We Tone a colour by adding some of the contrasting colour to make a form of grey

Add the contrasting paint colour to tone a colour. The value will often become darker.

Just before a colour becomes the perfect grey (with equal proportions of primary paint colours- red, blue, yellow) it will be a taupe. There is a slight predominance of a secondary colour (orange-taupe, green-taupe, purple-taupe)

Meet Tony Tone!

He is a toned Orange (with green added to tone him down)

When you tone a colour it creates a calm feel. Even when it is contrasted with black or white, because it is closer to grey than a high chroma primary colour, there is less impact.

Glenise uses a toned orange, with contrasting blue. The contrasts of the value also add to the impact of this piece.

See more about Glenise by clicking on the image

Toned colours are often seen in nature - natural stone and timber. These make you feel calm. Add some dramatic patterns to liven the space!

Leonie has created a toned textured piece which brings calm.

See more about Leonie by clicking on the image

When you see bright colours in the early or last light, they seem toned. If these are copied, a relaxing feel will be created.

Jeanene uses a toned colour for the ground and leaf matter which contrasts against the male blue wrens feeding, the girls are camouflaged.

Toned colours will often work with their contrasting colour, as they have some of that colour in them.

Add tones décor pieces to enhance your space.

green tones

orange tones

purple tones

mix a contrasting colour to create a toned colour