Decorating
Opposites Attract: Complementary Colour Combos
Use the power couples of the colour wheel – blue and orange, purple and yellow, red and green – to spice up any decor scheme
In the hands of an expert, even the most jarring colour combinations look wonderful. A case in point are complementary colour schemes. Essentially, these include two hues that sit directly opposite each other on the colour wheel. The most common couplings consist of one primary colour (red, yellow and blue) and one secondary colour (green, purple and orange), although there are tertiary colour pairings that are considered complementary, too. Inspired by the below schemes, you too can create a bold new look at home – here are a few pointers…
Lean on local colour
Add a little black to a colour and you’ll get a shade, which is why the exterior of this home looks more stormy charcoal than cheerful blue. However, it’s far from dull when framing a eye-popping orange – the shady blue intensifies the interior’s citrus coloured feature wall and the effect, I think you’ll agree, is striking. Colours readily found in the local environment, such as the tones and shades of the sea (bluey-green) and sand (yellowy-orange), are ideally suited to this Bondi Beach home in Sydney.
Ways the Australian landscape can inspire colour schemes
Add a little black to a colour and you’ll get a shade, which is why the exterior of this home looks more stormy charcoal than cheerful blue. However, it’s far from dull when framing a eye-popping orange – the shady blue intensifies the interior’s citrus coloured feature wall and the effect, I think you’ll agree, is striking. Colours readily found in the local environment, such as the tones and shades of the sea (bluey-green) and sand (yellowy-orange), are ideally suited to this Bondi Beach home in Sydney.
Ways the Australian landscape can inspire colour schemes
Add or subtract
Decorating a room with complementary colours can be quite daunting, and even go badly wrong. However, there is a way to play it safe until you get more confident in striking a balance. Introduce one orange and one blue piece of furniture into a monochromatic scheme. The furniture can be easily moved about to see what works, or you can take one out of the room if the two clash – although this is unlikely if you dampen down their loudness with a neutral palette. Here, for example, you can see how a mushroom wallpaper and cream carpet keep the colour vibrancy of the peacock blue lounge and persimmon orange ottoman in check.
Decorating a room with complementary colours can be quite daunting, and even go badly wrong. However, there is a way to play it safe until you get more confident in striking a balance. Introduce one orange and one blue piece of furniture into a monochromatic scheme. The furniture can be easily moved about to see what works, or you can take one out of the room if the two clash – although this is unlikely if you dampen down their loudness with a neutral palette. Here, for example, you can see how a mushroom wallpaper and cream carpet keep the colour vibrancy of the peacock blue lounge and persimmon orange ottoman in check.
PURPLE AND YELLOW
Encourage a softness
These two opposites form the odd couple of complementary colours, since neither is particularly easy to use on its own, let alone in partnership! Yet when purple and yellow come together, they make such beautiful music. Take this sweet bedroom setting. The purple wall could steer the atmosphere of the room into melancholy if not for the addition of sunny yellow bedlinen on the dark four-poster bed.
Encourage a softness
These two opposites form the odd couple of complementary colours, since neither is particularly easy to use on its own, let alone in partnership! Yet when purple and yellow come together, they make such beautiful music. Take this sweet bedroom setting. The purple wall could steer the atmosphere of the room into melancholy if not for the addition of sunny yellow bedlinen on the dark four-poster bed.
Dare to be cutting-edge
Complementary colours can be used as cutting-edge design features, since not many people know how to pair them successfully. In this award-winning Tribeca NYC loft dining room, purple and yellow make a statement by way of designer chairs and a large abstract painting.
See more of this project
Complementary colours can be used as cutting-edge design features, since not many people know how to pair them successfully. In this award-winning Tribeca NYC loft dining room, purple and yellow make a statement by way of designer chairs and a large abstract painting.
See more of this project
Colour block for boldness
Combinations of complementary colours can be particularly dynamic together when offered in equal parts, since they play up each other’s intensity. Here a large purple cabinetry unit is surrounded by canary yellow walls, creating just the right amount of vibrancy and energy from both colours.
Combinations of complementary colours can be particularly dynamic together when offered in equal parts, since they play up each other’s intensity. Here a large purple cabinetry unit is surrounded by canary yellow walls, creating just the right amount of vibrancy and energy from both colours.
RED AND GREEN
Play with variations
It’s hard to think of red and green together without thinking of Christmas, but red and green can indeed work together in a modern palette. This is particularly so when the two colours are presented as tints, tones and shades of the original unadulterated colours. In this bedroom, a lovely jewel box look has been achieved because green has been offered as mint, olive and moss on furniture and furnishings and its opposite red colour shows up as cherry, rouge and coral on walls and soft furnishings. The addition of a neutral in the form of a white bedhead, bedspread and bedside lampshade help to break up the concentration of so much red and green.
Give your walls a colourful lift
Play with variations
It’s hard to think of red and green together without thinking of Christmas, but red and green can indeed work together in a modern palette. This is particularly so when the two colours are presented as tints, tones and shades of the original unadulterated colours. In this bedroom, a lovely jewel box look has been achieved because green has been offered as mint, olive and moss on furniture and furnishings and its opposite red colour shows up as cherry, rouge and coral on walls and soft furnishings. The addition of a neutral in the form of a white bedhead, bedspread and bedside lampshade help to break up the concentration of so much red and green.
Give your walls a colourful lift
Call in a neutral
Using colour effectively can be one of the most powerful design tools in interior design, particularly if the designer is confident enough to use opposite colours in the one room. To be effective, however, there needs to be a balance set, and this is commonly achieved by calling in a neutral colour to moderate any potency. Here the intensity of the red and green is broken up by lots of white in both the striped wallpaper and in the white bedlinen.
Using colour effectively can be one of the most powerful design tools in interior design, particularly if the designer is confident enough to use opposite colours in the one room. To be effective, however, there needs to be a balance set, and this is commonly achieved by calling in a neutral colour to moderate any potency. Here the intensity of the red and green is broken up by lots of white in both the striped wallpaper and in the white bedlinen.
Use the landscape
The saturation of colour looks particularly appealing outdoors – a red barn-shaped house on a verdant green lawn creates an extraordinary contrast of colour and shape against the intense blue of sky.
TELL US
Do you like to use complementary colours designing and decorating your home? What is your favourite complementary pair? Tell us in the comments section.
MORE
How to Be Truly Confident With Colour
Winter Warmers: Colour Forecast 2015
Perfect Pairs: 8 Colour Palettes That Won’t Let You Down
The saturation of colour looks particularly appealing outdoors – a red barn-shaped house on a verdant green lawn creates an extraordinary contrast of colour and shape against the intense blue of sky.
TELL US
Do you like to use complementary colours designing and decorating your home? What is your favourite complementary pair? Tell us in the comments section.
MORE
How to Be Truly Confident With Colour
Winter Warmers: Colour Forecast 2015
Perfect Pairs: 8 Colour Palettes That Won’t Let You Down
Create a balance
Steely blue and punchy orange are the most dynamic and, some might say, contemporary of the complementary colour couples. When balanced in equal parts, as seen here in this bedroom, the effect of blue and orange together can be relatively soothing, since neither colour dominates.
Another safer method to successfully combine complementary colours is to take advantage of more subdued variations of the pure hue. For instance, if there does appear to be a little clash of colour when attempting this at home, choose a primary that is lighter (pale blue), darker (Prussian blue) or duskier (denim blue). These are still all blue, but each is a derivation of the primary colour. They are achieved by adding a neutral, ie white, black or grey, to a paint, dye or stain. Adding white makes a tint (eg, pale blue), adding black creates a shade (eg, Prussian blue) and adding grey will produce a tone (eg, denim blue).