My artist friend convinced me the 60-30-10 rule is overrated

I was talking to my painter friend Mark last week at his studio in Austin. He said the 60-30-10 breakdown for main, secondary, and accent colors works fine for boring rooms but kills any chance of visual tension. He showed me a mural he did with 40% of two colors fighting each other and 20% a third, and it looked way more alive than anything I've designed using that rigid split. Has anyone else tried throwing out the classic ratios and just going by gut?

2 comments

2 Comments

veraramirez1d ago

My guest bathroom is 50-30-20 and it actually works.

kai_stone991d ago

Wow, 50-30-20 in a guest bathroom? That sounds really tight, @veraramirez. I can barely fit a sink and toilet in my half bath without bumping elbows, so I'm impressed you made those numbers work. Your contractor must have measured everything twice.