What is the 60-30-10 rule in interior decorating? It's a simple, timeless decorating rule that helps you combine a color scheme easily. It's a decorating tool worth following. The concept involves sticking to proportions of color to give your room a balanced and harmonious look. The 60-30-10 rule works like this:
- 60%: The main color should represent 60% of the colors in a room.
- 30%: The secondary color should represent 30% of the colors in a room.
- 10%: The accent color should represent 10% of the colors in a room.
Read on to learn how to use the 60-30-10 rule to choose colors that work for each of the spaces in your home.
60-30-10 Rule Example
Your room has all white walls and a white sectional sofa (60%), neutral flooring, side tables, and upholstered side chairs (30%), and accents of one color around the room using decorative pillows, artwork, and other small items (10%).
How to Use the 60-30-10 Rule in Design
The 60-30-10 rule is essential because it can make choosing color simple and help you achieve balance in decorating.For details on how the concept works, here are more examples you can use to guide your color choices.
The 60% Color Rule
The 60% proportion refers to the main color you will use in your room design. This color will anchor the space and serve as a backdrop for the other colors you plan to use. Examples of what 60% of a room includes:
- Walls
- Area rugs
- Sofa or other large pieces of furniture
The 30% Color Rule
The 30% proportion refers to the secondary color in the room. It is used half as much as the main color. The secondary color supports the main color but is different enough to set them apart and give the room contrast and interest. Examples of what items 30% of a room includes:
- Window coverings and draperies
- Accent chairs
- Bed linens
- Painted furniture
- Accent wall
The 10% Color Rule
The 10% proportion refers to the accent color in a room. This color will add pizzazz to your space. Pull a color from the artwork in a room or a printed fabric on a more oversized item to use as an accent color. Here are examples of what comprises 10% of a room:
- Throw pillows and throw blankets (on a sofa or bed)
- Decorative accessories (frames and vases, for example)
- Lamps and candles
- Artwork
Choose Your Colors
How do you choose the three colors for your space? Consider the color wheel, use a reference point, or look at color trends to inform your decision.
Use the Color Wheel
When looking for a place to start, select a main color and look at a color scheme based on the color wheel. Some strong options include complementary, monochromatic, or analogous colors.
- Analogous: Analogous colors are next to each other on the color wheel, like blue, green, and yellow. It usually works best if you choose the middle color (green) as your dominant color, with blue and yellow as supporting colors.
- Complementary: Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. This color scheme is usually two colors, for example, hues of purple and yellow. A third color often enters the mix, usually a color that is analogous or adjacent to one of the complementary colors on the color wheel; in this case, orange might provide a burst of color.
- Monochromatic: One color family keeps you within the boundaries of a monochromatic palette.
Consider a Reference Point
Another successful way to inspire a color story for a room is to choose colors based on a bedspread, throw pillow, area rug, or piece of art. In most of these examples, a designer or artist has already done the color-matching work for you.
Look at online references or magazine spreads for room colors that you like. These are often a good starting point, and online tools, like color pickers, are fun to play with to get ideas for your space.
Look at Color Trends
Look at popular color trends and "what's next" for color schemes. Major paint manufacturers will feature their color of the year and other colors that work well with it. This option is wonderful for people considering redoing their paint color scheme every few years. Meanwhile, neutral colors have a longer lifespan for those who prefer to leave the room as-is for longer.
Do You Have to Follow the 60-30-10 Rule?
If you're a decorating rebel who prefers to follow your design and color scheme rules or want more than three choices to express your color ideas, there are ways to do it while still creating color balance in your home.
The key is to learn the rules before you break them so you understand the basic idea of the concept. Once you know the rule's basic idea, it will be easier to customize color use in your spaces.
Adding Another 10 to the 60-30-10 Rule
One example of thinking outside the box with this rule is to add another 10% to the equation. Having a design scheme with 110% color looks like this:
- 60% main color
- 30% secondary color
- Two 10% accent colors instead of one
How Does a Room Have 110%?
In reality, the room does not have 110%; you have likely removed 10% from the main or secondary color or a similar combination.
60-30-10 Rule in Monochrome
A neutral monochromatic color scheme creates a relaxing color scheme, and you can also apply the 60-30-10 rule. When you create a monochromatic color scheme, your main, secondary, and accent colors can be varying shades of the same color rather than three separate or contrasting colors. Here's an example:
- 60% main color: Soothing neutralgreige
- 30% secondary color: A deeper shade of the same greige
- 10% accent color: A pale shade of the leading greige tone
If you want to go monochromatic outside the neutral zone, use a paint color card for a simple way to inspire your choices. Select the lightest hue on the card (say, a pale blue) for your 60% main color, use the darkest color (perhaps a navy blue) to guide your 30% secondary color selections, and try the middle color on the card (a true blue, for example) on the card for your 10% accent color. If you want to go for the 110% option here, opt for a small dose of a complementary color (in our example, an orange accent or two) to liven up the monochrome look.
When the 60-30-10 Rule Isn't Working
This decorating rule is helpful, but what if you don't like the results? Breaking the rules and writing your own formula may work best for you. If a 30-30-20-20 formula feels right, experiment with those proportions. Pay attention to how the colors balance in the space. When you become aware of the visual weight of your color proportions, you can make adjustments to find the balance that speaks to you.
Tip
Designers also use the 70-20-10 color rule, which follows the same general concepts of the 60-30-10 rule, with varying percentages of color.
