you want your walls to be neutral as well. It makes it easier to reinvent your color schemes down the road if you don’t have to repaint your walls or replace your furniture.
Finally, the last 10% will be your accent color. This ten percent is where you get to play with your color scheme. Add a pop of color with a bright area rug or a statement piece of art on your wall. Choose a color family and stick with that in your accents throughout the room. The colors do not have to match, but they should go. For instance, you might have artwork hanging that contains varying shades of the red family. You might then use a coral throw pillow on your couch to add another touch of color to your room.
This golden rule of interior design is a great rule of thumb for those who are starting from scratch decorating a room. It is a useful and easy to remember concept that helps regulate color schemes and results in a balanced result.
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