School of Decorating

Decorate with Confidence and Create a Home You Love

  • Free Class
  • Videos
  • Blog
    • How to Decorate
    • Simple DIY Projects
    • Life Tips
    • Success Stories
    • Our Home Tour
  • Classes
  • About
  • Contact

How to Use the Same Color Palette Five Different Ways

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, on purchases made after following an affiliate link. See my full disclosure here.

October 28, 2014 By Jackie

The secret to a colorful home is fewer colors. You don’t have to use every color. You don’t have to use a lot of colors. You have to use the right colors consistently.

Which colors are right is up to you.

What I want to show you today is how powerful a whole house color palette can be for creating a connection between rooms and overall flow through your home.

Everyone would describe my home as colorful. But I only use a few main colors and neutrals in my home.

In my living room, I use gray, teal, and green. In my dining room, I use teal, green, and smoky blue. The kitchen is smoky blue with touches of gray and green. In my bedroom, I use teal, turquoise, and gray. In my son’s room, I use teal and green.

All kind of sounds the same, right?

But these rooms aren’t all the same. They all have their own personalities because I applied the same colors differently in each space.

That means I created a colorful home with only a few colors. It flows together, yet every room feels distinct.

Yes, I used the same color palette in five rooms, but they don’t all look the same.  They just look good together.

How to use the same colors in multiple rooms to create a different look and feel

1.  A Bold, but Elegant Color Combination

In my dining room, dark teal walls above the board and batten, smoky blue floor to ceiling curtain panels, and sophisticated touches of chartreuse create an elegant feeling.

Modern romantic teal dining room

2. Identical Colors Used to Create a Different Feeling

The exact same wall color in my youngest son’s room paired with lime green creates a youthful and energetic space.

Modern Teal Nursery Modern Animal Theme Nursery

3. Surprise!  The Same Colors, This Time as Accents

A brighter teal and the same chartreuse green pop off dark gray and navy in our living room, creating a fun, but relaxing lounge for the heart of our home.

living-room-sofa

How to Finish That Project You've Been Putting Off Forever | tealandlime.com

4. Wall Color There, Becomes a Rug Color Here

The gray is repeated on the rug in the adjacent kitchen and the green reappears on a light fixture, while the walls are a light smoky blue to keep the kitchen light and fresh.

Eat In Kitchen

5. When You Find a Wall Color You Love, Use It in Multiple Rooms

In our bedroom, we used the same dark gray wall color from our living room (and also our office) to create a moody accent wall behind the bed.  It’s the perfect backdrop for the turquoise lamps with teal patterned shades.

how-to-style-his-nightstand-3 How to decorate a nightstand | tealandlime.com

How You Use Color is More Important Than How Many Colors You Use

There is nothing the same about these rooms, except the color. The color is what unifies them, what makes them belong together, what makes them flow. The color is the great connector.

They all feel different.  They all have a different energy.  They all showcase the same colors, but they’re applied differently.

The trick is in the application. A wall color in one room becomes a rug color in the next. A small accent color in one room becomes a statement color in the next.

The same (few) colors used in different ways creates different effects.

When we finished our basement, we took a similar approach. We chose a whole basement color palette. We repeated some of the colors from upstairs (dark blue and smoky blue), but we wanted to define the basement as a separate space, like an escape within our home. Careful use of color allowed us to tie this space into our home while giving it a unique personality.

We only introduced one new color in the basement – yellow.

My office is white and blue with touches of yellow. It also has a great bamboo counter and zebra wood desk.  Of course, teal and turquoise make an appearance, too.

studiowithdeskdecal

The game room is overflowing with white, gray, blue, teal, turquoise, and yellow.

DIY upholstered banquette

The family room has smoky blue carpet, white walls, and the bamboo reappears as an accent wall.

Painted Dresser Modern Media Stand

The same blue from my office (and the rug upstairs in our living room) reappears in the playroom as an all-encompassing mural.

pirate-playroom-reading-daybed

Again, it sounds like all the same colors (because it is), but the rooms don’t look or feel the same. They just look like they go together. That’s the power of a defined color palette.

Want some help choosing colors for your home?

Ever wish someone could just tell you what colors look best together? You’re in luck. Check out my Create a Cohesive Home with Color class and learn how to confidently choose colors for your whole home.

 

Previous Post
What Everyone Ought to Know About Using Color in Their Home
Next Post
The Secret of Creating a Cohesive Home

Comments

  1. Catherine says

    October 28, 2014 at 7:32 am

    This post is so timely for my family. We just walked through Parade of Homes and realized that our favorite homes chose a palette and stuck to it. We have saved nearly enough for new flooring and are thinking it would be best to figure out our palette before making any changes. Thank you for writing an easy to understand post with plenty of picture examples!

    • Jackie says

      October 28, 2014 at 10:04 am

      Catherine, So glad you liked this. I find the same thing when I walk through model homes and even hotels…the ones with a consistent palette feel so put together. Stay tuned for next week’s post on the other elements to consider!

  2. Ashley says

    October 28, 2014 at 9:06 am

    Where did you find the curtains in your youngest sons room?

    • Jackie says

      October 28, 2014 at 9:59 am

      I made them from a West Elm shower curtain and extra fabric for length. The details are all here:

  3. Debra says

    October 28, 2014 at 8:39 pm

    I am looking for a seating area like the one in your game room. Tell me more !

    • Jackie says

      October 28, 2014 at 9:26 pm

      Debra, you can get all the details on the upholstered bench area here: Built In Upholstered Bench

  4. Emily says

    October 29, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    Thank you for this post. I was questioning my repeating colors through my rooms and master suite. I am using cream,chocolate and gray/blue but in totally different styles. Living room is casual comfortable with walls grey/blue. Kitchen is tan walls with cream and dark woods and blue accents. That flows to a huge pantry/laundry with a lighter blue/grey Beadboard walls decorated in a French country feel including open stained shelving. From there is the master with the fabrics more luxurious in the same color pallet! I was thinking I needed to change it up but it feels so good to me. Nice to know that this is “OK”.

    • Jackie says

      October 29, 2014 at 10:14 pm

      Emily, It’s more than okay. It sounds amazing!

  5. Jaclyn says

    October 30, 2014 at 12:01 pm

    This is so perfect. My partner and I will be buying our first home soon, and of course I’m already thinking about decorating. This really inspires me to create distinctive rooms while maintaining a cohesive color palette and home. Thanks so much for the post!

  6. Lindsey says

    November 9, 2014 at 6:43 am

    What color gray is in your living and bedroom?? The gray we used looks too blue and I’m trying to find a true gray!

    • Jackie says

      November 10, 2014 at 9:07 am

      Lindsey, it is Zinc by Martha Stewart. It has a green undertone.

Hi, I'm Jackie. I believe you are the best person to decorate your home and I'm here to help.

I teach online decorating classes to help you create your dream home. Click on the images below to learn more about each class.

Take an Online Decorating Class

Best for beginners!

12 Class Bundle!

Get a free copy of my book
Free Decorating


Start reading now...

Follow Me Here

Categories

  • How to Decorate
  • Simple DIY Projects
  • Life Tips
  • Success Stories
  • Our Home Tour
I believe you are the best person to decorate your home. You just need a dash of courage and a dose of decorating know-how. That's why I created School of Decorating.

I know how frustrating it is to feel like failure at home. I also know how amazing it feels when decorating finally makes sense and your home reflects you. I want to share what I've learned so you can create a home you love without years of trial and error.

Get a free copy of my best-selling book Free Decorating

  • How to Decorate
  • Simple DIY Projects
  • Life Tips
  • Success Stories
  • Our Home Tour

© 2018 School of Decorating
 · Terms of Use 
· Privacy Policy
 · Disclaimer




This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

Necessary Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.