Purple colors include dark grape to lavender, with some choices having more of a blue tone and others including more red. Teal-green contains a strong element of blue, but not as much blue as aqua. Like shades of purple it ranges from dark saturated blue-greens to pale teal -- seafoam with only a hint of blue-green. Creating a purple and teal color scheme for interior decorating involves making one of the colors dominant and the other secondary when you design a room.
In a room with light teal walls, teal sofa, purple and teal area rug, purple armchairs and accessories, teal serves as the dominant color. It sets the mood with the wall color and the central piece of furniture. A bedroom featuring grape walls, a sheer purple canopy cascading over a bed draped with a floor-length purple comforter with purple and teal print pillow shams, set off by framed prints of purple and teal classic cars and a teal bed bench creates the opposite color scheme.
Purple and teal are both strong colors. For contrast, using a light shade of the dominant color and a dark shade of the secondary color creates an eye-catching combination. Alternatively, pairing a dark shade of purple with a dark shade of teal gives the room a rich jewel-toned effect. Choosing your favorite shades of purple and teal for your color scheme and checking the effect in natural light will help you make choices that will work for your tastes and your home.
Bringing color samples home and viewing them in your home lighting and with any existing furniture, carpet, drapes, woodwork and wall color -- if you choose not to paint -- reduces the risk of expensive mistakes. Checking purple samples next to any red elements in the room can help to prevent clashing, such as the wrong shade of wine next to a brick fireplace or redwood wall. Buying bedding or curtains in teal and purple gives you an inexpensive way to test the color combination before investing in paint, rugs, wall art or furniture.