How to Decorate With Aqua, Purple and Lime Green

Pick a Dominant Color

• Choose a dominant color, which is the color you will see the most. This will prevent the other colors from competing for attention. Decorate the room in varying shades of the dominant color. For example, in a bathroom where aqua is the dominant color, you might see dark aqua tiles, lighter aqua paint on the walls, an aqua-colored picture on the wall above the toilet, a clear plastic shower curtain with light purple stripes, and a few hand towels in lime green.

Add a Neutral

• All this bright color can become overwhelming if not diluted with a neutral. Incorporate a few neutrals to make the scheme easier on the eyes. In the world of interior design, neutrals include gray, beige, black, white, cream, brown and tan. Generally speaking, white will be the best neutral to combine with a color scheme like aqua, purple and lime green. Some accents of black or gray may also work, depending on the circumstances. In the case of the bathroom above, there should be some areas left white.This may take the form of a white ceiling, white toilet, white door, white sink, and maybe one of the classic floor patterns of white tile with little black diamonds. White helps lighten the room, making the color scheme seem crisp and clean.

Keep the Scheme Light

• A lighthearted approach to this eccentric color scheme is essential. Look for ways to make this interior design equally fun and flirty. To begin, use this color scheme in a room like the kitchen or bathroom, where the need for formality is less important. Then, consider doing something creative and unexpected with these colors, such as painting stripes on the walls or painting the cabinets in all three colors.

Practical Considerations

• You may someday grow tired of this color scheme. Before decorating, ask yourself how you could change the room into a softer, more neutral palette. For example, dramatic and expensive decisions like the inclusion of purple appliances in a kitchen may make your color scheme inescapable and permanent. Find ways to make this color scheme removable if necessary. You may even decide to decorate the majority of your room in a neutral color, and add splashes of aqua, purple and lime green in various places around the room.