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Interior Design vocabulary · Colour & Colour Schemes

Colour scheme

Meaning in interior design, with examples

/ˈkʌlə skiːm/nounCore term

In interior design, colour scheme means: The planned combination of colours used in a room or project, including walls, floors, furniture and fabrics, chosen so that they work together.

In Turkish: renk şeması, renk düzeni, renk kurgusu

How it is used

Used with clients, painters and suppliers. You choose, develop or stick to a colour scheme; common types are monochromatic, complementary, analogous and neutral. In American English it is spelled color scheme.

Example sentences

  1. We kept the colour scheme calm, with sage green, warm white and natural oak.

  2. The bold colour scheme works in the café, but it would be tiring in a bedroom.

Common collocations

  • choose a colour scheme
  • neutral colour scheme
  • monochromatic colour scheme
  • overall colour scheme
  • colour paletteThe limited set of specific colours selected for a project, often shown as samples or paint codes, from which every surface and item is chosen.
  • accent colourA strong colour used in small amounts, for example on cushions, a chair or a door, to add interest to a mostly calm colour scheme.
  • monochromaticUsing different shades, tints and tones of just one colour, for example a room in several blues from pale sky blue to deep navy.
  • 60-30-10 ruleA guideline for balancing colours in a room: about 60% dominant colour, usually walls and large surfaces, 30% secondary colour and 10% accent colour.

More terms: Colour & Colour Schemes

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