Make Your Home Look Professionally Designed with This 1 Step from TikTok

Decorating a home should be an enjoyable process—but sometimes, mixing colors, patterns, and textures feels about as much fun as visiting the dentist. You know the outcome will be worth the work, but getting there is a bit painful and uncomfortable.

If you’re overwhelmed by creating your home's color palette (and who isn’t), you may stand in front of the paint swatch display and feel utterly helpless. But TikTok is here to provide you with a simple technique to help you conquer the color conundrum—without having to hire an interior designer.

TikTok creator @thatcotswaldclaire (Claire) shared her secret for getting a professionally-designed look in your home, which starts with choosing five colors based on paint supplier store displays or the brochures you take home. According to Claire, any of the hues on the same row work together for a design scheme.

By scanning the rows of colors and picking five that catch your eye, you’ve put together the perfect combination for your home. And by home, Claire means every room: According to her, the best way to use these five colors you pick is to use them throughout your house for a cohesive look. If you like, you can add another two hues to the assortment, but start with five.

When choosing your colors, think about what you’re redoing and keeping. If you have wood floors, begin with that tone and work across the color row to find coordinating hues. If you have a statement sofa you plan to keep that’s sage green or navy blue, use that to build your palette.

Not all of the colors are meant to go on all of your walls—in fact, in a smaller home, using the same color on the walls in each room is a calming way to decorate since there’s no jarring change from space to space. Consider the most neutral among the five to use as your wall color. 

Claire recommends using the boldest of your five picks for accents: Save bright pink, vibrant orange, or electric blue for lamps, throw pillows, and tabletop objects, and stick with less saturated colors for bigger items like area rugs, comforters, bathroom tile, or (of course) paint. 

It may take a few tries to determine the five best colors for your home, but once you do, you won't need to stress when shopping for fabric, window treatments, and wallpaper—making the process of designing your home much easier than dental work.