What Colors Look Good Together?

Question: What colors will go together and look good together?


Answer: The first part of the question can be answered by saying that any color goes with any color.

Having said that, however, it should be noted that generally, warm-cool color combinations, such as green and red work best, although red can be used with other warm color as well (for example, with yellow).

Keep in mind that most colors are either blue-based or yellow-based, so greater harmony will be achieved if you combine colors of the same base (see "Interior Paint Color Undertones" for more details).

The second part of the question is a little more difficult to answer because "what looks good together" is obviously a very personal preference.

The key to getting colors that look good together is harmony, balance and interest:

Usually in a color scheme, one color is more predominant than the others (in terms of the amount used); one is strong and is usually used more sparingly (as accent).

The best rule of thumb is to look for patterns with colors already combined: in a scarf, picture, piece of fabric or wallpaper. Choose three or four colors from the pattern and use them as the basis for your color scheme.

Don't prejudge any of the colors individually; see each one as part of a group. And if you don't like one of the colors in your selected pattern, do not discard it for this reason, simply use it in small amounts for accent. This color is needed for the combination to work successfully.