3 Simple Steps to Coordinating Color

A Guide to Picking and Coordinating Colors for the Elements of One Room, Multiple Rooms, Or for the Whole House in 3 Simple Steps.

I wanted this guide to help you pick and coordinate colors for the elements of one room, multiple rooms, or for the whole house in 3 simple steps, because this is where overwhelm can begin. Choosing a color and feeling confident in your choice can often stall a project from getting off the ground or lead to purchases that are regretted. So I wanted to walk you through how I choose my colors. Here are my 3 Simple Steps to Coordinating Color.

Step #1 – Pick a piece of inspiration. A painting, a rug, a fabric pattern, tile or existing wall color

For our Upper Level which we are going to rent out as an AirBnB. ​I decided to use fabric and to work with existing tile.​ I reupholstered the Dining Room chair seats just months before we decided to move so I decided to use that fabric as inspiration; especially since it looked good with the fireplace tile in the living room.

Step #2 – Match paint chips to 2-3 colors of the chosen item. You can pick additional colors if you are planning a whole house or floor; but do not go above 5 colors.

Since I was choosing colors for the whole second floor I went with 4 colors pulled from the fabric. The existing tile in the Living Area also had to be in the consideration but did not have to be an exact pull. (It could have been if you are a green lover. I like green as accent not as a main color unless the green leans blue.) The fireplace surround is made up of warm and cool hues of green tile so I leaned closer to the color of green in the chair rather than an exact match of one of the tiles. The reason is if I choose a yellow (warmer) green tile for the wall color such as leaf green the blue (cool) green tile color clashed. So I chose a muted (or tone) green from the fabric and it worked as a neutral green for both.

Step #3 – Get color strip for each of the chosen colors

So this is where you get all the colors on that strip for the other options in the space. You can see here all the blues that are in that color strip – I have the color chips spread out for easier viewing for you. You can see how the colors flow with the chosen inspiration piece. Note: you may need to get more than 1 piece as the strip may be broken up into 2 pieces. Together there should be 10 to 30 colors to choose from.

For the upper level I ended up with 28 colors to choose from. I have the strips and individual color strips for each. My neutral tan which matched the fabric was #207-C1 in Sherwin Williams so the whole strip goes from C1 to C7. I have a picture so you can see the progression of shades.

Bonus Step of Pulling It Together- Now choose your patterns or fabrics. Use these colors to help pick out other items in the room or house

This is where I used my colors for final decisions. For the upper level the lightest tan (which is a cream color) was used to choose the cabinet color since I wanted a painted cabinet for the kitchenette. The second to the darkest blue was chosen for the dining room and cushions for the living room. The green colors were used second from the darkest for the living room while the second lightest was used in the small bedroom. Colors flowed but not a color repeat. I like this style. If you are more into a balanced color scheme you could use, for example, the dining room blue for the sofa in Living room or as an accent wall in the living room.

One last comment on why I love choosing colors this way. I wanted a pop of color in the kitchenette – the space is full of neutral shades. I was out exploring one day and saw this poster. Great for an Airbnb in Louisville! So I pulled out my color strips and it matched. Another win! And it was 50% off. Another plus! Now I could head home knowing I had made a good purchase and it would work. Ease of mind and budget, I can’t think of anything better. ~wink~ So I hope these 3 Simple Steps to Coordinating Color get your next room or house off to a solid start.

I will download a video of the space next week as the progress goes forward. But if you would like a free PDF of 3 Simple Steps to Coordinating Color please click below. Until next week, go enjoy, explore, with grace and gumption.

Please go here to download a free PDF. You can also go to Pinterest for more ideas.