Complementary Colour Schemes

Complementary colours are colours that are exactly opposite one another in the colour wheel, such as red/green, purple/ yellow and orange/ blue. This is a high contrasting, balanced colour scheme as it will always have a warm and cool colour together.

Complementary colours are the two colours that are of most contrast to each other, so when put together they make the other look stronger and more striking. A successful interior design technique is to choose one colour to dominate - by giving it a bigger area or a fuller saturation - whilst using the other as an accent. Using high chroma hues will make bold, bright, eye catching statements. However, any shade or tint of a colour can be used in a complementary colour scheme, so when a more subtle look is needed then softer, more natural hues can be selected.

These opposing colours do create maximum contrast, so using very intense colours used in large amounts can seem gaudy and unsettling to the viewer.