How to Decide on Your Bedroom Color Scheme

You start and end the day in your bedroom, so you want to create an inviting space that makes you feel good. Choosing the right bedroom color scheme is instrumental in setting the proper tone. Do you want heightened glamour or homey comfort? A room that exudes a warm glow or a cool chic? Follow our tips to help you develop some exciting bedroom color ideas.

Work with Your Interior Design

The style of your home plays a big role in developing color schemes. It would be jarring to have a brightly colored bedroom in a minimalist home swathed in neutral palettes, for instance. You’ll want a bedroom color palette that flows with the rest of your house. Darker hues and metal accents work well in an industrial interior design, for example, or use turquoise to play up a vibrant bohemian style.

Pick Colors That Play Well with Your Furnishings

Colors should complement the furnishings in your room. If you’ve got a traditional mahogany four-poster bed, it may not mesh with a bold black-and-white geometric wallpaper. If your bedroom set is made of dark wood, a lighter color scheme can help brighten up the space. 

Consider Your Bedroom’s Dimensions

The best bedroom color schemes enhance the room’s attributes. The ideal shade can make a small room look larger or widen a narrow space. If you don’t have a lot of windows, lighter shades can add much-needed brightness. If you want to draw the eye to a particular spot, paint one wall a different, standout color than the others to create a focal point.

Set a Mood

Certain colors signify a mood—blush pink connotes femininity and romance, light green evokes nature’s beauty and black and white is often used for upscale, sophisticated glamour. Beyond that, you may want to explore color psychology when coming up with your master bedroom color schemes. This school of thought focuses on how colors make us feel. What kind of emotional response do you want to have when you walk into your bedroom? Yellow encourages a sunny, optimistic outlook, blue calms and promotes peacefulness, while orange can spark cheerfulness and creativity. There are many aspects of color that also play a role in setting mood: 

  • Tint (color with white mixed in)

  • Shade (color with black mixed in)

  • Tone (color with gray mixed in)

  • Value (the amount of light a color has)

  • Saturation (the richness of a color)

  • Chroma (color in its purest state)

So for instance, blue that has shade in it can look bold and dramatic, while blue with a tint can have the opposite, more ethereal effect. 

Use a Color Wheel

Interior designers are well versed in using the color wheel, and you should be, too. Its 12 wedges consist of:

  • The three primary colors (red, yellow, blue)

  • Three secondary colors made from mixing the primary colors with each other (purple, green, orange)

  • Six tertiary colors (red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, yellow-green, yellow-orange and red-orange)

Develop your bedroom color scheme ideas by picking hues on the wheel. There are specific ways of doing this:

  • Monochromatic (taking one color and creating a palette with its different tints, shades and tones)

  • Complementary (pairing colors that are opposite on the color wheel, such as purple and yellow)

  • Split-complementary (using a color plus two others that are on either side of that color’s opposite, e.g.,: yellow, blue-purple and red-purple)

  • Analogous (using up to six colors that sit next to each other on the wheel)

  • Triad (a combination of three colors that make up a triangle with their placement on the wheel)

To create a cohesive palette, incorporate a neutral into your chosen color scheme. In addition to black and white, this includes ivory, taupe and gray.  You can also work metallics into your overall palette for added polish and visual interest. With these principles in mind, you can create fresh and modern bedroom color schemes.

Remember That Your Color Scheme Is More Than Just Paint

There are many exciting possibilities for incorporating your colors into your bedroom design. The color of your walls is just the tip of the iceberg. A perfect example is your bedding. You may opt for a quilted coverlet in one of your chosen hues, or you may select pristine white bedding and use throw pillows to add pops of color. Window coverings, rugs, decorative accessories and artwork are other places where you can put your color scheme to good use.

Choosing your bedroom color scheme is an easy way to create a space that is visually harmonious and also an expression of your individual style and aesthetic. Once you’ve picked your perfect colors, shop Elegant Strand to find the pieces that bring your color scheme to beautiful life. With high-quality details and luxurious materials, our offerings give you everything you need to make your bedroom a sanctuary.