Help with paint Choosing colour

Choosing complementary colours

“Complementary” covers two different pairings: shades of one family, related by pigment, that agree without effort; or two colours opposite each other on the colour wheel — pink and green, blue and yellow, red and green — that bring each other to life. The first route gives calm rooms, the second lively ones. In both cases the rule is the same: a dominant, a supporting role, an accent — and never two colours in equal measure.

Page updated September 2026 · by the Mylands France colour team

Bedroom with powder-pink matt walls, door and skirting in a mid grey-green eggshell, white linen bed, a green plant, morning light — Palmerston Pink No.243 and Serpentine No.192: the pink brightens, the green softens

Understanding

Two meanings of the word, two ways of composing

In decorating, colours that go together are called complementary — which covers two very different ideas. The first is kinship: shades that share a pigment, a warm white with an ochre, a grey-green with a deep green, a powder pink with a red-brown. They agree because they are made of the same thing; that is the route of monochromatic schemes and gradations. The second is opposition: on the colour wheel, red faces green, blue faces orange, yellow faces violet. Placed side by side, two opposites intensify each other — which is what makes a pink pinker beside a green.

Every Mylands colour page lists its companion whites, coordinating neutrals, related darks and accents: the pairing work is already done for both routes. This guide shows you how to read those pairings, and six palettes to begin with.

The rules

Three rules before the pairings

A dominant, a supporting role, an accent

About 60 % of the room in one shade (the walls), 30 % in a second (woodwork, a piece of furniture, a rug), 10 % in a third (an object, a door). Two colours in equal measure fight.

Opposites, never at equal saturation

A powder pink with a deep green, or a soft green with a brown-red: one of the two is always greyer or lighter than the other. Two vivid opposites on two walls is a flag.

White is part of the palette

A white ceiling and white woodwork are not neutral: their undertone (warm, grey, rosy, green) agrees or clashes with the rest. Choose the white last, in the dominant's family.

Six pairings

Six complementary palettes ready to paint

Three pairings by kinship, three by opposition. Each with its distribution: dominant, supporting role, accent.

1. The tonal family

Three depths of one pink: the light on the walls, the mid on the woodwork, the deep on a door. The pairing cannot fail, and the room has depth without contrast.

Walls · Threadneedle No.262 Woodwork · Soho Pink No.266 Door · Rothschild Street No.296

2. A bold accent in a neutral

Stone walls, warm white woodwork — and a single piece of furniture, a single door in a deep green or a midnight blue. The neutral carries the accent; the accent wakes the neutral.

Walls · Cadogan Stone No.59 Woodwork · Holland Park No.5 Accent · Pleasure Gardens Green No.214

3. Pink and green

The contemporary pairing par excellence: a powder pink on the walls, a grey-green on the woodwork, a touch of deeper green. The green stops the pink being sugary; the pink stops the green being sad.

Walls · Palmerston Pink No.243 Woodwork · Serpentine No.192 Accent · Brompton Road No.205

4. Red and green

The classic contrast, muted for the home: an olive green on the kitchen cabinets, a brown-red on a larder door, warm white walls. Energetic, never Christmas, because both are desaturated.

Cabinets · Serpentine No.192 Door · Indian Lake No.288 Walls · Lots Road No.24

5. Blue and yellow

A mid blue on the walls, a honey yellow on the woodwork or a band below the ceiling: the vibration of opposites, held because the yellow is warm and the blue is greyed. A kitchen, a child's room, a dark corridor.

Walls · Bedford Square No.229 Woodwork · Cornhill No.128 Ceiling · Greenwich Time No.8

6. Violet and ochre

The pairing people forget: a greyed lilac on the walls, a soft ochre on a piece of furniture, a rosy white on the ceiling. Rare, grown-up, very gentle in north light.

Walls · Lavender Garden No.30 Furniture · Haymarket No.47 Ceiling · Kensington Rose No.22

Kitchen with olive-green eggshell cabinets, a brown-red larder door, warm cream walls, oak worktop, a bowl of green apples — Red and green, desaturated: Serpentine No.192, Indian Lake No.288, Lots Road No.24

Reading a colour page

What the pairings on a Mylands colour page mean

The line	What it is	Where to use it
Companion whites	The whites whose undertone agrees with the shade	Ceiling, woodwork, joinery
Coordinating neutrals	The stones, greiges and greys of the same family	The walls of neighbouring rooms, a corridor, a second room
Related darks	The same family, deeper	A door, a piece of furniture, a dado, the ceiling of a tall room
Accent	The opposite, muted or vivid	An object, a stool, the inside of a cupboard, a single door

These pairings are composed by the manufactory's colour team; they take the pigment into account, not only the apparent shade. See also our neutral groups.

To avoid

The pairings that fail

Two opposites at equal saturation. Bright red and bright green: the room vibrates to the point of tiring.
Four colours. Beyond three, no more dominant; the room looks like a colour card.
A pure white in the middle. It cuts against everything and breaks the pairing; an off-white in the family makes the link.
Pairing on a screen. Two shades that answer each other on a screen can clash on a wall; set two painted boards side by side, in the room.
Forgetting what stays. The oak floor is a yellow, the grey tile is a grey: they are part of the pairing.

Sitting room with pale stone walls, warm white woodwork, a single deep green sideboard, linen sofa, framed picture — The accent in the neutral: one piece of furniture in Pleasure Gardens Green No.214

Frequently asked questions

Your questions, our answers

How do I find a colour's complementary?

On the colour wheel, it is the colour opposite: red/green, blue/orange, yellow/violet. For the home, take it muted — a grey-green for a pink, an ochre for a lilac — and read the "accent" line on the Mylands colour page, where the work is done.

How many colours in a room?

Three, plus white: a dominant, a supporting role, an accent. A whole house can carry five or six if they answer each other from room to room — see a colour palette for every season.

Do pink and green work in every room?

In a bedroom, a sitting room, a bathroom, yes. In a kitchen the green dominates more easily (cabinets) and the pink becomes the accent. The secret is never to give them equal measure.

Can two colours from different collections be paired?

Yes: the Colours of London, the Archive, the Beata Heuman and Jinny Blom collections and the FTT range are made with the same pigments. An FTT accent in a Colours of London palette is a house classic.

How do I test a pairing before painting?

Two or three boards painted with sample pots, set side by side against the wall, in the intended proportions — a large one for the dominant, a small one for the accent — and looked at for two days. The method: How to test a paint colour at home.