Choosing a Bedroom Colour Scheme

Your bedroom walls are the first thing you see in the morning and the last thing you see at night, so choosing the right colour scheme could have a huge influence on your mood. Colour theorist have their opinion what colour will make you feel what emotion but the important thing is to choose a palette that makes you feel good.

Colour theory

In order to work out which combinations of colours go well together you should start by looking at a colour wheel.  Complementary colours are directly opposite each other on the colour wheel and are vibrant and energetic when used together. One way to use these contrasting combinations is to paint your walls in one colour, such as blue, and then use the complementary colour, in this case orange, as an accent through smaller objects like a lampshade or clock. Other pairs of complementary colours include violet and yellow, red and green.

The colours next to each other on the colour wheel are harmonising, for example shades of blue, turquoise and green. For bedrooms, red is racy and seductive while blue is peaceful and soothing, but best avoided in cooler north-facing rooms. A relatively neutral shade is probably best for the carpet as you will not want to have to change this next time you want to redecorate the walls.

Creating a cohesive scheme

Paint mismatched pieces of furniture in the same colour to bring the room together. If you have a painting, photograph or fabric that you want to be the focal point of the room, isolate two or three of the most prominent colours to form the basis of your colour scheme and the piece itself will act as an anchor drawing all the colours together.

Use the background colour from this item for the walls as the main base colour in your scheme. Take a mid-range tone for larger furniture, curtains or bed linen and use the brightest colour as an accent tone for smaller objects like a lamp or vase that you want to really stand out in the room. Don’t rely just on swatches when selecting paint colours.

Take home sample pots and paint a large square on the wall and look at how it changes at different times of day. Always buy more paint than you need so that you use the same batch for the whole room as there can sometimes be a slight variation between different mixes.