A monochromatic house is popularly associated with the minimalist style of home design which emphasises the principle of achieving more with more. For monochromatic house designs, it is not about using a single colour in your home. Instead, it focuses on using a single colour as well as its many derivatives.
For example, if John decides to use white colour to achieve a monochromatic house, it does not mean he must have only white paint and white furniture in his home. What John needs to do is to have white as well as other derivatives and other values of the colour he has chosen. It is easy to design your home with one colour and its derivatives instead of combining multiple colours that might leave you with too many contrasting colours and effects. Another advantage of going for a monochromatic home is that it any piece of furniture that is of a different colour is easily highlighted as it stands out from the other colours used in your home. Below are tips to help you achieve a monochromatic home:
Begin From the Floor
The most effective place to start working on a monochromatic house is your flooring. This is where you pick a base colour and you should consider making the floor the darkest shade of colour that you intend to use in your home. A good base colour helps you achieve a solid foundation for the colour scheme you have chosen for your home.
Regardless of whether you are using carpet or other flooring options, just ensure that whatever colour you have chosen needs to blend well with the paint, wallpapers and the colour of furniture pieces that you will have in the house.
For your walls, consider going with a medium shade of the colour you have chosen for your flooring. From here, move on to your furniture and accessories with contrasting shades of your chosen colour. The shades can be lighter or darker depending on what appeals to you.
There have been cases where home designers flip the rules of monochromatic homes by making the walls darker than the floors. The outcome can be beautiful but you must take note to go with a neutral colour scheme like brown, black, ivory, taupe or grey.
It Needs to Feel Right
Before you pick a colour for the different rooms in your home, you have to be sure about the kind of mood you want to create in each room. Bear in mind that it is not just about the colour. The chosen colour has to be in the right shade. For example, if you have a violet base with blue colours, shades of white and grey colours are quite visually soothing and would feel appropriate for a quiet part of your home.
For your bedroom in a monochromatic house, shades of tan and brown can help you achieve a feeling of warmth. Shades of light blue and yellow trigger a feeling of fun, liveliness and happiness, so, you might want to use such colours in your children’s rooms or their playrooms.
Choose colours that are appropriate for each of the rooms in your home especially how such colours make you feel. This is where an understanding of the psychology of colours in architecture and your home design would help.
Get Bold With Prints and Patterns
Going for a monochromatic house does not mean you have to settle for the boring side of interior decoration. You can spice things up by throwing in some throw pillows and windows with patterns and prints on them. Feel free to go with both light and dark shades of your chosen colours.
Prints and patterns help you generate an element that draws attention to the part of the house where you have chosen to have them. Go for bold prints and patterns in spaces where you want to draw attention to.
If you are going for having patterns in different places, avoid contrasting patterns. For example, you shouldn’t have vertical lines on one side and then horizontal lines in another spot. They can be distracting to the eye and don’t give you visual uniformity.
Styling and Texture Are Essential
If you keep your colour palette simple, then you enjoy the advantage of being able to experiment more with style options that would have been difficult to achieve if you were trying to blend several palettes and styles.
Did you know that you can spin any space or room in your monochromatic home into a rustic haven by throwing in accessories and pieces of furniture that are in the shade of colour that you have chosen for your monochromatic house?
The secret to pulling off a monochromatic house design is to play more with texture and less with colours. It brings in more fun and excitement to your designing options.
One argument against monochromatic homes is that they risk looking stale and drab but by adding soft elements like throw pillows and plum rugs, the monochrome option has all you need to have a home that is both charming and welcoming.
The Living Side
Consider throwing some life into your home design by having plants that add a dose of appeal to your interior design. It’s important to work with a plant that blends in with the theme colour you have chosen. For instance, you can use calla lilies or orchids for a white scheme. Look out for commonly grown plants in Nigeria and pick one that works for you.
You can inject some vitality into a room with a black and white colour scheme by adding boldly coloured plants like the crown of thorns, Ixora or hibiscus. What this helps you achieve is that it draws attention away from the theme colours; thus, creating a visual break.
Placement Matters
After choosing your colours, you also need to pay attention to where you place different furniture and how they impact the overall outlook of the room. What you want to achieve here is the placement of the different shades of colour you have chosen in such a way that you give the eye a number of breaks when you look at the room.
For instance, in your bedroom, if you have bedside table tables with dark colours, you can create a visual break by having a bed with white sheets. Aim for achieving an ocular appeal without distorting your monochromatic home design.
Final Thoughts on Monochromatic House
The key ingredient to pulling off a monochromatic house design is to play more with texture and less with colours. Colours are great but you have to open up your creative side and get bold with style and texture.
