Custom Color Palette for BHG.com

A few weeks ago Better Homes and Gardens asked me to suggest a fresh color palette and create a design board complete with accessories that would help make a room pop for spring. Citron yellow and a gray-pink were my inspiration. Check out the full list of resources and tips from bhg.com.

Primary vs. Accent Colors

Better Homes and Gardens offers a simple way to balance the amount of the primary color used in a room as well as accent colors. Here’s what they suggest:

“Choose one main color to serve as 40-60 percent of your color palette, then one to two supporting colors to comprise 30-40 percent of your color palette, and fill the remainder with one to two accents.”

This is a truly useful guide, but I never subscribe strictly to decorating rules. As you gain more confidence in your design sense, feel free to play around with these color ratios.

Tip

If you are afraid of intense colors, try using a wall stencil, which lets you accent the wall with color without overwhelming the room.