The Versatility of A Good Color Palette

When it comes to home decor, you already know I’m a huge advocate of the color palette. If you want to read about my thoughts on color, I’ll link additional articles below. The truth is, a well thought out color palette can add longevity to your home decor, provide versatility, and carry you through multiple seasons. Let me explain.

Begin with a good base

Every home decor project, update, refresh, or overhaul should start in the same place: a good base. Your base color palette is entirely up to you. You may choose red and white, blue and pink, black and white or any other color combination you love as your base. For us, we chose the simple black, cream, and brown.

Why? Well, first because black and cream are basically timeless. This color combo also spans the gammet of styles. Black and white buffalo check can read country farmhouse. Black and white stripe can read modern. Black and cream with a little brown (either wood or leather) can read modern organic. The base of black and white, or black and cream in our case, allows us to switch things up as we like. We can be modern organic today, and add in a little modern rustic tomorrow.

In the photo below, you can see we have black velvet pillows with cream piping, cream linen, and a cream chevron. If you catch a sneak peak, the rug beneath is a taupe, bringing in the brown color story.

Add a spring summer moment

As soon as the holidays are done and over and all the winter decor is put away for the season, it’s time to bring in a little lighter color moment to the black and white palette. For us, that meant bringing in a soft sage green. Because the back of our house had multiple windows looking into the woods, introducing green indoors was a seamless choice. And look how beautifully it pairs with the black and white.

When you have a solid base color palette, adding in an additional color moment for seasons is simple and inexpensive because you aren’t recreating the decorating wheel each time.

Transition to autumn

As the months grow cooler and you wish to bring in a touch of warmth for the autumn months, substituting one additional color or texture for another completely transforms the look and feel of your space.

Here we chose to add in brown leather lumbar pillows to the green, black and cream color palette. As the weather transitioned more from late summer to fall, the green pillows could be stored until another time. The brown addition coordinated well with an already existing leather sofa, but added another layer of seasonal warmth to lighter colored upholstered pieces in the room.

Bring in texture and pattern for winter

As the autumn fades to winter, but before the holiday decor makes its appearance again, adding in another color moment to the base is a way to liven things up as the world begins its hibernation. For our black and cream color story, we chose to add in a gray plaid. Plaid is always an easy choice for winter because it transitions well into the holidays, but has the staying power to stand on its own.

Create warmth with throw blankets

Let’s not forget the importance of a good throw blanket! Even in the warm months of summer, having a soft layer to wrap up in for movie nights or moments reading is a seasonal luxury all its own! When thinking of your base color palette and your coordinating color stories, keep in mind texture and weight as you add and remove blankets throughout the seasons.

Here we have a black faux fur, and cream faux fur, a gray plaid, and a green knit. Each of these can transition between seasons, and add another layer of texture to the color story we’ve created.

Don’t forget artwork

When selecting artwork for your home, always keep your color palette in mind. As we were packing to move, I selected the prints that continued our color story. Below, you’ll see watercolors, prints, abstracts, and oils all telling the same color story. This type of selection provides interest to a space. One moment is abstract, while the next may be more traditional, but they exist together in same space because they tell the same color story.

The versatility of a good color palette

While I’ve used the example of black and cream as our color palette adding in greens, browns, and grays for seasonal touches, your color palette may vary. Whether or not you use a neutral or a primary color as your base, keep in mind that a good color palette tells a story. If you stay within the color story you’ve chosen to tell, your home will be cohesive and interesting. Having a good color palette can add longevity to your home decor, adds versatility, and will carry you through multiple seasons.

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