One of the greatest bits of design knowledge available to an individual decorating their home space themselves is the 60-30-10 rule. This handy guideline can make decisions a whole lot easier if you can apply it accordingly. Once you know it, you will instantly recognize how many professional designers use it on a regular basis. In fact, you will probably see the rule in action in the majority of photos you see in decorating magazines from here on out.

The rule is simply this, one colour is used for 60 percent of a room, a second colour is used for 30 percent of the room, and a third colour is used on 10 percent of the space. The walls are normally what establishes the 60 percent colour, then the majority of the furniture will render the 30 percent, and then the remaining 10 is the accent colour.

Be certain not to place too much of one colour in one section of the room, or you will end up with an unbalanced look. Stagger the colour when possible, so no one corner is more saturated in one colour, and thus becoming heavy. Then to give your area dimension, work with different shades of the 3 main colours you have selected. This variety will assist you in making your design come together in a visually pleasing manner.