Interior Design Essentials: Creating A Color Palette | Sarah Earl | Skillshare
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Interior Design Essentials: Creating A Color Palette

teacher avatar Sarah Earl, Follow me on Instagram @colormequirky

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Watch this class and thousands more

Get unlimited access to every class
Taught by industry leaders & working professionals
Topics include illustration, design, photography, and more

Lessons in This Class

    • 1.

      Introduction

      2:37

    • 2.

      Basics of Color

      2:17

    • 3.

      How to Use the Color Wheel

      2:38

    • 4.

      Psychology of Colors

      3:31

    • 5.

      Tips to Picking that perfect Paint Color

      6:33

    • 6.

      Pulling your Palette From Your Favorite Item

      5:02

    • 7.

      Class Project

      2:50

    • 8.

      Final Thoughts

      0:53

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About This Class

Whether you've owned your home for years, just moved your business to a new office, or have permission from your parents to redo your bedroom, Interior Design Essentials is the perfect starting point. Creating a beautiful space can seem overwhelming but can also be really simple and (more importantly) really fun! It all starts with the basics. This class will cover the fundamentals of interior design starting with (my favorite) color. We’ll discuss what basic colors are (from primary, secondary and tertiary colors), how different colors affect different spaces, some winning color combinations, how to build your color palette from your favorite item, and how to choose the perfect shade of paint for your space.

You need absolutely no prior knowledge to take this class and I promise you'll walk away after ready to make your space amazing.

Meet Your Teacher

Teacher Profile Image

Sarah Earl

Follow me on Instagram @colormequirky

Teacher

Sarah is an interior designer at a high end architecture firm in New York City and the blogger behind the site color me quirky. As part of the design industry since 2012, she helps create beautiful residences around the world and is here to share her knowledge to bring your space to the next level. 

 

We start with the basics. Whether you are decorating your dorm room or mansion, Sarah is here to take you through each step in “Creating a Color Palette”. Follow along to learn how to build your home's color palette and insure that everything you buy goes well together. 

 

Next Sarah shares some major life news while teaching you how to design a beautiful space ... See full profile

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Transcripts

1. Introduction: Hi, guys. My name's Sarah. I'm an interior designer and blogger behind the site. Color me quirky, and this is my first still share video. So my site, color Me quirky, focuses on bringing interior design inspiration. Teoh. Everyone and I hope to do the same thing with my skill share videos, but with a little more knowledge behind it. What I love about interior design is the fact that you can walk into the uncertain safe and make it your own. Or you can make it whatever your clients vision is. So what one person's take on the space might be completely different. Teoh somebody else's and I love that. I love that every space is essentially open for interpretation. In this course, I'll be talking about color palace and how to make the perfect color palette to reflect your own personal style. This course is for absolutely everybody. You could be a homeowner or you could just moved into your new apartment, or you might even have just got in permission from your parents to redo your room. Whoever you are, wherever you are, this course is perfect for you. So if all of that it feels Teoh and you're ready. Let's get started. Today we're going to be talking about how to create the perfect color palette. We'll start with the basics, so don't worry. We'll start by bringing down the color wheel and the different aspects of it been diving in a little deeper to some color schemes that come with the color wheel. You know, it's like all of our work is already done for us. Then I would go into a little bit of fun Facts on the psychology of color Because don't you want to know why McDonald's is always ready? Then we're going Teoh, go into paint colors and I'll give you a couple of tips picking the perfect pain tone for your space. Then we will dive into making a color scheme off of your favorite item. It could be an item for your actual space or even your favorite item of clothing, And then we're going to dive into the most fun homework assignment of your lives. But using all of your newfound knowledge to bring color into your space without breaking the bank. We are going Teoh show how flowers can be incorporated into your space and then turned into your color pop. First things first, we are going to talk about our new found friend, the color wheel. 2. Basics of Color: now that even rolled, all the fun can officially begin. And we are going to start with the absolute basics of color, our handy dandy friend. The color will. So I have attached a copy of the color wheel that all used today in this video, as well as all the other versions to the show notes. However, if you want to follow along and not pause me because you're finding me oh so entertaining, feel free to just Google the phrase color will and, uh, a bunch of different varieties off this bad boy will come up so the color will is broken down into three different categories. We have your primary colors, and this is probably gonna sound like we're going back to kindergarten. But bear with me because it'll all makes us. You have your primary colors, which are the colors that can only be created by themselves. You cannot create these value mixing any other colors, and they are yellow read blue. Those were primary. Then you have your secondary colors, your secondary colors, and again, this might sound like a flashback to your finger painting days, but these colors are made by mixing two primary colors. Together they are orange, purple, angry, for instance. We got orange here by mixing yellow and red together, and then finally, you have your tertiary colors. Now some color wheels do not include these. I find them really fun and just step further as faras, the color wheels go. Your tertiary colors are your colors that you get by mixing one primary and one secondary color together. For instance, if we take that orange that we just created and we mix it back with the yellow, we get yellow orange, and that is a tertiary color. My next video will dive a little deeper into our new friend. The color will, and I'll show you the built in color schemes that you can pull right from there. 3. How to Use the Color Wheel: Now that you've learned all about our handy new friend, the color will weaken. Dive a little deeper into some color schemes that are based right on it. Some of them are a little more complex, and some of them are so easy they're going to blow your mind with simplicity, so to dive right into it. Our first color scheme if complimentary, complementary colors are two colors that are based right across from each other on the color wheel, for instance, yellow is a complementary color with purple, and it goes the same way as you go around the color with Next, we have double complementary. Double complementary colors are a little bit more of a dynamic color scheme when you take two different complementary colors and combined them all in one room, and then you have your split complementary colors. This is actually one of my favorite color schemes because it's a little more complex and still is beautiful. So a split complementary colors kind of exactly what it sounds like. It's taking your complementary colors. Ours were before yellow and purple and splitting one of the two. It's kind of like a peace sign just without the little middle. So in this case it would be yellow, mixed with red, purple and blue, purple and that of a split, complementary color scheme. Then you have probably one of your most simple color schemes being analogous. Analogous is just taking a section of the color will to make your skin. In this case, I chose to stay on the warmer set of things by choosing yellow, yellow, orange, orange and red orange. And then finally, we have arm monochrome. This is definitely the most easy of the schemes because it's essentially just choosing one color and using all the different tones and tints on that escape and that are some basic color schemes that are in our handy friendly color will next. We'll talk about a little bit of psychology of color and some fun facts that you wouldn't even believe are in big businesses. 4. Psychology of Colors: So now that you've learned all about our new friends of color, wheel and everything that makes it up as well Azzan schemes within it. I just wanted Teoh talk a little bit of some psychology of the color in this bat boy, for instance, if we're going back, Teoh are analogous color scheme of the reds and yellows. Think about it. If you walk into a McDonald's pretty much the 1st 2 colors, you're gonna come upon our red and yellow. There is a reason for this. It's no accident. Red actually triggers your appetite, and your hunger and yellow is associate it with friendship. So because of that, McDonald's is essentially trying to get you hungry, but remind you that's their your friend. So whatever they're serving you is OK, even also, but also the saturation or the intensity in those colors are so severe because they're trying to make you uncomfortable. They're trying toe overstimulate your eyes and make you want to be really hungry and remind you that they're your friend, but also they want you to get out of there as soon as possible. Now you might be thinking, What does this have to do with my room. Well, if your skill share user right now, who is thinking about designing your new office, whether it's at home or out in the real world? Blue, for instance, is associate ID with trust and efficiency. And because of that, a lot of businesses think about your bank. Think about your insurance company. Ah, lot of these businesses are branded with blue for that particular reason. So if you our skill share user, that is either designing your own home office or your office out in the real world, maybe you want to incorporate blew into your space, maybe some blue accent pillows or maybe a blue accent wall. This will not only give your customers that feeling of trust and efficiency, but also when you've had a really long day of staring at the computer, your I looking at blue will relax it and comment. So that's always a really good one. Or if you're a skill share user, that is ah, homeowner, and you're looking to use your newfound knowledge that you're getting to decorate your home . Think about your space in particular when you're deciding on the color that you'd like to incorporate into it. For instance, green is the only color on the color wheel. The your eye does not need any adjustments, so automatically green is a very calming color. Green is a great color to incorporate then into your living room or your bedroom somewhere where you want to be very calm and relaxed. And so I definitely think about your space that you will be designing when you're choosing your colors and think about what's behind those colors and all. And now, in the next lesson, we're going to talk about picking that perfect paint tone for your space. So whether it's your kitchen in your living room after watching this video, you will be amazed with how great you are picking the perfect paint color. 5. Tips to Picking that perfect Paint Color: hi and welcome back. We've talked a lot so far about different colors, the psychology of colors. And there's one thing we have not touched upon, however, is the different sections of the color will that being your warm section and your coolest section, he's come into play a lot when picking that perfect pain tone. Because essentially, there are different sections that you would like in different rooms like we discussed briefly in psychology of color, where green is a perfect color for that living room because it's very warm and relaxing, calming. There's the other section being your warm colors, which could be great in kitchen or dining room because they again trigger that hunger but are also really fun. And they're really kitschy versus cool tones, which are great in bedrooms and living rooms because they're really calming and relaxing colors, and the third and final color section that is actually not on our color will are your neutrals, your neutrals being your whites, your graze your blacks in your browns. People are drawn to these colors because they don't overstimulate your eye. They don't understand. Mili your eye. They are your neutrals, they're great. However, I always encourage people to at least accent with color in those cases. But when picking your paint, there are a lot of different factors to factor into blood. I know it's super intimidating to walk up to the van, sir, and see all of these paint options. It's like how on earth do pick the perfect paint for your space? Well, I'll tell you right now, other than giving me tips on using the warm section in your kitchen in your diner and your cooler section in your living room and bedroom. And, of course, these could be flopped if you're a huge, warm fan, this is just my personal preference. So my biggest tip beyond everything is always go to the store first and bring her structures home with you. This is so important. For instance, I went to the store and all of these looked white in the store. They do not all look white here. Lighting is such a big aspect in picking that pink color. And if you don't have the paint chip in the actual space, that gray that you think looks gorgeous in the store could turn out purple or could turn out black when you actually get it into your actual space. Lighting is so key when picking your color and you want to see your paint color in your actual space. And if you don't think that these are enough to determine what color you want to paint your space by one of those little samples, they typically cost around $2 they'll make such a difference. And you rather spend $2 on a little can and determine if you do or don't like it versus spending anywhere from 25 to $50 on the whole can painting your entire space and then realizing Wow, I hate this color. This is not what I imagined. The other big thing to focus on is what gloss you would like on your actual pink color. He's look so different because they have different glosses on him, and any pants, store or depot or Lowe's that you go into will have these different options. I always suggest this is flat. Also noticed, mapped. This is great for ceilings or areas without high traffic. This is actually your hardest to clean, so you'll need more than one layer for sure. But it's also really pretty. Then you have your satin. Your satin is the next step up. It has a little bit of a gloss in it. It's a little bit easier to clean, but still is more appropriate for your bedroom, your living room, something without high traffic. Then you have your satin gloss. This is satin, but with a little bit of a gloss to it, which is gorgeous. It can be gorgeous in a kitchen or even in a bathroom. These are for your high traffic areas, because it's easier to clean. It wipes right off. It's great. And then you have your super glossy. I've actually seen a lot of people painting their kitchen cabinets these days with high gloss colors, and it always looks gorgeous. It's one of those shades that will make your space really shine. One of my newest favorite tips for picking that pink color that's perfect for your space is if you're in love with a deeper, jewel toned, deeper saturated color to use it in a space that smaller, such as a powder, a bathroom, a small hallway. This will give a really luxurious, elegant feel to your space. I know you can seem really intimidating, and a lot of people would say just going lighter in those spaces. But be dramatic. Pick that color that you think is crazy in the store. Bring that swatch home and see what you think. I've actually seen a lot of celebrities like Cameron Diaz painting her kitchen in a jewel tone, but with a gloss finish and it looks amazing. So those are some of my favorite tips and tricks for picking that paint color, and now we're going to dive even deeper into the color scheme room with finding the perfect color scheme for your room. Based off of one item that you love. It could be anything as long as you look. 6. Pulling your Palette From Your Favorite Item: So we've talked about the color wheel, the colors that make it up. And since teams that come from it Now you're asking how doe I bring that into my space? Well, there's a super simple, easy wet pick one item, any item that you love, it could be a sure ah, pillow that's actually gonna go in this space. I even picked ah, bar of soap that I got from Anthropologie just because I like the packaging. All of these items can determine your color scheme, and this is how you do it. First, take your item into the actual space. Say, for instance, there sure it is still from my boyfriend. If I wanted to make an entire room scheme for him based off of the shirt, I would first bring the item into the actual space. Again. Lighting is so important, so make sure that you're in the space. Also, a big tip, I would suggest, is to take a picture of the item. Sometimes the item is too big. For instance, an area rug or a chair that you've purchased. If that is the case, take a picture. Even if it's not, take a picture. You'll never get it. If you can bring the item with you, put the item in your bag and go toe home. Tebow toe lows anywhere where you can get some paint chips and pull some paint chips that come right from it. For instance, I picked these. I picked some neutrals. I got pretty close to the actual item because there's not a lot of color in this shirt and I pulled from there and then referring back to our handy friend, the color wheel, which by now you should all be best friends with. I chose a couple complementary colors, as well as some fun colors that could go in the space. I chose blue because vibrant and is actually green is right next to blue on our handy from the color wheel. But then I also chose red, red and green are complementary colors, and bringing in this orangey red makes it even more dynamic. Now I'm not saying that I'm going to paint the whole space, but once you've determined some pink colors that you like together, you can use those as your shopping as you're out to determine that if these five colors, let's say our this colors that you would like in your space, then boom. Stick with these five colors. Whenever you're shopping, let's say there's a pillow and it has these two colors that would be beautiful in the space or a throat that has thes three colors again. If you stick with five or so colors for the space, it doesn't even have to be that many. It could only be three. If you really want, then your whole space will always look consistent again. I chose to vibe It's soap from anthropology solely because I like the packaging and how I liked it when it translated into a space. I also really like that it had a metallic element which we have not gotten into, however, is always great. A machine can bring something even more dynamic into your space. Also, here is something with a lot of color, this very pretty pillow, something with this much color. You might not want to bring everything into the space, or you might be really overwhelmed by the fact that there so much going on here. In this case, I chose one color being pink, and I chose a couple of different pink shades that worked with it a neutral. And here's a fun little accent that goes with it. I think if this was a little girl's room or a little girls, I don't think many other places want to be that pink. But in that case, it would make such a beautiful space. You could literally do this with anything. So although I am going to dive into the actual project for this lesson in the next video, if you guys do incorporate your items into a your color scheme, I would love to see that please uploaded to the project gallery. It would be so amazing to see how you all could turned something as little as a bar of soap into something A me thing. So next up we have the final video being the most fun homework assignment of your life, incorporating color into your space, using flowers 7. Class Project: So now that you have all this new found knowledge on color the color wheel and how different colors will look in your space, let's actually translate it to your space. We're going to do this in the most simple non budget breaking way possible by incorporating flowers. So wherever you are after this video's done, go to your local farmers market or maybe your backyard. If you're lucky enough, tap of garden and pick some flowers that you feel represent colors that will look amazing in your spaced again. We're focusing more on the actual colors, not the flowers. And you can put these flowers in absolutely any jar. For instance, I use a glass that we drink water out of or an old coffee can. Either one is amazing or if you actually have a vase, and now throughout the week you are going or as long as the flowers last. If you're lucky enough to have the last full week, um, you were going to observe how you feel with that color in that space. Let's say you put these beautiful pink flowers in your kitchen. How do you feel about that? Is there a way to translate that into your kitchen. Or let's say you put these beautiful blue hydrangeas in your dining room and you love the blue in your dining room. You have a dining table already, but maybe you don't have dining chairs. Maybe there's a way to incorporate this blue that you so love in that space in tiered dining chairs, whether it's the a pollster or the chairs themselves. Or let's say you love this peachy pink color in this flower, there's, of course, a way to incorporate into your space. If, for instance, your flowers are in your living room, maybe you don't necessarily want Teoh choose a peach couch that might be a bit aggressive. If you're a little color scared, however, maybe you can incorporate it into a throw or some throw pillows. Anything along that line a little bit more non commitment would still be lovely. But even so, whatever you choose, definitely don't forget to take pictures because I would love to see everything in the photo gallery, but also for yourself. If you're loving how your colors air looking in your space, you're gonna want to remember that you're gonna want to remember it that you loved this blue in your dining room and what the actual shade of blue is when you love it. So please upload to the project gallery because I would absolutely love to see everything. And if you need a quick little recap on everything that we discussed today, my last video will be your final final recap. 8. Final Thoughts: So you've officially made it to the end. You have all this new found color knowledge and you've learned all about our new Andy friend the color wheel again. If you want a copy of the one that I've used in this video today, please feel free to download it from the class. Resource is, you've learned all about this ecology of color in different color schemes. How toe full firm your favorite items. And you have made these beautiful flower arrangements. So please upload all of them to the Project gallery. I would love to see absolutely everyone's. And if you have any questions about your personal space that you would like some interior design help on, please feel free to ask them in the comments. I would love to answer any and all of your questions. And then you so much for watching. And I look forward to seeing all of your beautiful flowers