Guide To Analogous Colour Schemes

A sketch of a dining area with blue-painted walls, a light blue-painted ceiling, light green wainscotting, and two doors opening to a rich violet hallway. A sketch of a dining area with blue-painted walls, a light blue-painted ceiling, light green wainscotting, and two doors opening to a rich violet hallway.
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Guide To Analogous Colour Schemes

See how harmonious analogous colour schemes come together to create a striking design in any home.

Even the most experienced interior designer counts on the colour wheel for creative inspiration when it comes to selecting paint colours. In this article, discover how the careful combination of three side-by-side colours, known as an analogous colour scheme, yields a cohesive, interesting look for any room.

Analogous Colours 101

What is an analogous colour scheme? The simple answer is that analogous hues are three colour families that are adjacent to each other on the colour wheel.

Taking a closer look, an analogous colour scheme combines a primary colour, a secondary colour and a tertiary colour:

  • Primary colours: Red, blue and yellow—the primary source of all colours
  • Secondary colours:
    • red+blue=purple
    • red+yellow=orange
    • yellow+blue=green
  • Tertiary colours: These are a mix of primary and secondary colours: red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, red-violet.
Neutral bathroom walls painted in Antique Pearl 2113-70 pair with a violet hallway painted in Lavender Mist 2070-60 to create an analogous colour scheme.

Analogous Colour Scheme and Colour Flow

An analogous colour scheme can be used to create an interconnected colour story in any room.

Think how soft blues, greens and purples might evoke the feeling of a dusky, misty meadow. Or pale yellows, oranges and reds might conjure the sunrise of a new day.

Here, a pastel colour scheme creates harmonious colour flow from bathroom to hallway. “Antique Pearl 2113-70 is a soft, airy lilac that tends toward a neutral and has a hint of red-violet undertone,” explains Hannah Yeo, Manager of Colour Marketing and Development at Benjamin Moore. “This subtle red-violet undertone creates a seamless transition into the violet hallway, painted in Lavender Mist 2070-60.”
A red, red-violet and violet analogous colour scheme using Shadow 2117-30 paint colour. A red, red-violet and violet analogous colour scheme using Shadow 2117-30 paint colour.
With its use of low-slung red-violet chairs, red area rug, and a wall in Shadow 2117-30, a royal amethyst and former Colour of the Year, this striking space uses a successful red, red-violet and violet analogous colour scheme.
A farmhouse kitchen using a blue, blue-green and green colour scheme creates an elegant look. A farmhouse kitchen using a blue, blue-green and green colour scheme creates an elegant look.
A farmhouse kitchen combines the calming energy of blue, blue-green and green to create an elegant look.
A relaxing bedroom with bunkbeds using a yellow, yellow-green and green analogous colour scheme. A relaxing bedroom with bunkbeds using a yellow, yellow-green and green analogous colour scheme.
Keep colours soft for a relaxing, restful atmosphere as seen here in the balanced use of a yellow, yellow-green and green analogous colour scheme.
A kitchen with a yellow, yellow-green and green colour combination using muted hues. A kitchen with a yellow, yellow-green and green colour combination using muted hues.
Muted hues work in any space, as in this earthy yellow, yellow-green and green colour combination. Home accessories, like the bowls seen here, are an easy way to incorporate analogous colours.

Colour a Room with Analogous Hues

Selecting and viewing analogous paint colours is made easier with our online Colour a Room paint colour selection tool. Simply select a room from our portfolio, and choose paint colours to envision how an analogous colour scheme will look, without having to pick up a brush.

To see paint colours in your own home, use the photo and video visualizers available in the Benjamin Moore Colour Portfolio™ app, available for download on either Android or iPhone.

Learn more about monochromatic colour schemes and use one colour to elevate your space.
Two-tone wall painted in Subtle AF-310 and Sea Life 2118-40 framed by a black fireplace.

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Woman inspecting various paint swatches.

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