The colour wheel is divided into three categories: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The three primary colours are red, yellow and blue. These colours are considered to be foundation colours because they are used to create all other colours. By combining two of the primary colours, three secondary colours are formed. They are orange, green and violet. The six tertiary colours are made by combining a primary and an adjacent secondary colour. These colours are red-orange, red-violet, yellow-green, yellow-orange, blue-green and blue-violet. Using the colour wheel, six different colour schemes can be utilized to help you decorate your home.
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The Monochromatic Colour Scheme
Uses variations in lightness and saturation of a single colour. This scheme looks clean and elegant. Monochromatic colours go well together, producing a soothing effect. The monochromatic scheme is very easy on the eyes, especially with blue or green hues.
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The Analogous Colour Scheme
Uses colours that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel. One colour is used as a dominant colour while others are used to enrich the scheme. The analogous scheme is similar to the monochromatic one, but offers more nuances. Examples of Analogous colours on the 12 part colour wheel are yellow, yellow-green and green.
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The Complementary Colour Scheme
Consists of two colours that are opposite to each other on the colour wheel.
This scheme looks best when you place a warm colour against a cool colour, for example, red versus green-blue.
This scheme is intrinsically high-contrast. In the illustration below, there is a variation of yellow-green in the leaves and several variations of red-purple in the orchid. When using the complementary scheme, it is important to choose a dominant colour and use its complementary colour for accents. Using one colour for the background and its complementary colour to highlight important elements, you will get colour dominance combined with sharp colour contrast.
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The Split Complementary Scheme
Is a variation of the standard complementary scheme. It uses a colour and the two colours adjacent to its complementary. This provides high contrast without the strong tension of the complementary scheme. Yellow-orange, violet and blue.
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The Triadic Colour Scheme
Uses three colours equally spaced around the colour wheel. This scheme is popular among artists because it offers strong visual contrast while retaining balance, and colour richness. The triadic scheme is not as contrasting as the complementary scheme, but it looks more balanced and harmonious. Yellow-orange, red-violet and blue-green.
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The Tetradic (double complementary) Scheme
Is the richest of all the schemes because it uses four colours arranged into two complementary colour pairs. This scheme is hard to harmonize; if all four colours are used in equal amounts, the scheme may look unbalanced, so you should choose a colour to be dominant or subdue the colours. Yellow-green, yellow-orange, blue-violet and red-violet.
The Harris Colour Centre offers you over 6000 colours to choose from, to help you select the right colour scheme for your decor.
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