How the 60/30/10 Rule Can Inspire Your Decor

Okay you have selected a color palette for your room, now what? How do you take these colors and apply it in a room? What color is the main, secondary, and accent colors and where to apply them? Taking a grouping of colors from palette to reality can be a little bit confusing.

However, there is a good rule to help you know how much of each to have in a room. This guideline for applying a color palette like an interior designer is the 60/30/10 Rule.

Main, Secondary, Accent Colors

Before I show you how to use the 60/30/10 Rule, I first need to go over a few terms. In most color palettes you will have a main, secondary, and accent colors to work with. So what does this mean and how to determine which color is what?

Main Color – the main color is typically the dominant paint color in the room.

Secondary Color – the secondary colors are often used less than the main color.

Accent Color – accent colors are used the least in a room.

How To Use the 60/30/10 Rule

Now that you understand main, secondary, and accent colors; I can show you how to use the 60/30/10 Rule to help apply these color perfectly.

• This rule states that 60% of the color of a room come from a the main color. Often this is the neutral paint color in a room. For instance, in the room below, the main color is the light gray on the walls. If we could see the whole room, this color would make up 60% of the color palette.
  

Source: Houzz via Leivars

• Next, 30% of the color palette are made up of the secondary colors. These colors are often applied to trim work, such as base and crown molding. It is also is widely used as the ceiling color. For instance in my home, the secondary color is white, and all the trim, ceilings and woodwork are white.
• Lastly, accent colors make up 10% of a room’s color palette. You can typically use the accent colors as an accent wall, in accessories (decorative items, pillows, and artwork) or furniture upholstery. Just think about this 10% as pops of color in your room. In the living room below the accent colors are green and orange. You see these colors are only found in the pillows, accessories and accent furniture.
  

Source: House via Ann Lowengart Interiors

60/30/10 Rule = Appealing Rooms

Applying the 60/30/10 Rule, will also help your home look more interesting and appealing. Like the room came out of a magazine. Rooms where this rule is use have a color palette that enhances and accents the home’s decor and physical elements.

Missing Something

If you have a room that is missing one of these colors, for instance; an accent color, the room with look incomplete. Accent colors are the frosting on a cake, secondary is inner filling, and the main color is the cake itself. Without one, the dessert will not taste as good.

The dining room below, for me; is missing a good accent color. Overall it is a beautiful room, but it is not very interesting to look at because it is lacking a good contrasting accent color. This dining room has a bland color scheme which is a home decorating no-no.

Source: Houzz

Think 60/30/10

Next time you are decorating your home, be sure have in back of your head the 60/30/10 Rule. Follow it and the result will bring your home’s interior design to the next level. However, this is not an exact rule and it is hard to measure, but it is a good guideline to be followed. Just do not forget the three color types, main, secondary, and accent; and apply them from greatest to least.

What a color is your favorite? Please comment below