How to Work With Primary Colors
This might be because primary colors in their true forms are often associated with childhood and a floor covered in toys. But there is no reason they have to be babyish. Just ask Mondrian or Miró. Primary colors are the colors of modern art, comic books and pop art.
Primary colors have major impact, especially when they are used together. They are clear, straightforward and bold. You often see them combined with geometric shapes in modern design. But they are most often used in small doses — a painting here, a chair there — or in more muted derivations, like light blue, turquoise, pinks and burgundies.
In modern design, primaries go well with bright white and gray tones. But in other styles they can go a little more wild. You see them sometimes in richly patterned rugs.
Below are some rooms that go all out — primary colors or bust — and some that are more meditations on a theme, with lots of room for interpretation. All of them are brave and beautiful in their own way.
This modern concrete facade looks like a Mondrian painting. The primary color blocks lighten up what could look a little Soviet if left unpainted.
Small areas of true yellow and red warm up a huge room and bring out the color in the wood floors and the area rug. This is a good example of how primary colors don't have to be starkly modern or playroom chaotic.
They are all here, but they are
not taking over the room. Instead the red, yellow and blue blend into
the rest of the warm decor.
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This eclectic room has traditional
elements, like the blue wingback chairs, paired with modern elements,
like the geometric shape of the room and window. It also expands the use
of primary colors by including the turquoise and orange painting.
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A very modern use of primary colors. Bright white sets it all off, so each piece is a little explosion of color.
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The primary colors in this painting are highlighted by the primary-colored accessories and books on the table below.
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A mellower take on the primary-colored kids' room. Still vivid but slightly subtler than true primaries.
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When primary colors are on the walls, they usually go solo. This saturated blue is both modern and Mediterranean. And that bright yellow canvas is the perfect punch. Notice how everything else is extremely simple.