If you want to transform the way a room looks, colour is the simplest, most effective and relatively inexpensive tool you can use.
You can read about colour in my design basics series here, and you can have a look at several examples of colour schemes that work here.
Because colour is such a flexible tool and offers so many – almost infinite – possibilities, I can understand how choosing a colour scheme might be truly overwhelming.
Take neutrals, for example. Neutrals are generally easy to live with and give interiors a sophisticated, understated look. However, depending on the undertone of your neutrals, you can make your room have a completely different feel.
Let’s see three examples of neutral colour palettes, with paint chips from the Farrow & Ball range:
1) Yellow undertones make the room look bright and cheerful, and work particularly well in rustic, country-looking interiors.
2) Red undertones are relaxing and work well in both traditional and contemporary interiors.
3) Cool grays, with a blue, green or lilac undertone, have a crisp edge that’s perfect for contemporary interiors, but they still retain some kind of warmth.
See what I mean about possibilities? In fact, the most common question I get asked about colour is how to create a colour scheme.
One of my favourite approaches is to take inspiration from nature. I mean, have you ever seen a natural scene that isn’t beautiful? I don’t think so.
So let’s use a picture of the beach as an example.
You can take the sand as your inspiration, and choose warm neutrals with yellow or red undertones, or you could go for sea and sky, and pick cool off-whites with a blue hue.
Once you’ve decided what palette appeals to you most, and what feeling you want to recreate in your room, you can then choose an accent to liven up the whole scheme. You could go for warm shades of brown, from the rocks and pebbles, intense blue-grays, from the cliffs in the background, or rich shades of green, like those of seaweeds.
Here are six colour palettes I created for you:
As you can see, choosing a different accent colour completely transforms the mood of the scheme; here’s another example, to show you how a warm neutral lifts the cool gray scheme:
During the following weeks I’m going to post more colour schemes, and share more tips to help you decorate your house, so stay tuned 
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I love the idea of taking inspiration from nature. I really miss the sea.
Alison Kerr | Loving Nature’s Garden recently posted..How to get chickadees to nest in your garden
I’m sorry you miss the sea…I hope my photos from my previous post about the tide & the sea cheered you up.
Nature is a work of art, so why shouldn’t we take inspiration from it, I wonder
Wonderful post on color. Getting inspiration from nature not only is a great idea but also resonates with our inner feelings and makes us calm and comfortable. All the palettes are very usable and sophisticated – love it!
Thank you Jenny!
Love the way you combine the colours Cristina to show contrast and differentiation of the hues and shades. Much better layed out and presented than at a DIY mega store. You have a real eye for design elements.
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Thank you John, glad you like my colour scheme
I wish I had known you when I just moved into my current place. This would have been so helpful when I was staring at row after row of paint chips in the hardware store! I like your second color palette best. My living room is (slightly haphazardly) in similar colors, with a few bright splashes of color. (This print occupies the center wall and ties things together: http://imagecache5.art.com/p/LRG/18/1889/IYF9D00Z/ford-smith-just-between-us.jpg ).
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That’s a lovely print and I can see how it ties all things together in your décor. Art is another thing that can be used for inspiration when choosing a colour scheme – you’ve given me an idea for another post, thank you!
If you ever want to choose a new colour scheme and need help with it, just give me a shout
Cristina,
This is so helpful as I’m really backward when it comes to design. I would expect that these same types of combinations would go well on a blog too. Perhaps you could talk about colors for our second-home (our blog) one day!
Hugs and thanks to you.
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That’s a good idea Sandra! Yes, these colour combinations would work for blogs too, and other design work in general. I’ll write more about that in another post, thanks for the inspiration
Hugs to you too!