Create a Whole Home Colour Scheme

A long time ago, back when I was young and super excited about owning our first home, I made a classic mistake. I decorated every room in our cottage a different colour. I don’t have to tell you it was awful. Our bedroom was salmon and white. The kitchen was classic blue and white but led to a sunroom painted khaki. The yellow walls and mauve trim in the hall were the crowning glories. Thinking about it now, I sort of wonder what I was doing (and not in a good way). But if there’s one thing I learned from that colourful period in my home decorating journey, it’s that I wasn’t afraid of colour or to try things I liked. The other thing I learned is that a house looks so much more cohesive when you use a whole house colour scheme. Of course, it took me a long time and a number of decorating disasters to realise this (if only I had the photos to show you.) But you can learn from my mistakes and that’s what this post is about. The whole house colour scheme and why it’s an absolute must!

What is a Whole House Colour Scheme?

Contrary to what you might believe, a whole house colour scheme is not boring. In fact, this type of colour scheme can be as exciting as you wish to make it. To put it simply, a whole house colour scheme is just that. It’s a set of colours you’ve decided upon that flow seamlessly throughout your home. Yes, that could be SOOOO BORING! Every room painted the same with the same trim and the same accents.

That IS a recipe for mind numbing boredom and wanting to repaint the week after you finish.

If you follow the ideas below you’ll have a home you can constantly change around but will be cohesive and easy on the eye. Your home will invite people to sit a while and they won’t really know why. The rooms will link together effortlessly, even though they look different to someone who has no clue about what you did. That’s the beauty of the whole house colour scheme.

How Do Create a Whole House Colour Scheme?

To Begin

Think about your home and the furniture and art pieces that you have that you wish to keep or cannot afford to part with. You will need some inspiration and a reference point to go back to. It might be a rug, a print on your wall, or a cushion cover you love. You might want to keep the curtains in your bedroom and they might spark a new colour scheme that goes throughout.

Once you have your inspiration, pick three to five colours from it. To help with this I use the 60/30/10 rule. You need the main colour (probably for the walls), a secondary colour (for trim) and an accent or ‘pop’ colour. You might choose more than one accent colour if you feel confident with decorating. The pop colours could be used be your accessories. I’ve explained this more in the graphic below. They can also be used to ‘tie’ your scheme together like a piece of red thread. As in, if you go into a room and see something the same, you are creating continuity.

The Next Step in the Whole Home Colour Scheme

The next step is to think about how and where you are going to use the colours you have chosen. You might like to use the same colours on the walls throughout. (Instant cohesion). This is what I’ve done. If you are stuck on colour schemes try looking at the paint chips at the hardware store. It’s easy enough to pick two colours that blend from the spectrum on one chip, then add a colour you love for your pop colour.

If you are feeling brave you might swap the colours in one room. For instance, I could use the charcoal trim on the walls in our bedroom and the white on the trim. This would create a very dramatic look.

You don’t have to only use the colours on walls though. Think about how you will incorporate them into your soft furnishings and even furniture. We have black-painted furniture and a lot of timber in caramel tones. This ties in with the dark of charcoal. (In fact, a lot of people think our trims are black) You might use your main colour in the pattern on cushions too.

Once, you’ve figured out where you want the colour to be, start painting! Then add your accessories last.

WORDS OF WARNING!

If you haven’t created a colour scheme before, don’t go nuts and paint every room. It’s a recipe for disaster. Do a room first and see how you like it. It saves so much time and money.

Using a limited colour palette in your scheme can look boring if you don’t like pattern. So use textures and layers to make things interesting.

Remember the sight lines. If you can see into a room from the hall, say, then the accent colours should complement each other in some what so that the whole home colour scheme looks cohesive.

An Example: Our Farmhouse

Our farmhouse is an example of a whole home colour scheme. I have used the same colours on walls and trim throughout, except in the bedrooms. Here the rooms are smaller so the trim is white. The wall colour is consistent, however. This is my ‘red thread’, that makes the scheme cohesive. I have used different accent colours in each room. Our rooms are separate so this is easy to do as they cannot be seen from the other room. However, all rooms lead to the hall. In here our rugs are multicoloured with a navy base. This means any colour I choose as an accent in a bedroom will coordinate with the rugs. The colour scheme carries through to the exterior of the house too. Here the white becomes the dominant colour. The grey is softer to blend with the outdoors and I use pops of whatever I feel like as accessories. Even our garden is mostly white!