How to Compare Color Schemes
Choosing just the right color scheme is critical, whether you are designing the interior of your home or your office. It is advisable not to rush the decisionmaking process. After all, you will have to live or work with your choices for some time to come. Sometimes, the ideal color scheme makes itself apparent to you from the start. But if you are having trouble deciding, you might need to compare schemes. The chief concern when choosing schemes is whether they create harmony, that is whether they induce a sense of order and balance that pleases the eye. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Examine each scheme separately. How does the scheme make you feel? A palette of pale blues and greens may induce a sense of peace. It may just "feel right" to you. Or does the scheme make you uncomfortable in a way you can hardly put into words? Perhaps the combination of red and purple makes you feel agitated. Maybe the combination of black and white gives you the sense that something is "just not right." Be sure to complete this process for every scheme you are considering.
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Place representations of the color schemes side by side. You can use paint chips, fabric swatches, and/or carpet samples to create a visual to help guide the selection. What happens when you see the schemes next to one another? Does one jump out at you as best, or as worst? Perhaps the black, gray and stark white scheme seems too boring to you. Eliminate the worst of the schemes to narrow the selection. Then continue the process. Do you like the fuchsia-green scheme that mimics colors from nature? Or does it seem glaring next to an analogous scheme-- a scheme based on hues in close proximity on the color wheel--of pale greens and yellows. Perhaps the scheme based on complementary colors, those opposite each other on the color wheel, such as orange and blue, is most comfortable. Take your time making comparisons until you are able to choose one or two schemes.
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Trust your gut reaction. If you have studied a selection of schemes, considered whether they jar, soothe or agitate, taken into account whether they induce a sense of order, and thought about whether they are complementary, analogous, or inspired by nature, and still cannot decide, toss design principles out of the window, and go with your gut reaction. After all, principles and standards are of no use to you if you are not absolutely comfortable with the scheme. If the idea of a tan and charcoal room feels suffocating, no matter how many experts might approve of the scheme, you cannot choose it. Walk away from the decisionmaking process and revisit it later that day, or later that week. You can even put the project away for weeks and come back to it with fresh eyes. In the end, color scheme selection is a decision that may be with you for years to come. So take your time--and trust your instincts.
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Tips & Warnings
Enlist the advice of an interior designer if you truly feel lost as you start the comparison process.
Color scheme software abounds, much of it targeted to web designers. But if you feel comfortable comparing schemes using your computer, the available software programs are convenient.
Do not be rushed into a decision or, in the case of your home, unduly influenced by the opinions of others. It is almost tragic to hurriedly choose a scheme, or follow the advice of others, only to find that the scheme does not work for you, your family or your employees. Be deliberate and individual about the process.
