How To Add Color To Living Room

A neutral sofa in a neutral living room oftentimes needs colour to bring it to life. But, how do you know which colour to decorate with your existing neutral decor? Here are 7 easy means to add colour to your neutral living room – plus my favourite place to first your color palette!

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about grey sofas. Because even though the trend has moved from grey to blackness, white & cognac, people are still hanging onto gray.

If I were to ask You which neutral was THE MOST neutral. You'd probably say grey right? Well, would you lot?

Let me know in the comments if my assertion is correct? I could exist flat out wrong…

But I think it's as well the reason why, in the globe of commercial interiors, greyness is a constant neutral. It doesn't seem to go in and out there. Haven't offices had gray-panelled walls forever?

And then first, I'thousand not maxim ya'll demand to bound onto the next tendency. Not at all.

Only when the brown trend came to an end, homeowners quickly moved on to grey. Not that this is what should have happened. I'm only reporting here.

Read more: Why a Colourful Sofa is equally Timeless as Subway Tile

Anyway, what I've been percolating on lately, is that too many people overthink decorating with color.

And maybe it'south because y'all think if you're going to have a colourful room, information technology has to look something like this:

James Farmer

That is, a room with color has to exist decorated with complicated patterns and perfectly chosen colour palettes. This kind of look takes expert decorating skills.

Ashley Whittaker

Merely I remember it's a mutual problem to exist unsure almost where to begin adding COLOUR. I talked about this on a live IGTV recently when I talked about, "What if I Don't Like the Electric current Trendy Neutral' here.

How to add colour to your neutral living room

And when you don't know where to begin, you might too quickly end upward with too much neutral.

Likewise much gray or too much beige. And nowadays, too much black or also much white.

It's all likewise common to create a neutral base, say a neutral pigment colour and sofa for example, and accept no idea when to take the jump into some colour to bring it all to life. So yous merely continue to choose everything in greyness (or black or beige…), the area carpeting, the drapes, and eventually the pillows and art too.

At that place is never a lack of decor items bachelor in the trendy neutral colour of the moment, and so it's only easier right?

one | Avert too much of the same neutral

As an aside, tin I simply say that I remember grey drapes should mostly exist banished? I just do non see the point in continuing the look of a grey sofa, on your windows. And just in case you lot're about to hang some drapes right at present? Read this postal service first to get your measurements right.

When in doubt, cull white curtains/drapes to match your trim.

Anyway, if you get stuck on the everything-the-same-neutral rails, y'all end upward with a room that looks at best, like some version of a drab exhibit display like this below.

If you accept. a charcoal sofa and grey walls, I'm saying DON'T also get a grey area rug, toss pillows and window coverings. As well much grayness can be lamentable. And colour is merely happier.

It'due south skillful to know AT WHAT Bespeak TO SHIFT INTO Colour and it's my goal to help you add more into your life!

It doesn't take to be complicated!

It'due south equally simple as this: option an area carpet with a COLOUR and repeat information technology.

(Already take wall to wall carpet? No trouble, layer an area carpet over it.)

2 | Start your decorating color palette with a rug

And by the mode, the reason the carpet is important is that it's a Large dose of color. It's a common error, when introducing an emphasis colour into your room, not to take information technology far plenty. Just a pair of red toss pillows in an otherwise gray room for instance is non going to expect disarming.

For an accent colour to be successful, the rule of pollex is to introduce information technology in Big, MEDIUM and SMALL. doses. An expanse carpeting takes care of the large dose of colour, really making it look intentional.

This is the reason too that you desire to look for a carpet with a decent proportion (like half or more) of the colour. It'south non about getting out the magnifying drinking glass to find the colour you want to accessorize within your rug. Choose the nigh ascendant colour in the rug instead.

3 | Adding color to a grey sofa

And so if you accept a grey or charcoal sofa, choose a rug with a lively colour and REPEAT IT.

Decor Pad

If this violet grey sofa was sitting directly on the grey patterned wall to wall carpet without any colour? It would non be an inviting look. It would exist no wait at all.

The minute they threw down this fun simulated zebra carpet with a vibrant warm orangish and sprinkled the colour around liberally in the pillows, tray, lamp, and accent chair, we are fatigued in.

See? It doesn't have to be complicated. Choose ONE colour and put it on repeat. It usually doesn't hurt to toss in some white for fresh air in most rooms besides.

4 | Adding colour to a foam, natural or light biscuit sofa

Often, a cream, light beige or "natural" sofa opens upwards even more than options for fresher color. Merely this stake pinkish beige sofa below would look pretty drab sitting in a white room without the addition of colour. A colourful area rug instantly brings this room to life.

Again, simply repeat the color (and if yous have a multicoloured rug, you can repeat more than one if y'all're feeling adventurous) in accessories and toss pillows and ta-da! Y'all have a room worth living in.

Caitlin Wilson Design is ane of my favourite sources for pretty area rugs in fresh colours.

Caitlin Wilson Design

In both this example, and the grey and orangish example to a higher place, they have taken it to the next level with the addition of an accent chair in a color. This is a bold pace that I absolutely encourage! And you lot don't have to guess which colour it should be, but pull it directly from the rug!

Creating mood boards before you "add to cart" can be so empowering. Find out more in my online training.

5 | Adding colour to a brown sofa

Got a room with lots of brownish and wood? Consider a rich bluish, teal or green accent. Shop for a rug in the colour yous want to decorate with kickoff.

A great tip I include in my new Shop Online with Colour Conviction course is to expand your colour vocabulary for more than effective online sourcing. Is information technology a periwinkle? Or Indigo? Grass, moss, olive or kelly green? It's a not bad way to narrow down your search and find what yous're looking for.

The Grit and Smooth

Even repeating the colour simply in one case, equally they've done with the teal blue pillows here, works in a pinch. A nice trick is to find a rug that has the grayness or dark-brown or beige of your sofa in it as well every bit the saturated accent colour you are introducing.

6 | Adding colour to a black sofa

Black is especially bossy and heavy, making it fifty-fifty more than challenging to see the move needed to get into some color in your room. So much then that I couldn't discover a single proficient example of a pretty room with a black sofa and some colour. An image search for blackness sofa living rooms is pretty dour.

So I made upwards a quick mood board to testify you what I would practise.

I talk nigh black a lot. Information technology's trending, and while a petty is ever a good affair, there is a tendency to overdo the trending neutral and this is particularly unsafe with black. Because it'southward SO heavy. The best way to arroyo a black sofa is to become glam.

However, if you want a casual or rustic vibe, skip the black sofa. It will look best with a bit of warm contrast, brass and richer wood tones. To bring a black sofa to life there is cipher similar a hit of leopard impress.

Cognac, lite biscuit, foam and white are also excellent at softening the palette. Black and greyness or black and white immediately give you lot the stark minimal look. This look is not only actually tricky to pull off well, merely it likewise belongs generally in well-composed photographs and not so much in real life. Over again, my opinion.

Rich precious stone tones also work really well for adding color to a black sofa. Deep pink, rusty reds, and deep, leafy greens wake up a room with too much black.

Simply remember, adding colour doesn't have to be a popular of a saturated hue. In the case of black or charcoal, or even much too much white, if you want a neutral look, you lot can pull in warm woods, beige and cognac for residuum.

Just spotter those five undertones of beige when you get into the globe of mixing warm biscuit and brown neutrals. Do you know what they are?

7 | Adding colour to a beige sofa

And the opposite is also true. Have as well much beige in your world? Add some high contrast black, glam leopard and lots of foam or white.

And if you want brighter colour with a pinkish beige sofa? The combination of blue and white is a sure affair for freshening up pink biscuit sofas.

Decor Pad

I would paint the walls in this room above a pretty circuitous cream like SW 6105 Divine White to further necktie them in. The white walls in this room make it feel a bit bottom heavy. But it's a great case of simple bluish accents repeated in the surface area rug.

A pretty and colourful living room starts with a rug

So there you lot go. If y'all're not sure where to get-go adding colour to your room, choose a pretty, colourful area rug and work from there. Nada wrong with a simple formula! Gotta acquire the rules to break them well.

You can likewise do this to change up a tired colour scheme. Take the carpeting, pillows and accents out of your room, stripping it down to just the walls and sofa, for example. So reimagine information technology with a pretty new surface area rug and accessories to match. Consummate transformation!

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Get this course hither.

My outset ii virtual live Specify Color with Confidence workshops of this Fall season are SOLD OUT, but there are notwithstanding a few seats left in both my courses at the end of October 21 & 22, October 28 & 29.

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