We’re calling it. Aubergine colour schemes will always be in style – it’s backed up by theory after all. As contrasting colours, purple and green go together in perfect harmony. Just check out these beautiful deep purple and dark green living rooms.
How to decorate with purple
Purple is a perplexing colour. It represents creativity, peace of mind, and luxury. Yet when it comes to incorporating the colour into fashion or home design, purple often leaves people stumped.
Watch: How to make a colourful hanging basket
Purple is a perplexing colour. It represents creativity, peace of mind, and luxury. Yet when it comes to incorporating the colour into fashion or home design, purple often leaves people stumped.
Many find it too bold, too different, and too difficult to pair with other colour combinations . But why is that? And is it really that hard to find colours that go well with purple?
Why is purple so perplexing?
There are tons of different theories on why it seems difficult to find colours that match with purple or how to incorporate purple into one’s aesthetic. Purple seems “foreign” to some because it’s not as “naturally occurring” as green or blue. It could also be because in colour psychology purple is often associated with darkness, mysticism, and magic. But these are just theories.
Truth is, purple, just like any other colour, is easy to experiment with. And you don’t even need to study design to know that. All you need is a basic understanding of colour theory.
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Purple and the colour wheel
Colour theory states that you can gauge which colours complement each other by looking at them on a colour wheel. Colours directly opposite each other – or colours that “contrast” each other – are seen as complementary colours. They balance each other out. So what are the colours that compliment purple? Yellow, orange, and green are the most obvious ones.
However, contrasting colours aren’t the only ones that matter. Colours right beside each other on the wheel also complement each other, like purple, indigo, and pink. You can also form a colour scheme or a colour palette by pinpointing three colours that form a triangle on the circle or four colours that form a rectangle. So for a triad, you’d get purple, green, and orange.
You can also play with purple in its various tints and shades, and mix and match with neutrals like white, black, grey, and brown. Honestly, the possibilities are endless.
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20 Colors That Go Well With Purple
Sarah Lyon is a freelance writer and home decor enthusiast, who enjoys sharing good finds on home items. Since 2018, she has contributed to a variety of lifestyle publications, including Apartment Therapy and Architectural Digest.
Updated on 08/07/23
Purple is such a standout color that it might seem like a problematic hue to build a decor scheme around. In reality, colors that go with purple span a spectrum of shades, including black, navy blue, white, and metallics. Gold, copper, and yellow are colors that go with dark purple, imparting a regal ambiance. And lilac, pink, and white are colors that go with light purple for a softer, delicate feel or a space for a child.
Both cool and warm shades of purple are versatile enough to give off entirely different vibes—moody, regal, modern, joyful, earthy—depending on which complementary hues you choose to add to the mix. For instance, black can be an accent color that goes with deep purple walls for a moody and luxurious look.
But sometimes, colors don’t go with purple, especially if they don’t match in tone and intensity—e.g., a rich jewel tone purple with a soft light pink. Looking at paint color palette cards that show a main color with potential accent pairings can help you determine colors for your particular purple.
Read on to discover some favorite color combinations that will help you to make a purple interior shine.
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The 12 Best Colors to Pair with Purple, According to Designers
You just may be surprised by some of our experts’ favorite color combinations.
By Lauren Wicks Published: Jun 2, 2022
Henry Prideaux Interior Design
Some colors seem to have endless pairings (think: sky blue, hunter green, and stormy gray), while others may seem to constrain our decorating scheme when using them. Purple can often be one of those colors for design enthusiasts, though many designers have found myriad ways to incorporate the color into their projects. This may need to begin with expanding our knowledge of purple shades as the word often conjures up a classic Crayola crayon color (and possibly an endearing boy named Harold to go with it).
Designer Renvy Graves Pittman says at the far end of the spectrum, you have rich aubergines—which Mario Buatta was famous for using in his work. At the opposing end is lavender, while mid-range colors like amethyst establish a base point even better than a true, royal purple. Designer Henry Prideaux notes that it is quite a versatile, “sometimes regal” color, which makes purple a great option when designing traditional and contemporary interiors alike.
“When selecting the key colors for a scheme, like many creatives, I am often subconsciously influenced by nature where there are absolutely no rules,” says Prideaux. “When used in interior design, however, different colors will enhance the mood within a space and the specific tone used will be the key to determining whether the room feels vibrant or more serene.”
Once you’ve determined the feel you’re going for—a lively spot for entertaining or a soothing retreat from it all—that can navigate your decision to finding the right shade of purple. From there, it’s all about finding the right color pairings that will make the color sing, whether it’s used in the form of accent pillows or lacquered onto the walls. We asked top designers to share their favorite colors that go with purple to inspire a purple room of your own.
