Colour Palette Studio

How it works

The palettes follow the familiar proportion of 60, 30 and 10: about sixty parts of a dominant colour, thirty parts of a secondary colour and ten parts of an accent. The preview shows how the colours share a room.

Screens show colour differently from paint and plaster. Treat the values as a starting point, then test large samples on several walls and look at them in morning, midday and evening light before you decide.

The rules of thumb behind it

• Dominant colour for walls and large surfaces, about 60 percent of the view.
• Secondary colour for upholstery, curtains or joinery, about 30 percent.
• Accent colour for cushions, a lacquered piece or a single wall, about 10 percent.
• North-facing rooms in the northern hemisphere receive cooler light; warmer undertones balance them.

All values are widely used rules of thumb from interior and lighting design, offered as guidance and never as norms.