If you have a fairly neutral space that you want to add a punch of color to, there are strategic ways to do this. You can get a lot of color by just throwing in a bunch of colorful accessories. However, you do still want to have a good balance and have your colors coordinate well. These examples show how to add color to a room for the most impact.
To begin with, you may want to start with an inspiration photo from a magazine or favorite scenic spot to draw your palette from. Once you find the color inspiration that you like, you can figure out your palette of a few main colors. An easy way to come up with your palette, is to upload an image to this on-line color palette generator and instantly get a swatch based on the colors in your image.
Once you have your colors figured out, shop for accessories that match that palette and your room design should flow seamlessly.
Neutral Rooms With Splashes Of Color
A neutral room will usually have a neutral palette on the walls and furniture. If your room is farmhouse style or rustic chic, most likely you have lots of white. A rustic room is usually darker but still neutral. Both of these styles can be livened up with some colorful accessories using one or two colors.
Here are some neutral rooms with added colors in various palettes.
Ideas For How To Add Color To A Room
Add Color With Accessories
SOURCE: Fox Hollow Cottage
The walls and furnishings of this kitchen are very light and soothing. You can see that the main accent color is a pretty sea blue and the same shade is used for the accessories. The fresh greens, which are also all the same shade of green, coordinate really well with the blue. Because only two coordinating accent colors are used, the overall look is very cohesive.
Add Color With Fabric And Pillows
SOURCE: Better Homes and Gardens
A great example of seeing how a couple of colors can work together is with this bedding. Two main colors are used but there are various patterns and textures. The orange and blue really pop against the neutral gray walls.
SOURCE: Home Stratosphere
You can also simply use just one accent color. With one color, you can add extra interest with the different patterns and textures. The same color is carried through from the framed picture matting to the side chair to the bed pillows. This color scheme is still very soothing but with a lot of visual interest.
Paint An Accent Piece Of Furniture Or Fireplace Mantel
SOURCE: Design Raaga
You can see how this fireplace is made even more of a focal point with the bright yellow paint. This color works really well with gray. The majority of the room is very neutral making your eye go right towards the fireplace. If there had been lots of different bold colors in the room, your eyes wouldn’t know where to go. The idea of how to add color to a room is to use color sparingly for the most impact.
The same idea is used for these painted built in bookshelves. The rustic living room gets a nice focal point with the bookshelves. They are also great bookends to the dark fireplace. The green mantel ties the whole look together very nicely.
For more ideas for how to add color to a room, check out the post on colorful living room ideas.
The Meaning Of Colors
If you have a blank slate and you are still having trouble picking your accent colors, you may want to look into the meaning of different colors. Think about the mood that you want to create in a room and then choose a color that will help to enhance the emotion. Here is a chart to help you out:
http://PaletteGenerator.com creates color palette from any image