Complementary Colour Guide: Selecting Colours For A Scheme
When designing an interior scheme, choosing complementary paint colours for your ceiling, woodwork, furniture and walls will create a cohesive finish. Using colours that work in perfect harmony on all elements will add depth and character to your scheme, for a coordinated and carefully considered end result.
Read our simple guide to choosing complementary paint colours, with tips and inspiration to help you combine colours with confidence…
What are complementary colours?
When we talk about ‘complementary colours’, this could be related, tonal colours that are based on the same pigment, or contrasting shades that combine to create a beautiful colour balance. Red and green is a classic example of a complementary colour contrast, coming from opposite sides of the colour wheel.
By introducing complementary colours in your interior designs – rather than one colour throughout – you can create visual interest, adding depth and character. You could incorporate a colour highlight to provide a focal point on your skirting boards, for example. Or paint your ceiling in a lighter colour that is related to your walls to offer a touch of contrast.
Visit the product page for your chosen Little Greene colour to see our recommended colour pairings. You will find a selection of complementary whites and neutrals as well as contrasting accents and related dark shades, making the process of finding complementary colours a truly effortless task. Alternatively, order the Little Book of Colour to browse complementary colour pairings for every shade in the palette.
Wall: Baked Cherry
Dado Rail: Córdoba
Lower Wall: Invisible Green
Choosing the right complementary colour palette for your room
By introducing complementary colours, you can create instant visual interest, depth and character to a scheme. You might choose to enhance your living room or bedroom by incorporating a contrasting colour accent on your baseboards or panelling to provide a focal point. Alternatively, use different shades from one of our Colour Scales families which are created using varying strengths of the same pigment for a harmonious, tonal look.
Wall, Ceiling & Window Trim: Green Stone – Pale
Upper Panelling: Green Stone – Light
Lower Panelling: Green Stone
Inspiring complementary colour combinations
A contemporary twist on pink and green
Pink and green is a natural combination, reminiscent of the harmonious relationship between flowers and greenery. The traditional pairing of a natural green and light pink provides gentleness and tranquillity. But you can also bring a contemporary twist by incorporating unique, unexpected pink and green shades.
Cornicing: Slaked Lime
Highlight Stripe: Leather
Wall: Pea Green
Skirting and Panelling: Obsidian Green
Add impact to Pea Green walls with the statement bright pink, Leather. Introduce Obsidian Green on the skirting boards and panelling to frame this striking colour pairing. For something softer, Tracery II offers an elegant accompaniment to Light Beauvais. These sophisticated, pastel shades are ideally suited to a quiet, peaceful space, such as your bedroom, dressing room or home study.
Ceiling: Loft White
Upper Wall: Light Beauvais
Lower Wall: Tracery II
Pair orange and red tones with green for a classic contrast
Red and green is another tried and tested colour combination, using shades on opposite sides of the colour wheel to provide a confident contrast. This pairing will fill your scheme with personality, creating an engaging and inviting atmosphere that’s ideal for high-traffic, energetic spaces like kitchens, utilities and boot rooms.
Wall, Peg Rails and Unit: Pleat
Shelving: Heat
Consider the playful combination of Pleat and Heat for your boot room, hallway or porch, welcoming guests from the outside. For a homely kitchen setting, a more muted combination will work well – such as Windmill Lane with the purple-red, Córdoba. These elegant hues provide a soothing backdrop for natural stone, brick and wood finishes.
Wall and Ceiling: Windmill Lane
Kitchen Units: Córdoba
Use blue and yellow for a vibrant combination
Blue and yellow is another inviting, complementary colour pairing. Depending on the shades used, this colour combination can have a charming, traditional feel, or it can appear striking and contemporary. Using the confident mid-blue, Air Force Blue, alongside warm yellows, Carys and Light Gold, will create a joyful living space.
Outer Stripe: Air Force Blue
Middle Stripe: Carys
Inner Stripe: Light Gold
For an impactful, contemporary finish, incorporate vibrant blues and muted yellows such as Mazarine and Yellow-Pink. By embracing each of these shades across a large expanse, you will make them both appear more vivid and intense – a captivating backdrop for a multi-functional exterior space where you can socialise and entertain friends.
Far Wall: Mazarine
Right Wall & Island: Yellow-Pink
Ceiling: Shirting
Use bolder shades alongside neutral walls
A great way to create a sense of flow in your home is by choosing one base neutral that will feature on walls and woodwork in different rooms. You can then introduce a variety of coordinating accent colours to bring design interest to each individual space.
Wall: Flint
Ceiling: Deep Space Blue
Window Frame: Marigold
This personality-filled bathroom scheme is an excellent example, with the sophisticated warm white, Flint, providing a versatile backdrop on the walls. Two complementary accent colours – Marigold and Deep Space Blue – feature on the window frames and ceiling, with striking use of colour delivering a statement finish.
Wall: Flint
Ceiling: Deep Space Blue
Window Frame: Marigold
For guidance and inspiration, we would always recommend exploring the colour combinations on our product pages.
Our Little Book of Colour, offers a handy guide to our complete colour offering and suggested colour pairings. Alternatively, consider booking a Little Greene Colour Consultancy to receive expert colour advice to help you plan your schemes and add beauty to your home décor with complementary colours.
