The asymmetrical sofa adds a modern touch to the room, creating a focal point that draws the eye. The soft puffs provide extra seating and add to the cozy atmosphere of the space.
Colors That Go With Purple: 25 Harmonious Combinations
Stefan Gheorghe is the founder and CEO of Homedit.com. In 2008, he launched the platform out of his passion for interior design and home decoration.
Learn more about Homedit’s Editorial Process
| Published on Jun 6, 2023
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Light Purple and Beige
Magenta and Lime Green
Thistle and Blush Pink
Purple and Taupe
Grape and Burnt Orange
Purple and Navy
Wisteria and Olive Green
Magenta and Turquoise
Magenta and Light Maroon
Lavender and Champagne
Heather, Gray, and Mustard Yellow
Purple and Soft Peach
Orchid and Tangerine
Mauve and Sage Green
Royal Purple and Coral
Eggplant and Aqua
Amethyst and Emerald Green
Violet and Yellow
Deep Purple and Gold
Lilac and Mint Green
Lavender and White
Purple and Blue
Purple and Cream
Warm Gray and Purple
Plum, Black, and White
Colors That Go With Purple: 25 Harmonious Combinations
Colors that go with purple, a cool hue that takes on some of the attributes of red, can greatly enhance its visual impact, making it stand out even more. When you know the right colors that complement purple, regardless of its temperature on the color spectrum, you have the power to create a bold, bright, or subtle look with remarkable finesse.
Colors That Go With Purple (2023)
Here are 20 suitable color combinations, from classic to contemporary pairings.
Plum complements the stark black-and-white palette, adding depth to the design. This bedroom feels modern and stylish, with plum accents adding a pop of color. The combination makes the space feel more vibrant and visually attractive.
Warm Gray and Purple
Purple highlights the warmth of gray, creating a cozy and inviting atmosphere. A stunning accent wall featuring warm gray and purple tones adds interest to this all-white living room. A painting graces the warm gray section, adding a touch of artistry to the space.
Color theory about combining orange and purple
For anyone who has studied design, one of the first lessons you likely learned was color theory. Color theory is a system that integrates art, psychology, and science to determine how viewers are affected by specific color compositions. According to Canva, “color harmony” refers to pairs or groups of colors that go well together aesthetically. Some of these color harmony categories include complementary colors, monochromatic colors, analogous colors, and tetradic colors. To many people’s surprise, purple and orange fall into the triadic color harmony.
You can find a triadic color harmony by locating three colors on the color wheel that are an equal distance from one another. You’d have a perfect triangle if you connected the points between the selected colors. For instance, purple and orange belong to a triadic that also includes green. According to color theory, these three colors are all visually harmonious with one another.
Color blocking with purple and orange
Color blocking is a term used in design to describe when two colors that oppose each other on the color wheel (like purple and orange) or two colors that are typically thought of as clashing (like blue and black) are styled side by side. The colors are depicted in solid “blocks” of pigment.
The popularity of this design method is typically credited to the famous Dutch painter Piet Mondrian. One of Mondrian’s most notable works, “Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue,” displayed the foundations of the “color blocking” technique. According to L’Officiel, the painter’s innovative design found its way into high fashion in 1965 with YSL’s dress named “The Mondrian.”
Today, architects, interior designers, and fashion designers alike take inspiration from Mondrian when combining seemingly clashing colors. When combining purple and orange, you’ll want to do the same. Ensure that each purple and orange section of your outfit or furniture has a distinct line of separation from the other.
Purple and orange were an iconic color duo in 2011
Just a little bit over a decade ago in 2011, purple and orange were one of the hottest color combinations in fashion. Mail Online featured celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Jessica Alba, and Rose Byrne boldly dressed in purple-and-orange outfits. This clashing, color-blocking trend was likely initiated by Gucci’s spring line that year.
If the world-renowned fashion house approves of the color combination, you definitely have no reason to fear it. In fact, the mixture was so popular in 2011 that Kim Kardashian even posted on Twitter saying, “Bright orange and purple! . Do you guys like this trend?” For inspiration, take a look back at magazines from 2011, and you’ll find the most prestigious design publications dressing models and celebrities in orange and purple.
Types of Harmony
There are 5 types of color harmony:
1) Direct Harmony: This is the most basic harmony. It is a point opposite to the key color on the wheel. This “opposite” color is referred to as the complementary color and thus the direct harmony can also be called the complementary harmony. Virtually all color harmonies (except Analogous) are a variation of the direct harmony. It is the reason the wheel exists as opposed to a different kind of chart.
The high contrast of complementary colors creates a vibrant look especially when used at full saturation but can be jarring if not managed properly. This is the most common color scheme and is easy to find in all sorts of designs. Hulk’s green color has purple as its complementary color—which is the reason he wears purple shorts. Red and green are the Christmas colors and also happen to be complementary colors to each other. In photography, blue is considered the best color to put behind a person as it is the complementary color to skin tone.
Complementary color schemes are tricky to use in large doses, but work well when you want something to stand out. Complementary colors are really bad for text as both colors have a similar “strength” and will fight for attention.
2) Split Complementary: Rather than the point opposite the key color on the wheel, the split complementary takes the two colors directly on either side of the complementary color. This allows for a nicer range of colors while still not deviating from the basic harmony between the key color and the complementary color.
This color scheme has the same strong visual contrast as the complementary color scheme, but has less tension. The split complimentary color scheme is a safe choice for virtually any design as it is near impossible to mess up and always looks good.
3) Triadic Harmony: Also called Triadics or Triads. This refers to the color two spaces to either side of the key color’s complement. Essentially, with the triadic harmony, you are using three equally distanced colors on the color wheel. As such, you’re stretching the basic idea of color harmony and thus this harmony is best used with only touches of color.
Too much of each color and your design appears to have too many colors and can be too vibrant.
To use a triadic harmony successfully, the colors should be carefully balanced—let one color dominate and use the two others for accent. Or, desaturate all your colors and only use the triadic colors in small spots or touches.
4) Analogous Harmony: Also referred to as related colors, these are the colors directly on the left and right of your key color. They usually match up quite well and create a serene and comfortable design. While this color harmony can be pleasing to the eye, it can also come across as monotone. If you are going for a design that’s primarily one color, this is a good choice.
5) Tetradic Harmony: Similar to the Triadic, except that there are four points, all equally distanced on the color wheel. This is a color harmony I’ve only seen mentioned in more recent texts on the subject of color harmony. In my earlier post on this subject, I didn’t even include it. My personal opinion is that a design using this isn’t really using color harmony and is instead using every color on the color wheel. Or, where done more subtly, it is a design simply using two sets of complementary colors.
That being said, this harmony is good when you have numerous elements that all need to stand out on their own—such as a poster that features 4 or more characters. By using colors equally distant on the color wheel, each character gets equal attention.
Examples of Color Harmonies
In this section, I’ve taken posters, ads and concept art and shown how the various color harmonies are used. You can click on a harmony to skip to that section. Or you can browse through all of them.
- Direct Harmony
- Split Complementary
- Triadic Harmony
- Analogous Harmony
- Tetradic Harmony
Direct Harmony/Complementary
You can click on an image to see it larger.
Split Complementary
You can click on an image to see it larger.
Triadic Harmony
You can click on an image to see it larger.
Analagous Harmony
You can click on an image to see it larger.
Tetradic Harmony
You can click on an image to see it larger.
Resources & Credits
There are numerous online color wheels, however my favorites are Paletton and the Adobe Color Wheel. Paletton is particularly nice in that it has an “examples” tab where you can see your color scheme in use on a few example images and layouts.
For a hard copy color wheel (which every designer should have), I don’t know of any better one than the one made by Grumbacher Art. You can purchase that here.
The art used above is commercial posters or advertisements and are used for example purposes only. There are a few pieces that I’ve used from two of my favorite concept artists—Craig Mullins and Daniel Dociu. Both are masters at using colors and studying the rest of their work against the color wheel is an exercise I would recommend to any designer.
Lastly, I’ve included the color wheel I used in this article as a layered illustrator file. You can download it below.
