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Complementary Colors to Blue

Angela Neal

If you want to make the blue decorations in your home stand out, or bring out your blue eyes with makeup, you will need to incorporate the colors that compliment them. Learn how color theory works to guide you to the specific colors that will accentuate the different variations of blue.

Find out which colors make blue look even brighter.

Orange

If you're looking at a basic color wheel diagram, you will see that true orange is right across from true blue. The colors are "true" because they haven't mixed into any of the other colors. If you were to pair blue and orange together, you will have a very high contrast color palette. According to Color-Wheel-Pro.com, you should either tone down blue (the cool color) if you are pairing it with it's complementary warm color, or just use blue as the accent color--meaning you will only use a small amount in the design or outfit.

Yellow-Orange and Red-Orange

If you look at the tertiary color wheel, you can see the variations of each color, such as yellow-orange, yellow-green, etc and how they relate to each other. Since the color orange, blue's main complementary color has yellow and red on either side of it, any combination of these colors would complement blue or the variations of blue. For example, the color yellow-orange compliments indigo, a more purple mix of blue.

Muted Warm Colors

Neutral colors like light beige or warm colors like peach or salmon complement a muted mix of blue, such as "robin's egg," a light gray-blue or a dark slate blue. These muted colors of blue and its complements make a soothing color palette, which is ideal for a bedroom, bathroom or anywhere you would want to relax.

Autumn Colors

Bold, earthy, warm colors like goldenrod, brick and raw sienna are the colors you most often see in Autumn, the colors of the fall leaves and grasses. Autumn produces a prime example of how well these colors complement blue--an example would be looking up at the fall leaves in variations of orange, red and yellow against a bright blue sky. Recreate this color palette in your home with accents of goldenrod, such as wall hangings with accents of light blue like throw pillows.