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Choose a color scheme to emphasize the openness of your space. Using a different color in each area of your floor plan will only break up the flow, making your home seem more confined. Competing or clashing colors will leave your eyes with nowhere to focus.
The best color scheme will be neither bland nor chaotic. Your goal is a paint selection that transitions gracefully from one area to the next, highlighting your home's architectural features while creating harmony.
Going with a single color might seem safe, but it's no way to bring attention to your home's best points. Open floor plans usually have some dramatic architectural features. Plan your color scheme to highlight them. -
Studying the rows of paint chips at your home improvement store doesn't have to be intimidating if you understand how color theory works. "This Old House" suggests that you study the color wheel, a tool indispensable to countless generations of artists. (See Reference 2)
Spending an hour with the color wheel will teach you more about how colors relate than a week of studying paint chips. You'll learn how to create a personal and stunningly effective color combination for your open floor plan.
Color wheel triads, for example, contain three equally spaced colors in classic color schemes that you can tailor to your home by varying their intensity. Their degree of separation determines whether triads dazzle or soothe.
An analogous color scheme uses three consecutive colors with a common base. Blue, blue-violet and violet are analogous colors. They define each area of an open floor plan while maintaining its creating unity. Always test your three colors before committing to an analogous scheme. Colors easily distinguishable on paint chips might be indistinguishable on your walls. (Reference 1)
Use your paint to set a mood. Colors in the blue, green and violet range are quiet and relaxing, unlike energetic yellows, oranges and reds. Light paint makes a space recede while dark colors close it in. Make a warm color scheme even more vibrant by choosing a cool accent color.
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If you're working with analogous colors, choose the lightest one to highlight architectural accents like woodwork, wall alcoves and columns. Reserve the darkest color for spaces you want to isolate, like your kitchen or dining room. Use the middle color for the largest expanses of the floor plan, like the family or living rooms.
If your home has a vaulted ceiling, expand your space even more by painting it with a fourth color, a shade between your light and middle colors. (Reference 1)
