Let’s Split It .......

Hi Everyone and thanks for checking back with me. In my last post, “One Singular Sensation”, I taught you about the Monochromatic Colour Scheme and showed you how to use it in your interiors. Well, now I feel confident that you’re ready to move on to a Colour Scheme a little more challenging: the Split Complementary. If you really want to embrace colour this is a great one for you and I think it’s super clever. Here’s how it works. In the spectrum of colour seen in the Colour Wheel there are three main colours (Red, Blue, Yellow) called “Primaries”. This is because they, along with black and white, cannot be created by any other colour. The Primaries all have “Complements” that fall directly across from them on the wheel (Green, Orange, Violet respectively). The Complements are derived from mixing a Primaries’ other two Primaries - ie Red’s complement is Green because it’s made from mixing equal parts of Blue and Yellow. Now, between the Complements there are “Tertiary’ colours that mix the Complements with a touch more of the other Primaries. This might be getting confusing so let me illustrate:
(Tap Photos to Enlarge)

So what’s cool about mixing a colour with its complement (known as a Complementary Colour Scheme) is they bring out the vibrancy of each other. In Split Complementary, we do they same thing but instead of using a colour’s complement, we use the *Tertiary* ones on either side (we split the Complement). How does that bring out the vibrancy, you ask? Because the Tertiaries have the Complement as their common hue. So if we pick Red, the Tertiaries are Blue-Green and Yellow-Green. Because they both contain Green, they bring the Green out in each other which plays off the Red thus bringing out the vibrancy in a three way orgy of colour! And it does it in a nifty and sophisticated way because it’s subtler than a Complementary Scheme which can be a bit more dramatic. So I thought I’d show you by designing a room in a Split Complementary Colour Scheme using that very palette of Red/Blue-Green/Yellow-Green and I’d thought I’d do something really fun. Soooooo I’m going to design a Nursery - one for a boy and one for a girl - using tints, tones and shades of that same Split Complementary palette and combine them to create two different looks.
Here’s our palette:

So now we have the palette, let’s put it to use in our two Nurseries for comparison:

Girl’s Nursery designed by Steve Ryan Designs - Created Using HOMESTYLER App

Here you can see I’ve used tinted shades of the palette making them softer and more feminine. You can mix tones of the palette (ie the blue-greens or pinks could’ve been darker ) but you can seen how colourful the room looks because the three hues are playing off each other. I’ve also balanced all that colour with white so it doesn’t get too crazy for the eye.

Boy’s Nusery designed by Steve Ryan Designs - Created Using HOMESTYLER App

In the boy’s nursery you can see the hues still play off each other even though they’re more shaded. You’ll also notice I’ve made minimal changes in the rooms - most of the furniture is the same. I’ve really only used Colour to change the look and feel. In the girl’s room pink is more dominant and in the boy’s the blue-green is more dominant which completely changes how the rooms feel. However, both of these rooms have a real vibrancy and zing to them by using the Split Complementary scheme because of how the three hues play off each other. I realize that this is a bold use of colour but in a room like a Nursery, Laundry or Powder Room it makes for a really fun look. If you wanted to use a Split Complementary scheme in a subtler way, you could do it as easily as wallpapering a room or focal wall with wallpaper that contains the three hues but keep the rest of the room neutral with whites, greys, beiges and a few well placed accents of the three colours. Once again the amount of colour you use is up to you and your comfort level.


So I hope that gave you some confidence in using colour in a room in an unexpected way and showed you how using different tints, tones and shades of your chosen palette can dramatically change the look and feel of your interiors. Also, feel free to leave comments on things you might like to read about here. And, be sure to like Steve Ryan Designs on Facebook or follow us on Instagram @steveryandesigns.


Thanks for reading and striving to live the Well Designed Life


Steve