Sadness is a problem loading the video. :-(

Help! If 80/20 is the way to go, I'm afraid I live in a circus! Thanks for the info, I guess I have my work cut out for me! :)

If that pale yellow fence is 20% color, I'll stick to some other rule. I get what you're saying, but only to a degree. The fun of color is playing, mixing, and finding these wonderful combinations. Always putting it against white is more of a look/style (not a rule) to me.

i just all three videos. then while i was on the color cure page, two started playing again. at the same time... i couldn't find a stop button.

@lady j
Most of the time you can click on the video itself to pause (or a pause button might show up if you do that).

I love color. When I was in my 20's I was fortunate to receive an original Japanese watercolor. (It may be the most valuable thing I own. I know decorators who are buying COPIES for large. There are ASTONISHED I have an original.)

Anyway, when I first started decorating my home and buying items, I literally took that framed, rather large watercolor from one store to the next. I was told by my decorator to pick four colors, two major, and two minor, and stick to those hues. All four were present in the watercolor, and I used it as my color board. I have been buying for my home for 40 years now, and everything is interchangeable thanks to the color rules I have practiced.

All four are warm colors, and it works for me. I especially like that all my rooms work together, and my red lacquered desk chairs can work as captain chairs for the dining table when I need extra chairs.

Go rule but, rules are made to be broken.

@Village, That sounds smart. I've shifted furnishings from one room to another countless times over the years. I never understood how some people make each room without color connections to any other room in their homes. It seems to me that using colors that work together throughout a home is more economical and flexible.

What confuses me about AT and the 20/80 color rule is that so many of the house tours featured on AT enthusiastically showcase homes specifically because they are so free and bold with wall colors (and are beautiful homes as a result). So what makes an 80/20 many-hued home a success rather than an eyesore?

@spectrogram

I agree, that was one of the most charming things about Mexico...in a way having tons of color or color everywhere takes away from the impact of the color, and makes it function as a neutral (in my opinion). The Intensity/saturation of the color is also important. My bathroom is very pale teal color, but it seems to function as a neutral. Likewise the blue walls in my bedroom function as a neutral in the context of my room- it's the browns, tans, and wood that really pop in my case although those might traditionally be considered neutral.

Okay. So I'll count all my green as a neutral, and so is wood, and the pale yellow walls are just a glow, really. So I'm okay, not nearly at the 'circus' stage yet. Well, except for my office perhaps ...
Besides color is lively. Very like that music attached to this week's video. I truly love that music. And it goes with COLOR!

Another example of the 80/20 rule ( so the guys don't feel left out) is a man in a suit.
The suit, shirt and shoes are typically in a neutral color but the 20% pop of color usually comes from the tie (and sometimes in the socks)

that said I am with@ spectrogram. I veer towards European deco mags because of their unapologetic use of color in every room.

But remember the series of videos are for people who desire a staring point on using color in their home. Everyone do what moves you.

But what counts as neutral here? Just earth tones and shades of white/grey/black? Or is it almost any non-bright color you have so ubiquitously throughout the room that it fades into the background? I'm asking because most of the rooms in my house are not a "neutral" color (one room is a dark plummy brown, for instance, while another whole floor is done in varying shades of pale blues and greens). Are you supposed to add 20% color in on top of that, or are the colored walls already breaking the 80/20 rule?

Love the music! Could you please tell me the name of the musician and song?

hmm... I'm definitely going to have to study the 80/20 rule ....

@hyzen, I have a similar question! My walls are a warm sea grass yellow -very similar to the yellow on the fence. Max seems to count that as a color (do the green chairs count, also?). But in my space, if I were to count it as a color, the walls alone would extended beyond the 20%. It seems more neutral to me. A very, very warm neutral.

@Miami's Elaine, I can give you one example of why people have different temperature rooms throughout their house. They got married and brought in different styles. My husband can't stand cold colors unless they are dark and deep (like navy) -not even for the bathroom. I am the opposite. Our compromise? I get a cool color room and he gets a warm one.

I wish this therapy would bring back the site where we could upload pictures and get help from the group (like the last therapy).

Btw, is there a rule of thumb for cool and warm color mix? I know in the last video that Max said to stick with one or the other when starting out but if you have warm neutrals... surely it can handle some cool color colors?

Well, it's one (effective) approach. People are notoriously afraid of color, so this is a way to get started and more comfortable with riskier projects to come.

@paperkite: it sounds like your walls work as a neutral in your space, so therefore they would be part of your 80%. The 20% applies bold, popping, grab-your-attention accent color.

I've been following this rule without realising. I love white walls, natural materials, and pops of warm colour from artwork and textiles.

Some of those examples looked more like 50% neutral 50% color, some looked like 60-40, some looked like 95-5. Did anyone bother to measure, or is this another example of just making up numbers because they sound good?

i hate so-called neutrals (which means that they're not 'neutral' at all). Give me colour and lots of it. none of this 20% crap. yeah, some people might find it too much. but to me, it's happy making and really, that's all that matters.

Thought this video was a total waste of time in style, format and content. keep saying same thing over and over. plus many of us are using laptops in public places or while others in room @ home, a pop up narrated video that is mostly just a talking head is just an interruption.

I like rules but rules are for people who are totally clueless.

That sure is a cute yard. It looks good with that paint. Keep the videos coming.

This ratio leaves a lot of ambiguity. Another one going around was 60-30-10, dominant, seconndary & accent.

I appreciated the video. Thank you!

Thanks urbancricket!

I moved into a property last week where I'll be living temporarily. It used to be a school and it will be demolished in a couple of years. The rooms are huge and the floors are horrible. Bright yellow and bright blue. The walls used to be bright as well but I painted them white, but still it's so hard to decorate the room. My floor is my 20% of color but it's an ugly 20%! I don't want to spend money on the floor because it's so temporarily but I do want my house so look nice...

The banner for The Color Cure at the top of the page is in violation of the 80/20 rule....

Lips OR eyes on a woman but not lips AND eyes.

Interesting lesson! It made me go back to my favorite piece of artwork & realized this 80-20 principle is what makes it. http://snootyfox.shutterfly.com/pictures/26

Rule shmule.

It's great to see our pillows on your couch, Maxwell! http://www.judyrosstextiles.com

IMO 80/20 = safe and safe = dull.

Maxwell's living room (shown in Week 1 of this series) has a big pinkish-red carpet & pops of orange on the pillows, chairs & wall--there is bright color in considerably more than 20 percent of the room....

Mixed feelings over this so-called cure over here. The videos are so closed to the book I thought I was hearing someone read it. On the other hand, it is a good book, so the video isn't bad at all.

Still, I miss the full cure. I even miss the 20/20 cure. This cure is much more democratic, but there is nothing to do but to think. Personally, I'll watch the videos and do my own 8 weeks cure twice each year. It's long, time-consuming, but still the best thing that ever happened to my house.

On a more personal note, I sure wished Jonathan Adler was doing those videos. He's wayyy bolder.

I thought this post was really interesting. I have learned, though, when you use the word "rule," a large number of people go apoplectic, like you're trying to force something on them. Sigh. You could say "rule of thumb" but I find even that phrase causes rebellion.

Anyway, the way I hear what you're saying isn't that I "have" to do all or any of my rooms that way; rather, it's a suggestion for a style that has been demonstrated to be very effective. It's not how I decorate at all, but it's compellingly presented enough that I'd like to try it!

*compellingly enough presented

Polly S, thank you!

If you are going to bother to use percentages, they should mean something.

What I like about your rules is that I can explain with pretend authority why my boyfriend's idea is going to look terrible. I used to just "know," which would drive him nuts because it meant I was better at design or my opinion mattered more or something. Keep em coming!

"IMO 80/20 = safe and safe = dull"
I'm with missbrown2you, & others who echoed the idea ("rule shmule"). There is a lot more

Good for people who are strangers to the existence of depth & complexity in design concepts, to artistic impulses, or are just fraidycats with color.

This is amazing. I had no idea about this rule but I unconsciously applied it in my home. My home is neutral but with a pop of bold red and yellow colors. It made my tiny home feel bigger and serene but with pizzaz... definitely not boring. I think 80/20 rule is a universal life rule. This is Pareto's rule. He is an economist and sociologist. This rule can apply in every aspect of your life. Think about it...20% of customers account for 80% of sales.... 20% of your staff will cause 80% of your problems. , 20% of your effort will generate 80% of the result, 20% of the people own 80% of the wealth. It is a universal truth!

Screw this, do what ever you want.

Seriously, this is a rule for people who NEVER use color, like, they live in a beige box, but wish they had the courage to add some pop. In other words, for all of you color beginners out there, just add a little bit at a time so you don't freak yourselves out. In reality, you can be successful with the opposite: 80% color/20% neutral. The bottom line is, there are so many color rules floating around (I actually like 60/30/10), it's hard to even call them rules.

If you love color, use a lot of color. If you hate color, don't worry about it because neutral rooms are gorgeous too. Your own eye will let you know if it's a balance you can live with.

Answer needed: What do you do if you use grayed neutrals for your wall color and everything else is true neutral? Confused...

I can see how the 80/20 rule is a nice safety net for someone who doesn't want to splash a lot of color around, and all these rooms and vignettes look lovely in a restrained way... but I notice that a huge number of the rooms I really love in real life are FULL of color.

Just this weekend, I visited a home where every room was painted a different rich, saturated color and punctuated with even more color, some complementary and some analogous. It was luscious and a great reminder to me that I shouldn't be so shy about using plenty of color.

I think this is brilliant.

i really impress that video.Judith March Clothing.thnk you sharing this video...
Miss Me Jeans

I appreciate spending some time to talk about that, I believe firmly regarding this and so really enjoy understanding more about this kind of subject.Keep up the goodresume help