Accent paint colour chart
How to Pick the Perfect Accent Color
Not sure what colors go together in a room? Here are suggested combinations for different moods and effects
Choosing a favorite color is easy. Choosing a two-tone color scheme for your home? Not so much. Mistakes come easily, and the frustration might leave you reaching for a bucket of white paint. But don’t wipe the slate clean just yet. Here are my suggestions for pairing the right accent color with each of the six primary and secondary colors — and more.
Paul Anater
A quick brush-up on the color wheel before we start:
Primary colors: Yellow, red and blue
Secondary colors: Green, orange and purple
Analogous: Colors that are neighbors on the spectrum, such as green and yellow, or red and purple
Complementary: Colors that oppose each other on the spectrum, such as green and red, or yellow and purple
Work with a color consultant to pick the right shades for your interior style
Tom Stringer Design Partners
Primary Colors
Yellow walls with blue accent. Yellow is scientifically the lightest and brightest of the hues (and naturally warm). The most classic pairing is a cool blue accent — blue being the least aggressive color choice possible. Whether you pick muted pastel shades or pair a saturated lemon with deep navy, mixing a warm yellow with a darker, chillier blue creates balance to keep the space from visually getting too hot or too loud.
1800Lighting
Yellow walls with purple accent. For an edgier appeal, a complementary scheme (using colors on opposite sides of the color wheel) will produce a high-fashion, high-drama look. Just check out how the purples pop against the soft yellow walls in this photo.
I recommend choosing a pale yellow or using both colors sparingly, and breaking up the look with plenty of neutrals to keep the scheme from looking too jarring. The result will be the essence of spring.
Toronto Interior Design Group
Blue walls with yellow accent.
Since yellow as a main color pairs so well with blue as an accent, it’s only natural that if you switch them, it would still be true. In fact, it works even more smoothly. When pairing blue walls (or in the case of my personal kitchen, blue cabinetry) with yellow accents, you can safely choose a bold blue and a pure, saturated yellow without overloading. Small hits of yellow are easily swallowed into the background, and blue is a very livable color, so you don’t have to be scared of accidentally going too intense.
Alice Burnham, Inc.
Blue walls with blue accent. The liquid, mysterious qualities of blue make it an excellent choice for a monochromatic scheme, using a mix of tones to complement themselves. If you don’t feel confident choosing a hot color, simply pair blue with more blue (or some blue-greens and indigos) and let the oceanic shades run together.
Elms Interior Design
Red walls with white accents.
Red almost has a life of its own outside the color wheel. It’s so intense, and associated with such symbolic meaning (love, romance, fire, appetite), that it can be the hardest to pair with an accent. Thus, one of the most popular choices is to pair red with fresh white to avoid any clashing.
Even when red is applied to just one feature wall, it will feel like the strongest color in the space, so if you aren’t sure, consider it the dominant hue and not an accent.
Consider wallpaper, stencils or stains for a unique wall finish
Red walls with blue accent. Navy again comes to the rescue with red walls. Even though the heat of red and the iciness of blue may make them feel like they’re at opposite ends of the spectrum, red’s true complement is green, but trustworthy blue plays against it without piling on drama. Plus, the combination carries a sense of classic Americana and nautical inspiration, so the sight isn’t a shock to the system.
Jennifer Decaux
Blue walls with red accent and yellow pop.
A special note for primary colors: blending the three together is a timeless tradition found in everything from ancient artworks to hip modernist apartments. Start with blue walls, add moderate hits of red (in one or two furniture pieces) and sprinkle in yellow accessories for an easy-as-1-2-3 look.
Debra Yates
Secondary Colors
Orange walls with green accent. Orange, as a combination of yellow and red, is one of the most controversial colors — it mixes red’s heat with yellow’s brightness for a result that cannot be ignored.
Blue is orange’s direct complement. If you prefer to tone down orange a little, use a leafy green; it will add a touch of coolness without fighting to be the star of the show. Choose a yellow-green for an almost analogous effect that can feel positively uncontroversial.
Home Staging
Purple walls with purple accent.
Purple, like blue, is another hue that works quite well with itself. When used as a main color, it is typically either a dark and moody shade for a royal effect or a pale, grayed-out tone that keeps a look from feeling childish. Mix in some red-purple and indigo hues to keep the look from feeling too loud or too one note.
WA Design Architects
Purple walls with yellow accent. With a very soft purple, an earthy golden yellow tone will create a sense of whimsy and energy without feeling cartoonish. Just be sure to include some additional accent colors if you want to avoid creating a theme room.
A colorful area rug instantly brightens your home
A. Rejeanne Interiors
Green walls with yellow, red and orange accents. While the other two secondary colors are a bit more temperamental, green is probably the easiest dominant color to work with, which leaves lots of room to get creative.
Try going for an analogous color scheme but taking it one step further, mixing in various hues from half of the color wheel. For example, this room moves from green to yellow and on to orange and red.
Vendome Press
Green walls with blue, purple and violet accents. This room moves from green to analogous blue and on to purple and violet. In each case the bold hue is anchored by naturally flexible green (like a flower grounded by a stem) so the space feels full of color and yet not overwhelmed by contrast. Sticking to half of the color wheel creates a lot of interest while keeping the different energies tied together.
Pink walls with green accent. While pink is truly just a light shade of red it takes on a life of its own, which is probably why it gets its own name. Pairing pink with green is a long-standing preppy tradition that creates a sense of playful positivity tempered by an air of sophistication, so it doesn’t even read as a complementary scheme despite the two hues’ being true opposites.
Work with a pro to make sure your painting project is done right
Favreau Design
Complementary Colors
Like pink and green, the fail-safe secret to creating a complementary scheme (that your guests will indeed compliment) is to let the primary hue dominate, in a toned-down shade, while sprinkling in a light helping of the accent hue, preferably in small doses and patterns. This will ensure that the look is lively but not loony, with just the right amount of edge.
Rachel Reider Interiors
White walls with any color. When choosing an accent for white, you truly can’t go wrong with just about any favorite hue. However, to keep your color pop from popping too hard, the best bet is to mix a variety of colors, lest one dominate and take over the palette. Looking to a fun fabric or painting as inspiration, take slightly toned-down versions of its hues to apply to fabrics and accents throughout the space.
Mead Quin Design
Gray walls with gold accent. If no accent color seems quite right for you, consider adding natural elements like gold and natural greenery. Both will add depth to a scheme based on sophisticated grays and off-whites (or, really, any color in the spectrum) without interrupting the flow, giving you the perfect antipop pop.
More: How to Create a Whole-House Color Palette
How to Choose the Colour Palette
Picking the perfect colour palette for your accent wall can be both difficult and confusing. To make your room look elegant, the number of colours you have is not important. What matters is - if the colour palette matches with the surrounding.
Choosing the perfect colour palette helps in providing a better visual ambience for your house. Experts also claim that colour can affect people’s mood. If you want to draw your guest’s attention to a particular part of your room, then accent walls are the best choice.
Consider these 5 things when choosing the colour palette for your accent wall.
Review the colour palette of your whole house
Before you choose a colour palette for your accent wall, the first thing you need to do is survey the colours used in your whole house and the individual rooms. Wall colours are the foundation for accent colours, and without having a proper idea of the foundation, you cannot build the visual structure.
Your accent colour must be complementary to the colour of your walls. Colours that do not complement each other will end up looking more bad than good.
Know the basic colour theory
Colour has the power to alter the way you feel and how you perceive your surroundings.
- Warm Colour Theory
Warm Colour Theory focuses on how to use colours to make your space look smaller. Warm colour palettes are perfect for long or open rooms which need to be given a balanced look. Orange, red and yellow themes are well suited for this purpose.
- Cool Colour Theory
The cool colour theory is precisely the opposite of the warm colour theory, as the name suggests. The colour would aim to make space look bigger and broader. If your room is small and you would like to make it seem large, choosing green, blue or purple themes will suit you the best.
Select Colour based on the Room’s Purpose
Before you choose the colour of your accent wall paint, first think of the purpose of your room. Just as each room has a separate purpose, each colour has a distinct psychological effect.
Have a look at the table below if you are interested in knowing which colour incites what emotion. Remember these are just suggestions. In the end, it all depends on what makes you happy.
| Colour | Emotion it Stirs Up | Can be Used to | Appropriate For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red | Excitement, Energy, Attention, Passion and Courage | Stimulate, Encourage, Draw Attention, Create Urgency and Caution | Kitchen |
| Orange | Independent, Fun, Optimistic, Adventurous and Creativity | Stimulate, Express Freedom, Fascinate, Communicate Fun and Draw Attention | Exercise Room |
| Yellow | Opportunity, Positivity, Happiness, Enthusiasm and Spontaneity | Stimulate, Affect Mood, Energize, Encourage Relaxation and Awake Awareness | Kitchens, Dining Room and Bathrooms |
| Green | Safety, Leisure, Stability, Balance, Harmony and Reliability | Relax, Restore Energy, Encourage, Balance, Posses and Revitalize | Living Room, Family Room, Bedroom, Kitchen |
| Blue | Freedom, Trust, Self-Expression, Inner Security, Loyalty, Responsibility and Honesty | Secure, Inspire Trust, Create Order, Reduce Stress, Relax and Create Calmness | Family Room, Living Room, Large Kitchens, Bathroom |
| Purple | Sensitivity, Imagination, Mystery, Spirituality and Compassion | Create an Impression of Luxury, Encourage Creativity, Inspire, Intuition and Combine Wisdom and Power | Bedroom |
| Pink | Love, Compassion, Admiration, Playful and Immature | Increase Pulse, Motivate Action, Communicate Energy, Fascinate and Encourages Creativity | Children Room |
| Neutrals (Grey, White, Black and Brown) | Stability, Comfort, Reliability, Honesty, Natural, Practical, Formal, Neutral, Conservative, Quiet, Elegance, Authority, Power | Stabilise, Create Warmth, Imply Common Sense, Suppress Emotions,
Mystery, Hide Feelings, Intimidate, Radiate Authority and Create Sense
of Composure | Flexible |
Know Your Room Better
Before you decide on which colour palette to choose, look at the items you have in your room and their colour.
Having a lot of colours in a single room can be overwhelming. Instead, go for a unique hue and use tonal variations.
If you decide to decorate your room with plants, then you are already bringing a green accent in your room. You can elevate the look by choosing a green colour palette as the choice for your accent wall
Think about the purpose of your accent wall
What is the purpose of painting an accent wall?
Based on the purpose the colour palette can change. Are you aiming to break up the traditional look of neutral walls? Or you want to freshen up a tired looking space? Your choice of colour will depend on the purpose of your wall.
Accent walls are a designer’s opportunity to add a creative design element to a room. The most important thing about accent walls is the choice of colour palette. A wrong combination of colours will end up doing more harm than good. If you’re still not sure which colour palette will suit your accent wall, then contact the colour consultancy experts at Premier Painting Company.
Reviews and articles about stucco, flooring, paint and wallpaper
Often, painting a room begins with one color that impresses us the most. Not only a professional, but also a novice who has started repairing for the first time is able to pick up paints and varnishes, colors, tools and mix the desired shade.
But what to do if there is no experience in creating the perfect palette? Knowing the features of color is extremely important if the goal is to determine the general mood of the room and emphasize the interior. It's simple: if you break the color scheme into four combo blocks, the process becomes much clearer and more fun. Proper tinting is the key to a harmonious perception of space.
Palette highlights
Warm colors such as red, yellow and orange contribute to the optimization of carriage rooms - these are narrow and long rooms. For a better perception, their shades are accentuated on the end walls.
Blues, emeralds and purples set off the wall, presenting a cold palette whose main purpose is to visually expand small spaces.
Often the palette is used for painting room partitions. The choice of color scheme depends entirely on the interior details, decor, furniture. Modern paints and varnishes make it easier to create a unique design and allow you to realize the most original projects.
Choice of color according to purpose: basic recommendations
Living room and hallway
The modern interior less and less includes the presence of doors and partitions, relying on the smooth flow of space. Neutral light shades are ideal, allowing you to create a background that can later be zoned in an interesting way with the help of bright color accents and furniture.
Kitchen
The basis of the kitchen is a set that dictates the choice of paint with its textures and colors. The tree can be emphasized with green, pink, beige and cream pastels. If you used styles such as hi-tech or loft, you should turn to gray, navy blue and purple shades.
Bedroom
In bedrooms, moderate peace and maximum comfort should reign, therefore, the number of shades should be within several positions. Regardless of the temperature of the palette, the key technique is to "whiten" the color.
Bathroom
In this case, wall painting is an alternative to ceramic tiles. Firstly, it is economical, and secondly, modern paint has a high degree of moisture resistance. In addition, this is a huge platform for the implementation of various decorative elements: from a combination of colors, patterns or ornaments, to the creation of complex decorative niches and patterns.
Child
Perhaps this is the most difficult source for organizing space, as the individual preferences of children change regularly. Paints in the Lepnina.Top online store are good because they help to easily update the interior at minimal cost. It is enough to paint the wall with a fresh shade, and the room will instantly change.
4 ways to create the perfect color palette
- Additional contrast
If your chosen color symbolizes energy and movement, a contrasting complementary palette is the perfect solution. Pay attention to the diagram: the desired color is located at opposite levels of the gamut. For example, blue and orange or red and green. Contrasting combinations are regularly used in modern interiors, especially for playrooms, children's and family rooms.
If you are not afraid of bold and challenging combinations? Try combining blue and orange from the Sherwin-Williams Duration Home Matte line. Matte interior paint is resistant to washing and is intended for all types of premises.
- Split
For lovers of weak contrast, a separate color combination is suitable. Use tinting: first determine the central color, then the opposite (the end of the wheel) and two more colors that are on both sides of it.
For example, let's say you've settled on orange as the base color, blue-green as the opposite, and blue-violet as the secondary color. Sikkens Alphatex IQ Mat Deep Matt Paint is definitely what you need to protect your walls from dirt, moisture and weathering. Orange can be safely painted on the walls, while the other two colors will effectively serve as decoration and accent details.
- Adjacent shades
The shades you need are next to each other on the color wheel. Choose any, based on personal perception and taste. For example, blue-violet and blue-gray Sherwin-Williams Super Paint Flat is a super matte acrylic latex water-dispersion interior paint. As a rule, a parallel or similar palette speaks of compatibility and harmony.
- Monochrome
Splitting one color allows you to make the room bigger and deeper than it is. Choose one color and use any of its shades - from the darkest to the lightest.
Try Sikkens Wapex 660 semi-gloss, high strength, two-component epoxy floor and wall coating. Do not be afraid to experiment and use as many neighboring shades as possible: each new tone increases the depth of the created color palette.
How to keep the balance?
After determining the appropriate color palette, try to keep the look balanced. Imagine that we have a combination of 3 colors: white, olive and yellow. To do this, remember the 60/30/10 rule. In any room, highlight 60% of your main color, use half as much of the main color (30%) as the next color, and finish the composition with 10% of the color for small accents. Sherwin-Williams Emerald Interior Acrylic Latex Flat Premium Paint will do the job just fine.
To order paint in the Lepnina.Top online store, leave a request on the website or contact us at +7 (812) 240-11-26. We will help you realize your ideal interior.
color and texture, paint - Renovation ideas
The ability to correctly place accents is important in everything from public speaking to interior design.
In the design of the interior space, such a technique as highlighting with color, pattern is often used ... The ability to correctly place accents is important in everything from public speaking to interior design. In the design of the interior space, such a technique is often used as highlighting with a color, pattern or otherwise one of the walls or an architectural element that draws attention to itself, changing the perception of the room.
Together with the CAPAROL Academy, let's look at some ideas for creating accent walls in the interior.
Why an accent wall?
It's still worth starting with the question why you are doing this. Traditionally, color accents are used to enliven a bland, inexpressive interior, add volume and bright colors to it.
However, this is just one of the options for using accent walls, which also serve as a visual zoning of the room and, to some extent, are able to control attention.
For example, by painting the wall in front of the computer desk in discreet colors, you will designate your area for work without cluttering up partitions and other dividing structures. Similarly, using cold and warm shades, you can visually bring or “push back” the wall, and a bright spot will distract from the flaws in the layout or, on the contrary, emphasize the importance of a particular zone.
Ideas from Alpina. The orange wall defines the dining area, and the impression is further enhanced by a light fixture located exactly above the dining table.
The decision which wall to make accent is always made individually, taking into account the characteristics of the room, but some options have long passed into the category of typical ones. For example, in the living room, this is the wall on which the TV hangs, or the seating area where the sofa is located; in the bedroom, the wall behind the head of the bed is often highlighted with color. Sometimes color manipulations are backed up by other elements.
So, in a combined kitchen-living room, the wall behind the dining table may differ from the rest in color and texture, and a chandelier or a group of lamps is attached to the center of the dining area.
What color to paint?
There are many ways to decorate an accent wall, from wallpaper with a catchy pattern to brick-like panels or bamboo canvas, but the simplest and at the same time creative solution is, of course, paints with their rich palette and freedom of combination of shades.
What effect do you want to achieve? If you need something energetic, exciting, it makes sense to choose contrasting colors and rich, rich shades, however, the accent wall does not have to contrast with its surroundings, it is enough that it stands out from the general background and attracts attention. To create a calm atmosphere, you can use close colors (if you remember the color wheel, these are colors located in the neighborhood).
Ideas from Alpina. A delicate green accent wall draws attention to itself against a light yellow background, the room looks fresh, but restrained.
A rich shade of blue in textiles completes the picture.
If the interior is based on a neutral shade (beige, light gray, cream, etc.), the accent wall can be painted in almost any color, including rich tones. And, of course, do not forget about white. Although white interiors are often accused of being “sterile”, the inclusion of other shades in the color concept allows you to create expressive, elegant and very positive combinations.
For example, now fashionable berry and purple shades look elegant in alliance with white.
Ideas from Alpina
A green accent, in the color of fresh May leaves, on a light neutral background will very refresh the environment.
Ideas from Alpina.
White and anthracite gray create a strong color contrast that only white and black can match. This combination looks stylish, businesslike, representative, although it is characterized by some coldness.
Ideas from Alpina
You can soften the impression if you add a second bright tone to the interior color palette.
Alpina's range of white paints includes Alpina Extra White Interior, which brings white to its purest, most intense form. In addition, Alpina interior paints can be tinted both manually and in the Alpina ColorMix computer tinting machine, creating a variety of shades.
Wall painting has another advantage besides the freedom to choose colors. If desired, the walls can always be repainted to update the interior or change a boring combination.
Experiments with surface texture
Sometimes not only paints are used as accents, but also decorative materials close to them in application technology. They are used if you want to emphasize any element of the room (wall, niche, ledge, and so on), not only due to color, but also a different surface texture.
The velvety sheen of gold on the surface of the wall will create an original accent, and it can be combined with both dark and light restrained shades. Metallic effect materials from the Alpina Metall Effekt series are perfect for creating elegant interiors.
Decorative materials allow you to play not only with the combination of colors, but also with textures. The best example of this is the combination of regular white paint with white structural paint. Textural variations in surface finishes are not too striking, but they dilute the monotony of the interior, setting movement and rhythm.
Alpina Line Effekt structural paint with line effect creates a lined pattern on the surface of the wall, which can be expressively emphasized with bright shades in the decor.
Finally, let's recall a few useful rules that will help you in interior design:
1. As a rule, there is only one accent wall in a room, in extreme cases two. This washed away the color "blotches" - they should enliven the interior, and not suppress and create dissonance.
2. When deciding which wall to make accent, clearly define your goals: add your favorite color, zone the room, or hide layout flaws. Accents must be meaningful.
3. Not the whole wall can serve as an accent, but, for example, that part of it where a TV or a mirror will hang, niches, ledges, arches can be highlighted in color - this technique is also used in zoning.
4. The accent wall influences the perception of the interior, becoming the central element of the composition. So if you want to draw attention to something else, such as a favorite painting or a collection of decorative plates, think carefully about their placement. They will be clearly visible against the background of the accent wall, but will be "in the shadows" if placed on the side or opposite the active area.
5. The accent wall will become more visible and expressive if it is enclosed in a frame. To do this, before painting, the outer edges of the wall must be pasted over with masking tape about 4 cm wide. When you remove the tape, you will get an even border around the perimeter of the wall (you need to remove the tape immediately after painting, without waiting for it to dry completely so that the paint does not crack along the inner edge) .
