There are some clients who want neutral colour schemes because they think it’s easier to achieve. What a neutral colour scheme is varies from person to person. Some people think that an all white space is neutral. Others think that greys and taupes are neutral. Whatever you think a neutral colour scheme is, neutral colours don’t have to be boring.
Neutral colour schemes don’t always work
The reason neutral colour schemes don’t always work is because people seem to focus on colour and forget other important interior design elements. The other important interior design elements that make a neutral colour scheme work includes, texture, pattern, light and tones variations.
Let’s take an all white kitchen for example. To make an all white kitchen work you need variation. This might mean a profiled cupboard door rather than a flat cupboard door. A textured ceramic tile splashback rather than a reflective glass splashback. A countertop with specs or swirls and different tones of white from the same family.
Using an accent in a neutral space
To help make a neutral colour scheme work, an accent is helpful. An accent can be a colour or material. For example a gold accent or a timber accent. This variation in colour and material will add depth and interest to your neutral space.
Thankfully there are many resources to help you come up with a neutral colour scheme that is warm and inviting. The trick is balance. You don’t want too much of one colour in your neutral colour scheme.
In a previous post I wrote about how a good colour schemes starts with three colours. This is true for a neutral colour scheme as well.
Ensure that your range of neutral colours all have the same undertone. White colours for example can have a yellow or blue undertone, this way you can be sure that space isn’t boring. Then consider adding pattern and texture to avoid flat, one dimensional spaces.
