How to find the right accent colour for your home

Published on 2021-12-22

Have you sometimes felt that something is missing in a room, but you cannot put your finger on what? That missing component could well be the accent colour. Most often a contrasting or complementary tone to the overall colour scheme, the accent colour adds a touch of drama and ties the room together, by accentuating your general colour palette without overtaking it.

advice on colour FOR your home

Here is a shortlist of advice on how to find the perfect colourful accents for your home. There are many ways to work with colour, and every piece of advice is explained in this article.

1. Select a colour you like
2. Find the right contrast
3. Dare to be playful
4. Accessorise your home with colour
5. Mix different tones and textures
6. Combine several accent colours
7. Go for wooden and metallic accents

Neutral/white colour palette and black colour accents for selected furniture and home lift.

1. Select a colour you like

To choose your accent colour, you can use a colour wheel, study colour theory, or just go with your gut feeling, but regardless of how you make your choice, you should select a hue that you like. It is of course also an advantage if your favourite hue works with the general colour scheme of your home. Neutrals, like grey, black, or brown tones are probably the easiest colours to match but do not settle for easy unless you really want to. The most important thing is that you are happy with your choice. Just make sure that the colour you pick does not blend in too much with the dominating colour palette, it needs to pop just a little bit to give that sense of theme.

Dark colour schemes look even more dramatic when highlighted by accents of white.

2. Find the right contrast

While a darker palette will look great with crisp white accents, a home decorated in light, neutral tones, may need a bit of black or brown to create interest and contrast. Accents of bright colours work with both dark and light colour schemes, but unless you are sure that you love it, it may be wise to stay away from very stark contrasts such as bright red and green. If you love red, for example, but do not want it to become overwhelming, a great option is to choose tints like raspberry, burgundy or rusty orange.

Configurators offer you the possibility to see what a lift, kitchen or piece of furniture looks like in different colours.

3. Dare to be playful

So many people are afraid to use colour in interior design, but there really is no rational reason for it. As mentioned before, you just need to add a few accessories here and there to infuse the room with enough colour to create rhythm and interest. In addition, today, there are lots of 3D tools that enable you to visualise what new furnishings or features would look like in your home, like this lift configurator, for example. Playing around with the configurator allows you to discover what the lift would look like in different colours and materials before you make your decision. It does not cost a penny and is a lot of fun!

Airy living room accessorised with brown accents and an elegant beige Kalea Kosmos platform lift.

4. Accessorise your home with colour

In many ways, accents of colour can be added in the same way as accessories to your outfit. You start with the base (general colour palette) and then add things like belts, shoes, bags, jewellery, and scarves (accents) to make it come alive. Translated to interior design, this means that you can keep your general colour palette neutral and just add colourful textiles or artwork, which are easy enough to change if you grow tired of them.

The leather chair, textured rugs and wood framed domestic lift, spice up the taupe and brown colour scheme.

5. Mix different tones and textures

If you use the exact same tint and finish as a theme throughout your entire colour scheme, it can easily become overwhelming or even boring. A great way to make your colourful accents more interesting is to combine several shades of the same colour, or to break it up with different materials and patterns. Composing your interior design using a range of similar tones, finishes and materials will create a layered harmony with much more depth.

Black and grey neutrals are successfully combined with splashes of bright yellow and light pink.

6. Combine several accent colours

Impossible to choose just one colour? Do not worry! It is possible to combine several different colours, but a piece of advice is to stick to a few neutrals, like black and grey, combined with just one or two more vibrant hues that run throughout your home décor. Your chosen theme colours can be repeated as complete or incomplete combinations, the trick is to repeat the bold hues just enough times to create a sense of balance and cohesion. To get some more inspiration check out our Kalea Colour Me Happy Guide.

Wood and gold add warmth and a sense of luxury. The gold mosaic wallpaper looks great from inside the lift.

7. Go for wooden or metallic accents

Your accent colour does not necessarily need to be a colour. A theme of wood or metal is a subtle, yet distinctive way to elevate your interior design and create a sense of cohesion. Wooden materials infuse the room with warmth, while metallic accents like gold, copper or chrome are a great way to add some glamour. If you choose metal or wood as your main theme, just make sure to include subtle variations of tone, grain, and finish, especially if the rest of your colour palette is neutral.

Do you like the lifts you see in the pictures? We are always happy to help! Contact us to find out more or to get a free quote.

Other colourful ideas

Accent walls

Accent walls have the magic ability to create different zones in big open spaces and can also be used to highlight architectural features, like a fireplace or a beautiful window. Painted or wallpapered, an accent wall is one of the easiest ways to add colour and create a natural focal point for your room. While accent walls in darker hues will accentuate the depth and height of your room, an accent wall in a bold, bright colour can help make the room feel wider and more spacious.

The accent wall in soft black adds depth to the room and frames the cosy reading corner.

Highlight your furniture

It is really easy to add colour to your furniture and the good news is that you do not even need to paint the whole piece! Just highlight a few drawers on your chest of drawers or make the back of your bookcase pop with your favourite shade. It does not matter if the colour variation is subtle or bold, it will still have an impact and add an interesting feature to your room.

Parts of the back of the bookcase are painted in a sheer light blue, just enough to add a touch of colour.

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