How Accent Colors Really Work
What is an accent color? An accent color serves to grab attention, highlight a point of importance, and draw a sense of emotion. Its focus is primarily to create a stimulus in order to bring about a result for its purpose. In advertising it can be a sense of urgency to gain conversion. In home decor it can be to create relaxation and comfort.
With accents some may think of matching colors for home use. Yet they can also be contrast to each other. This is something few realize or think of for the home. We see it every day in the world around us but often fail to recognize how powerful they can be when used properly.
Within art these colors play a critical role. A piece is created by a determined color scheme that is derived from accents. Concerning art principles this is associated with placing emphasis within art.
The composition will be filled by these accents which then influence all other components of the work.
These colors not only will impact the mood and emotion within the subject matter of art, but also its influence within your home. This is how art becomes either a focal point for setting ambiance or a sore thumb that you never anticipated.
Importance Of Color At Home
Color draws upon a primal stimulus. The phrase “having a blue day” associates mood, emotion, and the events of life with a color. How we give context to the color through its subject matter will in turn impact how we see its influence.
When working with home decor color should be approached by more than what we like. Hue, saturation, and its value play into accents. These words are not something we hear every day but they become important. How artwork plays its own unique role will in turn offer more options than without it.
Coming to know these terms will aid in knowing when matching or a contrast of color is best. It will aid in you seeing your home much like an artist rather than a home improvement color swatch. You will be able to eliminate personal bias and what is not needed quickly.
Understanding Hue From Primary Colors
To understand where we must go first we must understand our primary colors. Red, yellow, and blue are the three primary colors upon which all other colors are derived from. When placed on a color wheel this can be easily seen.
Yellow begins to shift to orange and then red. Red begins to shift to violet and then blue. Blue will shift to green and then yellow. As these colors are mixed at the proper ratios we have hues that represent this combination.
Understanding Saturation In Color
Saturation in color refers to its intensity. Another way of saying this is how subtle or vibrant the color may be. We have all seen examples of this. Walk into any improvement store and visit the paint department. The color swatches on the wall will let you see this impact.
The subtle graduation of color from its base will depict the saturation. While they may give each variation its own name it is merely another representation of its parent color. This may help explain how a wall begins to look different when painted. Its parent variant is more vibrant to the degree of the color.
Understanding Value In Color
Value is speaking to how dark or light a color is. In using the color swatch example instead of looking up or down a chart you would be comparing left to right. It is not a parent child relationship. Rather it is like comparing from sibling to sibling.
It may be easy to mistake this as it being the change of one color to the next. For example the shift from yellow to orange and then red. Yet this is not the case.
While altering the primary colors can impact this, the value is not determined by that element. With this let’s go into what the difference is.
The Difference Between Saturation And Value
If you could adjust both saturation and value with a slider on a scale they would each impact the color differently. It can be difficult to see its impact in small increments. Yet on the extreme ends the difference becomes more clear.
Saturation will impact how strong that color becomes. In turn it will mute it to where it is more subtle. Value will impact how dark it moves toward black. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a very light gray of that color.
Its pure peak saturation is easier to see in the median between both extremes of its value. It can be said this way. Altering its value will yield another variation on a “gray scale”. While this is not totally true to definition it is the easier to understand this way.
Choosing Accent Colors For Your Home
Picking a color to use on your walls from a color palette can become a nightmare. You have multiple fields at play at the same time. A color can in the end appear like its parent unexpectedly when not envisioned. Additionally it can be too gray or dark without anticipating that outcome.
Additional issues come in that fabrics do not translate well in color to paints. If you attempt to play the color matching game it can drive you insane. The best way to tackle this issue is with accenting colors rather than matching with it.
The most common way to build this color scheme is through using a monochromatic or analogous format. Another format that can be used is with a complimentary color. Unfortunately a compliment at times is difficult to use as a stand alone without other elements.
Note that using the compliment of a color will not always work well with wall paints. Often this is best left to fabrics, rugs, or other materials like tile. Using a method of compliment is for greater contrast of opposing colors.
An artist will use additional formats to gain accent colors. Most often a tetradic formula will yield what is desired from its base colors to arrive at the desired impact. While a home can be approached this way it must be used three dimensionally. Using art on walls aids in successfully achieving this in a home.
What Is A Monochromatic Accent Color?
If you have attempted to color match a fabric to paint then you most likely already know what monochromatic is. The outcome of this attempt often will yield a color similar or like the color you wished to arrive at. This variation is a monochrome color.
In order to achieve a monochrome color you select a color on the color wheel. In this way you begin with the hue. Then you adjust the saturation and value to arrive at the monochrome variation.
What Is An Analogous Color?
An analogous color is simply hues that are next to each other on the color wheel. It is the shift from yellow to orange and then red. Picking these hues which are side by side allow for color accents that will work together in many situations.
Keep in mind you do not need to stay with the base color. You are looking to its many variations within the hue based upon altering saturation and value.
What Is A Complimentary Color?
A complimentary color are hue’s which reside opposite of each other on a color wheel. For example we all recognize red and green as Christmas colors. They work together in compliment. Likewise blue and orange are opposed to one another yet are often not seen together.
This method is often used more in design than decorating. What you purchase in rugs, carpets, tile, or other decor will be impacted by this color compliment. Bringing them into your home adds to the impact.
It is here that we need to begin understanding what a tetradic color format can give to your room. It is a far more immersive experience.
What Is A Tetradic Color Format?
If you have a lot of colors at play within your home it may be you need to use a tetradic formula. In taking the color wheel you simply are drawing a rectangle within a circle. The four corners of the rectangle will land on different colors.
On one end corners 1 and 2 will land near each other by skipping the adjacent analogous color. The same will be true on the opposing end with corners 3 and 4. Yet this opposing color scheme will create a complimentary color for both.
Colors 1 and 3 will be opposing compliments. Colors 2 and 4 will be opposing compliments. While altering saturation and hue you arrive at a wide range of options for implementing within the home decor.
When would this be used? If one is wishing to select plants which flower knowing the color would aid in selecting the right color of flower. Additionally this would create greater flow with fabrics and wall paints used.
It is a more complex approach yet its benefits can be substantial when done well. It involves using the entire environment within a room in a full three dimensional application. You are well beyond mere fabric and wall colors.
This method is a total experience which requires creativity in overall impact. When used with artwork the room becomes a gallery rather than having a single focal point.
The Three Dimensional Color Experience At Home
Most will consider the use of accent colors much in the same way we wear matching clothes. Rather elements such as fabrics, carpets, drapes, rugs, or other features must share a compliment. Designs often stand out due to a complimenting color on its color wheel.
Translating this to our second most visible space can be a challenge at times. Our walls provide more visible space than our floor or ceilings can provide. What we do with them matters.
Here is where artwork and a tetradic formula can pay dividends if you are brave enough to go the distance. The key is to find the prominent color within the room that is reflected throughout its pieces. From there we build.
Colors For Accent Walls
A color for an accent wall should not be chosen because it goes with the other walls. Nor should it be picked because you like it. Rather the elements within the room should aid in dictating its color. What happens when you do not like the potential compliment which the wall should have?
We pull in a principle from art called Movement In Art that will impact the flow of your room. If one learns this foundational principle it can revolutionize how one sees the home.
Here is where artwork can play a pivotal role. A well selected piece of art can act as an additional accent. The accent color of the wall can reflect an accent within the art. This is a very common tactic used by artists for ages.
Using this method you are allowed to add focus to the art while enhancing the flow of a room. The atmosphere can relate to the composition and subject matter within the artwork. In this way you are not solely dependent upon landing on a color you do not like.
In other cases where that color can land may seem odd based on the formula. While these compliments are a general rule always remember you are also applying saturation and value. Within them is a vast range of color opportunity.
Art And Walls Are Symbiotic
Art and walls go together as one. Art galleries learned this long ago. The more prominent the piece the more bold one can become with its display and color for an accent wall.
In order to truly create a fully immersive experience within a home the whole of the environment must be used. To properly achieve the impact of this color experience, fabric, free standing pieces, plants, flowers, walls, and art all come together.
Attempting to isolate wall colors without utilizing the whole of the environment will become odd. This is why many homes which are built have a single plain or “neutral” color painted throughout. It is like giving you a blank canvas to work with.
Walls within a home command so much visual space that they must have their own elements to project. There is no other way to accomplish this best than with the use of art. What was average then becomes more than beautiful. It can create a new atmosphere that transforms the environment.