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Interior Design vocabulary · Colour & Colour Schemes

Colour palette

Meaning in interior design, with examples

/ˈkʌlə ˌpælət/nounCore term

In interior design, colour palette means: The limited set of specific colours selected for a project, often shown as samples or paint codes, from which every surface and item is chosen.

In Turkish: renk paleti, renk seçkisi

How it is used

Close in meaning to colour scheme, but palette usually means the actual list of colours (with paint names or codes), while scheme describes how they are combined. You build, narrow down or refine a palette, and show it on mood boards and sample boards.

Example sentences

  1. The colour palette for the hotel lobby is built around terracotta, sand and deep green.

  2. Can you send me the colour palette with the paint codes so I can order samples?

Common collocations

  • limited colour palette
  • earthy colour palette
  • refine the colour palette
  • colour palette with paint codes
  • colour schemeThe planned combination of colours used in a room or project, including walls, floors, furniture and fabrics, chosen so that they work together.
  • swatchA small sample of fabric, paint colour, wallpaper or another material, used to check how it looks and feels before ordering.
  • mood boardA collage of images, colours, textures and objects that shows the feeling and style intended for a space before any detailed design is done.
  • neutralA calm, muted colour such as white, beige, grey, taupe or greige that goes well with most other colours; also used as an adjective, as in a neutral scheme.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Colour & Colour Schemes

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