How to use the room color palette generator
- Start from a photo or a color. Upload a photo of a room you love or pick one base color with the color picker.
- Choose a color scheme. Pick analogous for calm, complementary for contrast, or another scheme to see different moods.
- Get five matching shades. The generator builds five coordinated colors with hex codes you can copy.
- Use the 60 30 10 split. See which color to use for walls, which for large furniture and which for accents, with a live room preview.
- Take it to the paint store. Match the hex codes to real paint swatches and test samples on your wall in daylight.
How to build a room color palette
Most rooms that feel pulled together follow a simple recipe: one calm color covers most of the space, a second color adds depth and a third brings energy in small doses. Designers call this the 60 30 10 rule, and it is the backbone of every palette this tool creates.
- Start with something you love. A rug, a print, a throw or a paint chip. Match it with the color picker or type its hex code.
- Pick a scheme. Analogous feels calm, complementary feels bold, and monochrome feels quiet and grown up.
- Check the preview. The mini room shows how the colors sit together on walls, sofa, cushions and floor.
- Copy the codes. Take the hex codes to a paint store, where most can match any code, or use them to shop for fabric and decor online.
Get a color palette from a photo
Found a room on Pinterest you can't stop looking at? Upload it. The tool shrinks the picture, groups similar pixels together and finds the handful of colors that fill most of the frame. It then gives the lightest shade to your walls, the darkest to your floor and trim, and the most vivid colors to feature pieces and accents, just as a designer would. Your photo is processed in your browser and never uploaded.
The 60 30 10 rule explained
| Share of the room | Where it goes | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| 60% dominant | Walls, large rugs, curtains | Keep it soft and light so the room feels calm and bigger |
| 30% secondary | Sofa, bed, accent wall, cabinets | A mid tone that adds depth without shouting |
| 10% accent | Cushions, art, vases, lamps | The most saturated shade. Easy to swap each season |
The generator also adds an anchor color, a deep shade for flooring, picture frames, metal legs or trim. A dark anchor keeps a light palette from feeling washed out and gives the eye somewhere to rest.
Worked example
Say you want a calm living room built around a sage green rug. Upload a photo of the rug, choose an analogous scheme and the generator might return a warm white, a pale sage, the rug's sage, a soft olive and a terracotta accent. Following 60 30 10, the warm white goes on the walls (60%), the sage on the sofa and curtains (30%) and terracotta on cushions, a vase and a print (10%).
Which color scheme should I choose?
Analogous
Colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel, such as terracotta, rust and soft peach. This is the easiest scheme to live with and suits bedrooms, living rooms and anywhere you want to unwind. It is the heart of styles like Japandi and Scandinavian.
Complementary
Opposites on the wheel, such as sage green with blush pink or navy with burnt orange. Contrast makes a room feel lively, so keep the stronger color to the 10 percent accents.
Split complementary and triadic
Three colors spread around the wheel. They give you the energy of a bold scheme with a little more balance and suit playful spaces like kids' rooms, home offices and boho living rooms.
Monochrome
One hue in light, mid and deep versions. It looks tailored and calm, and it works well in small rooms because there are no sharp breaks in color to shrink the space.
From palette to paint
When you are happy with your colors, work out how much paint to buy with our paint calculator. For more ideas on putting the palette to work, read our guide to creating a serene living room mood board and our bold living room decor ideas.
