Good Complementary Color for Black and Pink

A color scheme of pink and black brings to mind 1950s poodle skirts and Parisian shopping bags. The high contrast of the combination lends itself well to elegant and energetic decor themes. As black is a neutral, the choice of a third color to match the set depends on the shade of pink you have chosen. With variants like hot pink, coral, carnation, puce, rose and ballerina, coordinating colors for this particular color family might be subtle or astonishing.

Icy White

Crisp white works well to offset the intensity of a daring hot-pink-and-black color scheme. Insert white drapes and bedding into a bedroom with hot-pink walls and black-lacquer furnishings. Because they are neutrals, black and white can be paired together with almost any shade of pink, such as white-and-black-striped upholstery and a checkerboard ground in a kitchen with pink cabinets and fixtures. Be skeptical of matching white with the palest pinks, however, since the brightness of white washes out delicate pastels.

Retro Aqua

With black as the boldest neutral and pink falling in the warm color familyroom aqua blue adds a trendy balance to the color palette. This retro color trio is reminiscent of the 1950s when they were featured together in this decade’s iconic atomic and boomerang patterns. Beyond retro-room themes, aqua can alleviate strong black-and-pink color palettes in almost any design style. For example, add aqua toile wallpaper to French Country decor featuring black mahogany furniture upholstered in carnation pink.

Taming Gray

Gray brings a soothing effect to a black-and-pink color scheme. The muted colour is available in warm and cool shades such as a warm taupe gray with a yellow-brown tint or a trendy slate gray which has a bluish base. Use grey as a backdrop color to frame distinguishing black-and-pink furnishings. For example, place a cool-gray area carpet down to anchor a black marble dining table paired with coral chairs.

Eye-Catching Red

Because the base color from which pink is made, red makes sense as a complementary color. Reds in larger doses work best with richer pinks such as magenta, which won’t be upstaged by the brilliant colour. When paired with paler pinks such as ballerina, the lighter hue reveals the more vibrant red and carries in an orange or peach cast. A daring, attention-grabbing color, little points of crimson might be used to draw the eye on focal points which may otherwise be lost in a sea of pink. For example, in a French pink-walled room with black flooring and curtains, add red throw pillows into a cotton-candy-pink seat to keep it from blending in with the wall paint.

See related