Color Schemes
Monochromatic Color

A Monochromatic Color Scheme is created by taking one Hue and repeating it in various Tints, Shades and Tones.

On the Color Wheel at right, you see Orange has been selected. You might think Orange is too bright to use as the basis for decorating the living room or even creating a painting. But look how many possibilities that one color can give us.

In my studio, I simply took a pure Orange paint and began by mixing a little white to get Tints, black to get Shades and gray to get Tones. There are only 8 swatches shown here, but variations can be virtually endless.

Notice how you can have a variety of beautiful paint colors in rich deep browns, pale corals, warm taupes, and exciting jewel tones. All from one color - ORANGE !

Remember, you can do the same thing with any of the Hues on the Basic Color Wheel. Try it!

Some people might think this color scheme is boring because you only use variations of one color. But as you can see, the effect can be quite interesting. This approach is actually considered very sophisticated and usually results creates a calming effect.

Decorating with a Single Color
This is the easiest approach to design because nothing clashes.

Those individual paint strips you find at the hardware store are usually variations of one color. Pick the color you like and use it as a handy reference guide for choosing everything in the room.

1. Use the most neutralized color for the majority of the space such as wall paint.

2. The dark and light colors can be used for large pieces of furniture.

3. Save the brightest most intense hues for the accents and artwork.

You'll have a beautifully harmonized room without even thinking about what matches!

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