8 Easy Color Lessons Every Home Decorator Should Know

Decorating is made easier when you know a few things about color. Here are 8 important things to know about color and how to use them when you decorate.

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Today, let’s chat about color. You might be thinking that I would be the last blogger to give you color tips that would change the way you decorate your home. After all, my home is very neutral. Yes, it is. Although it is predominantly neutral, there is more color in our home than you might think.

I work with color all day long. As a decorator and shelter blogger, my world is filled with beautiful things and beautiful colors.

Color is a very complex topic when it comes to decorating. Still, my superpower is the ability to break down interior Design concepts into easy-to-understand, doable processes that you can use in your home!

Here are 8 things you should know about using color when decorating your home…

Know Your Color Palette

A color palette is a beautiful thing when it comes to decorating! Choosing colors for a room or your whole home and sticking to them is super important, and this is our first color lesson.

1. Working with too many colors in your home: It’s easy to get carried away with a rainbow of hues, but this can lead to a visually chaotic space.
2. Using only a few colors in your home: While simplicity is key, too few colors can create a bland and uninspired look.
3. Constantly switching or changing colors in your home: Indecisiveness can turn into a never-ending cycle of paint swatches and mood boards, leaving you feeling overwhelmed.
4. Not knowing what colors you’re working with in your home: Without a clear understanding of your color palette, you risk creating a disjointed design.

Here are a couple of ways to make decorating more complicated than it needs to be:

1. Working with too many colors: It’s easy to get carried away, but this leads to a visually chaotic space unless you are a very seasoned decorator.
2. Using only a few colors: While simplicity is key, too few colors can look bland and uninspired. This is a mistake I used to make.
3. Constantly switching colors: Indecisiveness can turn into a never-ending cycle of paint swatches and mood boards.
4. Not knowing your colors: Without a clear understanding of your palette, your rooms can feel disjointed.

The solution? Choose a cohesive and uncomplicated color palette. Keeping things simple will bring harmony and joy to your space. Make this your color palette mantra…

Make a color palette decision and stick to it.

Opt for 3–5 complementary colors that work well together, and don’t forget to add white and black for balance. Use lighter and darker versions of your primary colors to add depth.

Using Colors You Are Stuck With

Ever stare at a red or rust brick fireplace that you just can’t paint over? Or maybe you have golden oak floors that you’d love to replace? We all have those elements in our homes that we are stuck with and aren’t exactly thrilled about.

If you find yourself stuck with a purple sofa, don’t fret! With small accents, you can seamlessly incorporate hints of violet or a lovely periwinkle into your decor. Think pillows, throws, or vases in those complementary hues. Keeping these additions small ensures that when the time comes to say goodbye to the purple elephant in the room, you can easily part with these accent pieces without a second thought!

The flooring in our home is oak, but not a very pretty oak. Its orange undertone can be troublesome, and we aren’t planning to change it. Instead, I’ve kept our color palette warm and added pops of caramel with cinnamon undertones. This helps the flooring look more intentional and makes our rooms feel cohesive and inviting.

Embrace the color you’re stuck with by using it as an accent. Just a couple of items in a similar shade strategically placed around the room can work wonders in tying everything together seamlessly. Do not let imperfect things in your home steal the joy of the blessing of a home you love.

Color Is All About Undertones

Color complexity often comes from undertones. Undertones are the hidden tones under a color that change how it looks and how it works with other colors.

Being familiar with undertones is so important. They give depth and character to a color and will help you create a cohesive palette.

Undertones are important to become familiar with! You can read about Warm Colors, Cool Colors, And Undertones HERE.

Have A Working Knowledge Of Clean And Dirty Colors

Learning about the concept of clean and dirty colors felt like a revelation to me! It’s a fundamental aspect that every home decorator should grasp.

Why is understanding clean and dirty colors so important? Because we all want a beautiful home! Knowing the difference between the two makes decorating so much easier. Clean colors work best with other clean colors, and dirty colors look best with their counterparts. Mixing them in the wrong way or in the wrong amounts can make a room feel unbalanced and a bit dull. If you ever wonder why the colors in a room look off, it is most often the undertones fighting one another.

In the image above, clean and dirty colors live happily side by side, creating a cohesive look. They can look beautiful together, giving room depth and interest. It’s all about getting the undertones right.

Here’s a huge post with everything you need to know about Clean Colors, Dirty Colors, And Undertones. Knowing about undertones will make decorating with color more sensible.

Using White

White has the magic ability to make everything in a room look fresh and clean. It also gives the eye a place to rest, which keeps a color palette from feeling too heavy or overwhelming. My best advice is to use plenty of pretty white when you decorate.

I use quite a bit of white in our Tanglewood home. Our house is very open, with high ceilings, interesting architectural details, and lots of windows that look out onto the ever-changing views of our country golf course. Before we bought it, all the walls were painted a medium tan color, which made the rooms feel closed in and disconnected from the beautiful scenery outside. I knew painting the walls and trim white would make the whole house feel cohesive and open, while letting the view become the focal point in every room.

We chose to paint our entire home Simply White by Benjamin Moore. It’s a creamy white that reads bright yet warm.

Here are a few tried-and-true tips for decorating with white:

• Use white as a backdrop: Walls, trim, or large furniture pieces in white create a calm background that allows other colors in the room to shine.
• Add white accessories: A white vase, lamp, or bowl can instantly brighten a vignette and make the other colors in your palette pop.
• Layer different whites: Mix warm whites and cool whites carefully, but don’t be afraid to use variations. This adds depth and keeps a room from looking flat.
• Pair white with texture: Woven baskets, nubby throws, linen pillows, and rustic woods look even prettier against white because the texture stands out.
• Break up bold color: If you love using strong colors, balance them with plenty of white so your room feels cheerful, not overpowering.
• Bring white into every room: A touch of white in each space ties your whole home together, even if the rooms have different color palettes.

White truly is a decorator’s best friend. It works with every style and every season, and it makes decorating easier because it plays so well with everything else.

Not all whites are the same! Some have warm undertones (yellow, peach, or red) and others lean cool (blue, green, or gray). When decorating, try to stick with whites that share the same undertone family so your space feels cohesive. If you love the look of mixed whites, make sure the undertones don’t clash—this small detail makes a big difference.

Don’t Use A Color In Isolation

How we see color is influenced by the colors around it. That’s why you should never use a color in isolation. Repeat your colors around a room so the whole space feels balanced and pulled together.

I recently added a bit of green to our living room after finding a pair of green lamps I loved. To make them work in the space, I repeated the color in a few other places—a pair of green ginger jars on the mantel and a green plant on the curlicue chest. I sprinkled small amounts of green around the room, which helped the whole room feel balanced and intentional.

Many people choose wall paint or big-ticket items like sofas or rugs without thinking about how they will work with the other colors in the room. Always get large swatches of fabrics and paint colors and see how they look with what you already have.

Tips For Using A Pop Of Color

• Repeat the color at least three times: A color looks intentional when it’s sprinkled throughout the space, not just in one spot.
• Vary the size of the accents: Use a mix of large, medium, and small touches of the color for a natural look.
• Spread the color around the room: Place accents on different sides of the room to keep the eye moving and create balance.
• Use different textures and finishes: A pillow, a lamp base, and a piece of pottery in the same color will add depth and interest.
• Anchor the pop of color with neutrals: Pairing bold colors with white, beige, or gray helps them look fresh instead of overwhelming.
• Change pops of color seasonally: Swap in lighter or brighter tones for spring and summer and richer, deeper ones for fall and winter.
• Keep it simple: Too many bold colors can compete. Focus on one pop color at a time for the most balanced, cohesive look.

You can read more about this in my post on Why Balance Is Important.

Light And Color

Light plays a huge role in how color looks in a room. A paint color, fabric, or rug will change depending on the time of day and the kind of light it’s seen in. Morning light can make a color look fresh and cool, while evening light often makes the same color feel warmer and softer. Artificial light also changes how colors read, depending on the type of bulb you use.

That’s why it’s so important to test colors in your own home before making a decision. The easiest way to do this is to paint large pieces of white poster board with your sample colors and tape them to different walls in the room. Look at them at different times of the day, and with the lights on and off, before choosing your final color.

Tips For Working With Light And Color:

• Test colors in natural light: Open the blinds or curtains and check how your paint or fabric looks in the morning, afternoon, and evening.
• Check with artificial light: Incandescent, LED, and warm bulbs all affect color differently. Use the kind of light you plan to live with.
• Think about direction: Rooms facing north usually have cooler light, while south-facing rooms get warmer light throughout the day.
• Don’t skip the night test: A color you love during the day can feel completely different under lamps at night.
• Sample generously: Small paint chips won’t tell you enough. Go big with poster board or paint large swatches directly on your wall.

Light and color are inseparable. Once you see how much light affects your choices, you’ll be able to pick colors that look beautiful in your home all the time, not just in the paint store.

Know The 60-30-10

This decorating principle is as classic as they come, and for good reason. It works! It’s also incredibly easy to understand and use. The 70-20-10 rule is just a variation of the same idea.

In the 60-30-10 breakdown, sixty percent of a room’s color scheme should come from one dominant color. This usually means the walls, flooring, and larger furniture pieces. A seasoned decorator knows this sixty percent is often best when it’s a neutral because neutrals create a calm backdrop and allow the other colors in the room to shine.

Colors like white, beige, gray, sand, taupe, caramel, or buff all work beautifully as a dominant neutral. I personally lean toward lighter neutrals, but the key is to choose a neutral you love living with. You can read more here: What You Need To Know About The Color Beige. This post is very informative, a must-read.

The 30 percent is your secondary color, which adds personality and depth. Think about a chair, drapes, a large rug, or a piece of furniture in a contrasting but complementary shade.

Finally, the 10 percent is your accent color. What some decorators call the “pop.” This should be sprinkled around the room in accessories, pillows, art, or flowers. It’s the smallest portion, but it makes a big impact when done well. It will add tons of interest and personality to your room.

The 70-20-10 rule works in the same way, just with a slightly stronger focus on your main color. It’s often a better fit if you love a more neutral, simplified look and want your secondary and accent colors to feel softer.

Tips For Using The 60-30-10 (Or 70-20-10) Rule:

• Stick with it loosely: It’s a guideline, not a strict formula. Use it to guide your decisions, not box you in.
• Think about where the percentages go: Walls and flooring usually take up the largest share, textiles and upholstery make up the secondary, and smaller accents round out the 10 percent.
• Remember balance over perfection: If your room feels visually balanced, you’re using the rule well.
• Keep undertones consistent: No matter the percentages, colors need to share undertones to look cohesive. (Undertones, again. They are that important!)

This simple rule keeps color choices from feeling overwhelming and helps every room look pulled together and intentional.

By mastering these color principles, you’ll not only understand color better but also feel more confident when decorating your home. These concepts are simple but powerful tools that can help you create rooms that feel cohesive and inviting. Start by choosing one space in your home and think about how these color lessons can be put into practice. Even small changes can make a big difference—and you’ll love the way your home looks and feels.

Other Decorating Posts You Might Like

If you’d like even more helpful ideas about using color in your home, here are a few related posts you might enjoy:

Mastering The Art Of Choosing The Perfect Paint Color
Learn how your decorating style and color palette work hand in hand. This post will help you choose colors that highlight your personal style and keep your home feeling cohesive.

7 Tips For Decorating With Neutrals
Neutrals don’t have to be boring! This post shares practical tips for using neutral tones in a way that feels fresh, layered, and full of interest.

How To Make The Move To A More Neutral Color Palette
Thinking about shifting to a more neutral home? This post walks you through the steps to create a soft, timeless palette that’s easy to decorate with.

Frequently Asked Questions About Decorating With Color

Shopping Guide

Happy decorating, friends…