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Interior Design vocabulary · Colour & Colour Schemes

Tone down

Meaning in interior design, with examples

phrasal verbCommon term

In interior design, tone down means: To make a colour, pattern or design less strong or bright, so that it feels calmer or more balanced.

In Turkish: yumuşatmak, dozunu azaltmak, sakinleştirmek

How it is used

Common in client feedback: Can we tone it down a bit? You can tone down a colour, a pattern, a strong orange or the whole scheme. In feedback the opposite is often warm it up, brighten it up or add a pop of colour.

Example sentences

  1. The client liked the wallpaper but asked us to tone down the colours in the rest of the room.

  2. Adding more white will tone down the yellow.

Common collocations

  • tone down the colours
  • tone it down a bit
  • tone down the pattern
  • 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.
  • contrastA strong difference between colours, tones, materials or shapes placed together, such as black against white or rough stone against polished brass.
  • 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.
  • colour schemeThe planned combination of colours used in a room or project, including walls, floors, furniture and fabrics, chosen so that they work together.

More terms: Colour & Colour Schemes

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