Choosing your home colour palette: the complete guide

The 60 / 30 / 10 rule is your starting point

A successful palette is about distribution, not the number of colours. 60% dominant (walls, large volumes), 30% secondary (sofa, curtains, rug, furniture), 10% accent (cushions, brass, artwork, vases).

This avoids the two classic traps: the cold all-white interior that flattens the light, and the pile-up of strong colours that tires the eye after a few months.

Pick the dominant colour last, once the sofa, table and rug are chosen. Repainting a wall costs a hundred times less than replacing a living room.

The colours defining 2026

Three families lead the year: layered beiges (sand, linen, clay, greige), greens from sage to forest, and burnt terracotta. All are earthy, matte colours that absorb light instead of bouncing it back.

They work particularly well under intense West African light: where pure white becomes blinding at midday, a warm ivory or greige stays comfortable all day.

Deep black and brass remain the two safest accents: they outline a room without ever dating it.

Matching the palette to your light

Look at the room at three moments: 9 am, 2 pm and in the evening under artificial light. A shade shifts dramatically with orientation. A south-facing room saturates warm colours; a north-facing one needs warmer tones to avoid looking grey.

Always test on a surface of at least 50 × 50 cm, on two different walls. A 5 cm swatch tells you nothing.

Keep lighting between 2,700 and 3,000 K: above that, beiges turn grey and wood loses its warmth.

Three ready-to-use palettes

Ivory & brass: warm ivory walls, sand furniture and light wood, brass and black accents. The brightest palette, ideal for apartments and highly exposed villas.

Deep green & wood: greige walls, forest-green or sage velvet sofa, walnut, cream accents. An enveloping palette for large volumes and high ceilings.

Earth & terracotta: clay walls, terracotta and ochre textiles, raw wood, matte black accents. A warm palette that naturally converses with local craft and fabrics.

Carrying colour from room to room

A coherent home does not mean identical rooms. Keep the same dominant colour in circulation areas (entrance, corridors, stairs), then vary the secondary colour per room.

Repeat one accent — brass, matte black, a single wood species — across all seven rooms. That thread is what makes an interior look designed.

Expensive mistakes

Choosing a colour on a screen: rendering varies hugely between phones.

Using more than three main colours in one room.

Forgetting the floor: a bright glossy tile, common in new builds, acts as a fourth colour and belongs in the palette.

Skipping the rug: it is the most effective piece to unify a palette and correct a floor you dislike.