I Tried the “80/20 Color Rule,” and Now I Want to Use It in Every Single Room
Have you ever heard of the “80/20 color palette rule” for decorating? I hadn’t before I wrote this article on warm color palettes last month. Since then, this simple principle has completely transformed how I look at decorating my home — mainly because it’s so intuitive. It just makes sense, and you may already be doing it without even realizing it.
What Is the “80/20 Color Palette” Rule?
The “80/20 color palette rule” is a design guideline that suggests using one color scheme for 80% of a room, and a contrasting color scheme for the other 20% to create balance and harmony. This rule can be applied to single colors or broader color palettes, such as warm versus cool. For example, if you love using warm colors like red, orange, cream, gold, and pink in your decor, then you should aim to balance those with accents of cool colors like blue, green, gray, cool whites, etc. Think: 80% warm colors and 20% cool colors, or vice versa.
How I Implemented the “80/20 Rule”
Armed with my newfound knowledge of color palettes in design, I decided to test the “80/20 rule” in my home. Luckily, I was in the midst of a playroom refresh, which gave me the perfect opportunity to implement this rule firsthand — especially because I had already decided to color-drench the room in warm pink.
Despite my best efforts at being a “sad beige mom,” my first-born daughter always gravitates toward the color pink. So when I decided it was time to finally give the home-office-turned-playroom a proper makeover, pink paint was a natural choice.
After some hemming and hawing, I went with a recommendation from an interior design friend, Meagan Stock of Home With Meag. She suggested Sherwin Williams’ Intimate White (SW 6322). Initially, I thought I wanted a darker, moodier shade, but Meag’s pick was spot-on, and I love how it turned out!
This light pink canvas offered the perfect opportunity to use the “80/20 rule” to create balance with the decor. To fit the vintage vibe that color-drenching tends to offer, I went with brushed brass and gold hardware, plus a flower-shaped semi-flush light fixture. I also styled a William Morris play mat from Totter + Tumble in the room, which is thick and large. It’s also double-sided. Because I was aiming to add some cooler colors to this warm palette, I chose the blue side of the play mat, which doubles as the rug here (and gets me pretty close to 20% cool tones, even on its own).
From there, I added my kids’ toys back in so I could better understand the room’s overall color palette. I love using baskets for stylish, hidden storage in this space. So I definitely needed to add more cool tones when all was said and done. That’s where artwork and shelf decor came in.
I found the sweetest Mother Goose-style print on Etsy and knew it would be perfect (I think this may just be my favorite part of the room!). I printed it off and displayed it using a vintage frame I’d picked up on the side of the road a few months back.
Then, I turned to the wall-mounted shelves and bookshelves. I have a love-hate relationship with styling open shelving, but I chose to display our family’s favorite books near the window, which naturally offered a variety of cool and warm colors. As for the larger wall shelves, I went with more sentimental and personal decor, plus a few plants.
The finishing touches included a vintage dollhouse I plan on refreshing this year, and a toy trunk under the window, which houses dress-up costumes. I found the trunk on Facebook Marketplace, and it was initially white, but I decided to use some of the leftover cans of sample paint I had sitting around from the swatching phase to give it new life in this pink-drenched space.
I love how the playroom turned out — and, more importantly, so do my daughters! This was the perfect opportunity to test out the “80/20 rule,” and it’s safe to say that it totally helped create a visually balanced and harmonious space — especially against the warm, predominantly pink background. I’m officially a believer and will be using this design concept from now on whenever I redecorate a room.
Further Reading
We Tested (and Rated!) Every Sofa at West Elm — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need
See How a Stager Used Paint to Transform a 1950s Living Room
We Asked 8 Pro Travelers What They Never Pack in Their Carry-On, and Here’s What They Said
