Analogous color wheel with adjacent orange colors example.
This room uses oranges and reds to make up this analogous design.
Great use of different shades of pink and red in this analogous scheme.
Analogous light blue and lime green colors in baby’s room.
Analogous use of orange, yellow, and brown in this bedroom design.
The oranges and yellows from the wall and floor help pull this analogous scheme together.
In simple terms, an analogous paint scheme is one which features three or more adjacent colors on the color wheel. You begin by picking any color as your ‘mother color’ and then pick two or more colors on either side of it. This is an effective method of choosing a color scheme, because you will likely be choosing colors with similarities at their root and it is easy to harmonize such a collection.
Tips for Utilizing Analogous Paint Colors
Although an analogous paint scheme provides a simple and almost fool proof palette, it gives you sophisticated results, so follow our tips to get the best outcome.
1. Pay special attention to the bright accent areas of your mother color. You can harmonize the paint scheme by adding in a small amount of another color.
2. You can create shades with black by darkening some of the changed hues. To make tints, lighten some shades, and to tone down bright colors, add in a little bit of grey.
3. It is important that you gradually mix your choices or you’ll end up with too similar looking colors.
4. Before beginning a new painting project, place different mixtures on a test piece of paper or section of wall, as this will provide you with a visual aid of the range of colors that are possible with an analogous color scheme.
Analogous Paint Scheme Pros & Cons
Pros: You could elect to choose blue/green as the mother color and immediately, it becomes apparent that you have a wide range of options. For instance, the simple act of adding a small bit of blue/green to all the pure hues will give you subtle versions of the color while you could also choose to add pure violet, blue, or green hues for subtle color changes.
Cons: Because the colors are so closely related, it doesn’t leave much room for contrast. It is also necessary to alter the colors ever so slightly to discover the real beauty of an analogous paint scheme. After this process, however, you do end up with a collection of harmonious hues that go together well, yet always offer something different based on the mixture.
See also:
Complementary Paint Schemes
Double Contrast Paint Schemes
Monochromatic Paint Schemes
Split Complementary Paint Schemes
Triadic Paint Schemes
What colors are analogous to black?
I have black countertops, and do not want a huge contrast with the cabinets.
Are grays or dark colors my only choices for the color of the cabinets?
I do NOT want the black to stick out, but I also do not want a dark kitchen.
Thanks so much,
Jan Roepke
We would recommend using a grey or white that has a color/tone depth to it. For example, grey being analogous could include a blue-grey or a white/beige that has a pink or brown tone/depth. The color choice would depend on other items that would be permanent in the room. A wood grain tone would be good against black as well.