Video summary
The speaker begins by addressing the common challenge of creating thoughtful color palettes without a formal design degree, emphasizing that inspiration can come from various sources like fabrics or art, but often stems simply from defining a desired mood for a space. To achieve an interesting and punchy look rather than just simple earth tones, she recommends using the color wheel as a fundamental tool to understand complementary colors. By pairing opposite hues on the wheel—such as reds with greens or teal with orange—one can create dynamic contrasts that make elements pop while maintaining a cohesive design feel. This approach allows homeowners to move beyond basic primary and secondary shades into more complex tertiary tones, effectively mimicking professional designer choices through strategic color selection.
Beyond selecting specific colors, it is crucial to consider the architectural context of the room and the atmosphere one wishes to cultivate before applying paint or decor. The speaker explains that darker colors naturally ground a space and serve as excellent focal points for features like fireplaces, while lighter shades help open up rooms by bouncing natural light around them. Furthermore, incorporating natural materials such as wood helps neutralize overly bright patterns or intense neon hues, lending an organic quality that feels timeless rather than trendy. When experimenting with bold colors, it is important to balance intensity with grounding elements; for instance, swapping a harsh chartreuse green for a softer olive shade can provide the same visual interest without sacrificing timelessness, ensuring the room remains comfortable and visually balanced.
To ensure these color choices work harmoniously within an existing environment, one must evaluate how they interact with other materials like metal finishes, stone, tile, and flooring before committing to a full project. The speaker advises testing paint swatches on large foam boards rather than small squares, as the surrounding wall colors significantly alter perception; larger samples allow for accurate visualization of how light affects the hue throughout the day. Additionally, creating a visual mood board that includes physical or printed representations of fabrics, metals, and finishes helps in seeing how different textures and tones mix before installation. This preparatory step prevents design errors by allowing homeowners to adjust their palette—such as choosing silver hardware over gold based on countertop colors—or decide where to introduce unexpected pops of color that elevate the entire room's aesthetic.
Ultimately, the goal is to create a personalized space that feels intentional rather than accidental, avoiding the trap of adding pieces haphazardly without a clear vision. By following these steps—defining a mood, utilizing complementary colors on a wheel, balancing intensity with natural grounding elements, and rigorously testing materials against one another—one can achieve high-end results independently. The speaker concludes by encouraging viewers to embrace color experimentation as a way to add life to their homes, noting that once the fear of using bold hues is overcome, it becomes easier to maintain vibrant yet cohesive interiors in future projects. With patience and careful planning involving mood boards and large-scale testing, anyone can transform a room into a unique sanctuary that reflects their individual style without needing professional assistance.
Read the full video transcript
I'm always asked how I come up with the
color palettes for my rooms. And a lot
of times when I share the process of my
room makeovers because they are in
multiple parts, the process is not
trusted until the very end because only
I know what colors I'm also going to be
adding to the space. Usually, I always
think the best starting point for any
room is finding something that inspires
it, whether it be a piece of fabric, a
antique cherry that you love, a piece of
art, whatever it is, a rug that you can
pull other colors from. But, a lot of
times there's also not a starting point
and you just want to create a space
defined by a mood or a feeling, which I
also love. So, today I want to share
with you guys my 10 tips on how to
choose a color palette that feels really
thoughtful and timeless, [music] but
still really design forward. I don't
want to share with you guys how to
choose the most easy, simple,
earthy-toned color palette. We are going
for a little bit more interesting, a
little more punchy, design forward. It
looks like a designer came over and did
your house. That is what we are going
for, but you did it yourself. So, why
don't we go ahead and dive on [music]
in. Since we are talking about color,
your best friend and my best friend to
this day that I use all the time when it
comes to designing a room is the color
wheel. I feel like this is the first
thing you learn when you get into an art
class, a photography class. The color
wheel really is going to help you so
much when it comes to design because
complementary colors are going to be
your best friend and they're what I love
to design with. When you're looking at
the color wheel, you're going to have
your primary colors, your secondary
colors, and there's also tertiary
colors, which are even more like [music]
complex. They go just a little bit more
further into a color family. But, I feel
like you can totally just look at this
from primary and secondary colors and
essentially, the color opposite of the
color wheel is going to be the one that
complements that tone. And some of you
are probably looking at me like, "Drew,
I'm not using primary colors in my
home." And I don't mean like direct
primary red or yellow. I'm talking about
anything under the [music] red spectrum,
anything under the yellow spectrum, an
ochre color, a mustard, a butter yellow.
It pairs really nicely with the opposite
color. So, a lilac, an eggplant,
something in the purple family. And this
actually goes hand in hand with
Christmas colors and that's why I find
myself loving red and green so much, but
[music] a lot of people don't love red
and green cuz it reminds them of
Christmas, but those are actually
complimentary colors that pair really
nicely together. Going into our
secondary colors as well, you can sort
of see that the teal and then the red
orange shades, those are kind of
complimentary. And I'd say that's a
palette that I actually use in my lobby
space. I loved this orangey leather. I
feel like lots of times leather comes in
this really orangey warm tone, and I
thought contrasting that with more of a
teal color because that is the
complimentary [music] shade would just
make that sofa pop, and I can definitely
say it did. You can see in these photos
how intense these colors are and it's
because they are complimentary. It's
something so simple that you almost
forget to look at and think about. If
you order yourself a color wheel, it's
something you're going to reference
often and also think about when you go
to design a space. You're going to be
like, "Gosh, what colors do I need in
here?" Referencing the color wheel, you
can pull [music] what other colors you
think might add and intensify or just
make other colors pop or just feel more
at home. Next is something you honestly
kind of want to do before even going
into color, and that is honing in on the
mood you want to create in your space.
Cuz adding color is such an easy way to
define a mood. A lot of times the
architecture of the home or the room
you're working on as well is also going
to determine sort of the mood. So, if a
room is super super bright and airy and
it's a ton of sun in it, maybe you want
to contrast that and go darker in the
space because you do get that light and
airy look. Or maybe, vice versa, you
have a room that has zero windows, but
you want to also make it dark and make
it feel cave-like. So, you really want
to define what mood you want to feel in
the space. Do you want it to feel bright
and airy? Do you want it to feel
colorful? Do you want it to feel
eclectic? Do you want it to be a mix of
that? What do you want to use the space
for and what mood do you want to [music]
create in the space? Because that's
going to be the kicking off point to
figure out how dark you want your colors
to be, what shades, what undertones, and
what intensities you want them to look
like in the end. Which this now leads me
into our next tip, which is talking
about how darker colors are
traditionally a little bit more
grounding and lighter colors are
typically more airy. And I find myself
thinking about this a lot when I walk
into a space and trying to figure out
where the focal point is. Sometimes when
everything is painted light and bright,
you don't have that focal point to look
at. And so, when I walk into a room, I
love seeing like a focal fireplace where
it might have like a darker tile on it
cuz it draws your eye to that fireplace.
There's definitely certain occasions in
design where different rooms or
different walls and spaces, maybe
there's molding on the wall, maybe it
has a certain type of architecture
detail to it, or it just needs a heavier
or more grounding feeling. And
typically, what comes with a heavier,
more grounding feeling [music] is a
darker paint color. So, if you want
something to feel like the focal point
of a room or really, you know, like
intense in a space, going darker or even
brighter, something that pulls you away
from the light and airy feel is
typically what I tend to go for. But if
I want to open up a room and make it
feel more light and bright and airy, I
typically opt for something that has
more white in it or a more lighter color
that bounces more of that natural light.
Which I'm now going to lead into natural
materials in kind of conjunction with
color, because there are so many times
that natural materials can also really
ground or neutralize or make a space
feel completely different, even if you
have the most brightest pops of color in
a room. Whenever I'm designing and I
feel like my direction's gone a little
too crazy or a little too colorful, too
patterned, whatever it might be, I
always find myself gravitating back
towards adding wood to a design. So,
maybe incorporating more wood through
the decor, adding a wood floor lamp, a
wooden side table, any element of wood I
always feel like adds a grounding feel.
And that kind of also goes back with
other elements of nature, just anything
that you traditionally see in nature,
visually it kind of feels a little bit
more natural. Anything that you sort of
see digitally on a screen, a lot of
times more intense colors, neons, those
really, really bright, poppy, sometimes
very trendy colors are not natural. And
so, that's kind of why they sometimes
feel a little out of place, not as
timeless. But if you do opt for
something that you traditionally see a
bit more in nature, in rocks, in fruit,
in, you know, natural elements, those
usually are going to feel a little bit
more easier on the eye and kind of
something like that you see often
because it is out in nature. And because
it is natural, it honestly just kind of
feels a little bit more grounding in a
space. Sometimes those bright, poppy
colors, which they definitely work and
they're definitely useful. I think
designers know how to use them really,
really well, but if you don't, it can
definitely feel like something that
feels either out of place in your home
or something that's not going to last
for a long time and kind of go out of
trend very quickly. And this is why a
lot of people love earth-toned homes.
You know, it's natural, it feels
grounded, it's very earthy, it has
shades that you see often, greens,
browns, creams, those really earthy
natural tones. But if you're someone
like me that loves to experiment with
color, play around with new shades and
tones in your home, knowing when to go a
little bit more intense with the color
or knowing when to draw back on the
intensity of a color is really, really
key. And And kind of think of it as if
you're adding a chartreuse to a room,
and instantly that chartreuse color is
just bright and bold, you might want to
consider adding an olive green instead
because that olive green is a little
softer, it's a little bit more muted, it
still adds your essence of green that
you wanted in the space, but maybe the
chartreuse was just not that timeless
feel that it needed. Maybe you have too
much of that around already, and you
need to add a little bit more of a
grounding, neutralized green. So, the
olive green is the option there. But it
can also happen vice versa where
everything kind of feels a little flat,
and maybe you need to inject some
personality into the space by adding a
pop like the chartreuse. Also love
incorporating varying shades of these
tones in my decor and other elements of
a room. So, if I am incorporating, let's
say, three key colors in a space,
something I like to do is kind of
incorporate those colors in other spots
of decor, maybe in varying shades as
well, just to kind of vary up the color
a little bit. It makes it feel a little
bit more intentionally designed, but you
just sort of vary the shades and hues to
make the whole room look cohesive. The
unexpected pop of color is still one of
my favorite ways to instantly make it
feel like a designer was in this space
because there's something about an
unexpected pop of color, just something
that feels out of the norm, that
instantly kind of feels a bit more
thoughtful. I don't know if that makes
sense, but it's kind of like, why was
this placed here? Was there an intention
to it? But when it is a space that you
can tell has been designed, and when
they [music] add that little unexpected
pop of red or that unexpected pop of
blue, and it And it makes every other
color in the room sing. That is just so
cool. And I've done that in my own
projects many times where it's just that
one little vase of flowers that just
transforms the entire space. So,
incorporating an unexpected pop at the
end of your project, if you're kind of
looking at it standing back and you're
like, you know what? This kind of feels
like it's falling flat. It needs like
that little punch. Like going back to
your color wheel and finding the
complimentary color for the full tone of
your room. Like if it's leaning blue,
getting some orange flowers or something
more in that family and having it just
complement [music] the space. My next
tip is about considering the other
materials in the space. So, whatever
else you're using in addition to your
color, whether it be metal finishes,
stone, tile, wood, whatever it is,
considering those elements as well and
how those are going to pair alongside
your color selections. Every room I do,
I find myself incorporating metal in. I
just personally love, love, love the
look of metal. I love when there's high
shine. I also love glass because I feel
like it adds that nice [music] kind of
sheen that's different than what I find
myself using a lot of. So, I love
incorporating glass decor. I really like
the mix of materiality and the shine
that you get [music] from those types of
objects. But, also you want to consider
that when pairing metal finishes with
specific colors because sometimes there
are specific colors that definitely pop
or look better with gold as opposed to
silver um and vice versa. So, when you
go into a kitchen design, you might be
dead set on having a silver hardware.
You are going to want to definitely
consider that when you go to color
selection and not pair your colors with
gold hardware because it can look
completely different. Say you have optic
white marble countertops. A lot of times
what's going to make that pop even more
is if you go super, super dark on the
cabinetry. So, if you went with a more
middle ground color, it's going to mesh
a bit more and make the white not feel
as harsh as if you went in with a dark.
So, just considering the elements of a
room, what you're working with in there
before in terms of the flooring, the
countertops, whatever sort of a hard
finish if you're not able to change
that, how are those going to look with
the colors you're also adding. This next
tip is one that I learned the hard way
and I'm now doing on a lot of projects
and this is just painting large scale
swatches of your colors because paint
swatches can be so misleading when you
go in and get a tiny little brush and
you just do like a little square on your
wall. Seeing all the color around it,
especially if you're painting on top of
a white wall or a colored wall in
general, like really seeing what is
around and surrounding that color is
going to change the look [music] of the
swatch, I promise you. And so what you
should do is just get those big foam
poster boards that you can get at the
Dollar Tree, paint your entire swatch on
the foam poster board and you can move
it around your room and hold it up. You
can also eliminate and have multiple
different colors if you want to, but
this tip really is just making sure that
you create swatches on your wall that
are large enough to really envision
yourself living in that room. Don't just
do a little tiny swatch and say, "You
know what? That's the one." I really
strongly suggest doing a large swatch.
It's going to be painted over in [music]
the end, so go a little bit larger with
your swatch to make sure that it's the
color you really love before committing.
And my last tip here is one just to keep
in mind for your next makeover because
every single interior designer does this
and that is why their rooms look so
top-tier. This is creating a visual mood
board for yourself. Whenever you see
interior designers showing their studio
spaces or the projects that they work
on, a lot of them tend to have trays
that they keep for each room. Every
single room in a project has a tray and
within that tray is the colors that
they're going to be using in terms of
paint, fabric, finishes, wood finish,
tile, um
metal finish, lighting, every single
element that's going to be going in that
room is visually represented in front of
you on a tray. So you're able to see how
this fabric might mix with the wall
color, which may be hard to visualize.
Then you'll be able to kind of see where
you want to inject more color, you might
need to draw it back, you might need to
go with silver instead of gold on a
finish, and see your full range of
materials and everything you're working
with prior to really committing on the
project and going through with the
install. So if you do have a little more
time or you really want to scope this
out, even going through and cutting a
tiny bit of fabric off the underside of
your couch, if there's a little scrap
that you can cut, anywhere that you can
get pieces of anywhere that you can get
little visuals of what you already have,
take photos of them on your phone, print
them out, pair them alongside your
fabric swatches, your curtains, your
paint colors. Put your paint on a board
and then put all your items on top of
it. It's going to really give you a
stronger visual sense. And you can also
play around with them printing out
additional options you might want to
purchase and mixing and matching and
seeing where you need to buy and where
you need to maybe re-upholster or where
you need to paint. And that's going to
let you sit with it, expand your color
selection and also just create more of a
unique space in the end because a lot of
times when you're designing on the go
and you don't have the full room
visualized and you add pieces as you go,
it's just not going to create the vision
you want. Um but if you have a little
bit more of a set plan beforehand and
you have it all mood boarded out, as you
go along with the process, you're going
to be able to think about how other
elements are going to enhance what
you've done. Thank you all so much for
watching this video and I hope that you
enjoyed and this gives you a little bit
more help when it comes to designing
with color because I know it can be a
little scary. When I first started my
channel, incorporating color, everyone
was like, "Drew, all you do is brown.
Like all you do is brown." But once you
start incorporating color in your home,
you're going to be so much more inclined
to do so in your future projects. And
creating a very personalized and
individual space is everything we are
about here at Lone Fox. So I definitely
wanted to create this video to share
with you guys how you can incorporate
color and just add that bit of life that
I your space might need. If you have any
additional tips or tricks on how to
incorporate color in your space, I would
love to know in the comment section
below. We always have the best time down
there and you guys always have the best
insights as well. So please share
anything you have found helpful for
picking out colors in your home. And
that's today's video, you guys. I hope
you enjoyed this one and we'll catch you
all in my next one. Bye.
>> [music]