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By Jennifer Thoden
Orange is a very "hot" color that used as a pure color will promote energy in a room... almost too much energy to the point of unsettling. Which is why, if you plan on orange in a color scheme, you need to be smart about how you plan on using it.
You've probably rarely seen any room painted in pure orange or have a lot of pure orange decore. Most likely because a room done in pure orange is simply too much, too bright, too hot and not restful. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not telling you to never use pure orange in a color scheme... just have a reason. Perhaps it's a child's playroom and you paint a table bright orange. Or perhaps it's a lamp shade or funky lamp.
To use orange successfully in most rooms, you want to use muted oranges, or shades and tints of orange. These are calmer versions of orange and create a much more restful room.
A Peach Room
When you add white to orange you get a peach. A rich peach to a sublte almost white peach. Using all these colors in this range will create a peaceful, tranquil interior design. It's also ideal for smaller rooms. Use a light peach on the walls. Add simple drapes with the same tint of peach. Have your chairs and couches in the same fabric as your drapes. And your area rug should have a nice range of soft pale peaches to rich peaches. Your room will be exquisite. Ground the entire soft palette with dark stained furniture... stay away from oak and light pine. Also consider using white as a fabric in your room... white pillows... white vases... white chairs.
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Peach to Black
Another alternative is to use a range of dark oranges as your color scheme. Adding black to orange will create browns. From a rich orange-brown to a black-brown. You may refer to this range as your guide for wood stains in your soft peach room. Or perhaps decorate your room in rich orange-browns. Consider painting your walls a peach. Your couch a rich brown from the dark orange range. Have your area rug a mix of soft peaches and rich orange-browns. And maybe your drapes and furniture are an orange with just a hint of black added. Now your room will be cozy and warm.
Add Blue
Add the compliment to the room to cool it down. The compliment to orange is blue. Orange and blue are on the opposite sides of the color wheel. When you add blue to orange you will mute the orange. This will create shades of muted oranges all the way to a greyish brown.
Add white to this palette for soft, less intense peaches... they really are more light beiges and tans.
Add black to the muted oranges to have a range of brown to a dark grey-brown.
You can use these muted tints and shades together to create a rich and dynamic room. A good rule of thumb is to refer to the grid of muted oranges below and use the 3 that are either next to each other, diagonal to each other or vertical to each other.
Do not mix the pure tints and shades with the muted colors. You can mix the pure oranges that have white and black added. And you can mix the muted oranges that have white and black added. But don't mix the 2 sets together. The result is unsuccessful.
Now you know how to use orange successfully in a monochromatic color scheme for your home decorating.
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