If Your Color Scheme Is Falling Flat, 'Nine Times Out of Ten' It's Missing This One Detail
Choosing the right accent color for a room can make or break the whole scheme – here's how designers get it right from the start
A room without an accent color is like an outfit without accessories. Much like clothing, wall colors are an excellent base, but accent colors are the accessories that take a room from good to great.
While choosing a paint for your walls might make it easy to overlook accent colors, the devil is in the details when it comes to introducing color in the home. Selecting your accent shades is more than just choosing a vibrant cushion to create contrast; from paying attention to the pieces you already have to following color theory 101, these are the five ways to ensure your scheme is well-balanced and impactful.
'For me, choosing the accent color is the secret sauce to getting a room to go from feeling nice to looking absolutely exceptional,' explains Tash Bradley, Director of Interior Design at Lick. 'It's amazing how often I'll walk into a client's home, and they'll say, "I love it, but it just feels like something's missing." Nine times out of ten, it's the accent color.'
1. Start With the Pieces You Already Have
Look to the pieces you already have to inspire your color palette, whether that be a piece of art or an antique rug.
Choosing your accent color starts with considering more than just paint; it's about considering everything else in the room as well. 'Start with what you already love,' advises interior designer Nina Long at Mathews Design Group. 'The pull accent colors from artwork, textiles, wallpaper, or even the view outside your windows. The room will always feel more collected when the colors have a natural connection.'
Draw parallels between your pieces. Whether you're pulling colors from a wallpaper or creating contrast by intentionally clashing your bedding with your headboard, accent colors create visual interest through layering.
'I always tell clients that the most beautiful interiors don’t rely on a single bold color, they rely on layers, texture, and balance,' explains Tash. 'Accent colors should feel like they naturally belong in the room, not like they were added simply to make a statement. And also, don’t be scared of color; if done right, it can be tasteful and classic without feeling bold.'
Investing in your very own pocket-sized color wheel will ensure your scheme is balanced and timeless. Referring to color theory means the shades you choose will always complement each other.
2. Pay Attention to Undertone
As can be seen with this cool blue-gray and crisp cool white, your undertones always need to relate to one another, even if you are just layering neutral colors.
While it's all well and good following 2026 color trends, considering undertones will ensure your scheme feels balanced and connected. 'When choosing accent colors, pay attention to undertones,' advises Nina. 'This is where people often go wrong. Two blues or two greens may look similar on a paint chip, but if the undertones don’t relate to the rest of the palette, the room can feel disconnected.'
Whether you're designing a warm color scheme or an all-white room, it's important to nail the undertones so the space feels visually harmonious. Stark white like Benjamin Moore's Brilliant White might not pair well with a cool-toned blue wall color, but might shine with a warm neutral taupe or beige. Equally, cool gray paints like Gray Owl can feel imbalanced with warm wood furniture, but may come alive with a richly painted cabinet or dresser.
3. Be Bold
Adding accents of bolder color with smaller pieces is an easy way to inject bold shades without committing to a whole wall or expensive furniture.
'I think where people often lose confidence is with color itself,' says Tash. 'They worry about making the wrong decision, especially when it comes to the bigger investments like walls or sofas. So my advice is to keep those larger elements in lower-saturation colors that you'll happily live with for years. But when it comes to your accent color? That's your opportunity to be bold.'
'I love using that accent color as the thread that runs through a home. It might appear in a chair, a lamp, artwork or a few carefully chosen accessories. It's those little moments that make a scheme feel considered and personal,' says Tash.
'For example, you could have a really calming bedroom layered in beautiful soft blues (like Lick's Blue 01 Matte Paint) and then introduce an electric orange chair in the corner. Suddenly, the whole room comes alive. Or perhaps your living room is full of dusky pinks and rich chocolate browns, and then you bring in a pop of cobalt blue. It's that unexpected twist that gives the room energy and makes it memorable.'
4. Look to the Color Wheel
Ultimately, the best color schemes feel personal and impactful.
Paying attention to the color wheel will help you choose colors that actually work side by side. 'Deciphering what colors go well together and therefore what accent color you should add to your main and secondary hues depends on where on the color wheel they sit,' says Helen Shaw, Director of Marketing (International) at Benjamin Moore.
'If you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed at the thought of mixing color families, a monochromatic scheme which uses varying levels of saturation of one color is a great place to start. This will add depth to the room by instantly shifting the dimensions, while staying in the same color family to ensure it feels tied together.'
'An analogous scheme uses adjacent colors on the wheel and is a great method to ensure the look is cohesive,' continues Helen. 'Cool and calming, blue is the perfect foundation for a room’s color scheme and works especially well with its neighbor on the color wheel: green when this is selected as the accent color. Rich and dramatic, or pale and interesting, you can look at all variants of these shades. A personal favourite is a pale blue reminiscent of the sky (like Benjamin Moore's Breath of Fresh Air) paired with a brighter green accent. The vividness of the green can help to break up the soft blue, creating a refreshing, airy feel similar to that seen outdoors.'
5. Choose Colors You Love
Choose colors that jump out at you, whether that be a warm mustard or a rich burgundy.
Choosing a timeless and trendy color scheme is always about taking inspiration from the shades you love, as it's these that will endure the longest.
'I always come back to the idea that our homes shouldn't look like carbon copies of someone else's on Instagram,' explains Tash. 'Your home should tell your story. It should have soul. And the easiest way to do that is through your accent color. I always encourage people to choose a color they genuinely connect with on a personal level – the one they naturally gravitate towards every time they're shopping or when they are at their favourite restaurant, cafe or in nature, the one that catches their eye without them even thinking about it. That's normally your color.'
'Don't overthink it. Trust your instincts,' says Tash. 'If there's one color you're always drawn towards, there's usually a reason for it. Lean into it, choose the bolder version, and let that be the color that brings your personality into the room. Because those finishing touches are often what transform a beautiful space into one that feels completely and uniquely yours.'
From paying attention to the pieces you already own to taking note of the neighbouring shades on the color wheel, these five steps will ensure your home's accent colors feel well-balanced, personal, and visually aligned.
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