For most people, finally moving into your new home is the end of your long home buying journey. But the truth is, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Yes, you read that right. There are a lot more that you should do after the purchase of a home.  For one, you should think of how your interior would look like, including the theme of your home, the atmosphere you want to be associated with it, and how your guests or even your own family might feel while they are inside, and believe it or not, these things can be controlled by what you put inside your home. if you want your home to be homey and light, then your home’s interior would dictate that. Speaking of which, each ambiance is also greatly influenced by the color combinations you put inside your home. There are plenty of factors that make a certain interior look and feel the way it does, and we’re talking about colors, mixtures of patterns, and design here. But one of the most basic ways in curating the best colors to go to your home is knowing what colors go best together, or in simpler terms, knowing your color palette or color scheme. A color palette, in design, simply means the combination and organization of different colors and shades onto a plain space. What’s tricky is knowing what colors to combine and use to create the atmosphere you are going for.  So, if you’re a little lost on how to pick the perfect color palette for your home, here are four steps in making it happen.

Step 1: Choose a center inspiration

               Before you go to the paint store, you should go to the fabric store first, or to the rug store, home decor store, art gallery, or even online where you can find the piece of fabric that you love or the one that deeply connects and resonates with you, with several colors woven into it, and use this inspiration piece as the central element of your color scheme. Whatever design or color combination you choose, it will serve as the foundation for your home color palette. Why stress over choosing the best color combinations when there are countless professional color experts who have done the work for you? Buy a few yards of fabric to get you started with pillow covers, framed art, curtains, and the like, or if your inspiration is a rug or painting, buy it and let it be a central focal point of one room in your home.

Step 2: Select a 5-Color Home Palette

               One of the best ways to pull a home color palette together nicely is to pick about five (5) colors total for the home. For this step, you’ll choose general colors from your central inspiration element. So get your fingers counting! The first color should be a base or white paint color. This base color will be the color of all your home’s white surfaces be it moldings, doors, walls, ceilings etc. Then, the second color should be a neutral color; it could be tan, gray, beige, or neutral blue. But of course, you should take a look at your central fabric again and see what colors are acting as its background. Whatever color it is, it must be able to act as your neutral and bring together other colors in your home color scheme. Then, you can choose your main color. Again, review the colors in your fabric and choose whatever color that stands out. The color will be the most likely to be repeated within your walls so choose wisely.  Then, once you found your main color, you can choose two additional coordinating colors for your palette to go with your main one. The mood and feel of your home and each room can be enhanced with the colors you choose overall and then again for each room. Not every color needs to be in every room, so let this be fun instead of stressful!

Step 3: Pull it all together

               In this step, the actual fun begins! What’s more fun than picking the colors that will and will not go into your home interior, and blending them all together, right? It’s time to combine all the five colors you have gathered together in the previous step, the base color, neutral, the main color of your choice, and two coordinating colors that go well with the main one.

Step 4: Bring it Home

               Now that you’ve pulled your colors together, congratulations, you now have your own color palette for your home! But then you might be asking yourself, “what’s next?” and “where shall I put these colors?”. Take the colors you have chosen and switch them up with each room, but with hints of them throughout the entire house- the bathrooms, halls, living rooms, kitchens. Consider applying them on your couch, throw pillows, curtains, rugs, lampshades, and the like.  You can explore a lot, from doors to tables, to wall art and other stuff inside your home. Using your home color scheme doesn’t mean that you can’t be bold with color, it only means you can organize your colors inside your home to create a balanced and soothing view or atmosphere.