5 Ways to Rock Monochromatic Color Schemes on Your Scrapbook Pages

by Debbie Hodge

A monochromatic color scheme uses variations in lightness and saturation of one color for most of the elements on your scrapbook page. Neutrals are often combined with the monochromatic colors.

A scrapbook page with a monochromatic color scheme looks clean and elegant — and it’s easy to choose your products and know they’ll go together when you narrow down your choices to one color and its various shades and levels of saturation.

Ideas for making the most of monochromatic color schemes on scrapbook pages follow.

1. Use a monochromatic scheme to cue season or holiday

Many of us have seasonal and holiday associations with particular colors. Orange is the color of autumn and harvest, and Amy Kingsford used shades and hues of it on her “Pumpkin Patch Kids” for a page that immediately says: “autumn.” (Grab autumn quotations and word art to go on your fall pages.)

2. Use a monochromatic color scheme to set scrapbook page tone

Kelly Purkey‘s page about her Best Friend lightening things up when skies are metaphorically gray is well presented with a monochromatic scheme that pairs bright yellow with the neutral gray. Three clusters of yellow stand out, make her point, and guide the eye through the page. (See more ideas for scrapbook pages with cloud motifs.)

3. Use a monochromatic scheme for “punch” when paired with a neutral

The red border, titlework and accents against a cream canvas makes an eye-catching holiday page by Amber Ries. It’s elegant and it grabs the eye by virtue of the strong contrasts. (Read more about color contrast.)

4. Use a monochromatic color scheme for easy pattern mixing on scrapbook pages

Mixing a variety of patterned papers always gets easier when you use a monochromatic color scheme. Lisa Dickinson combined 10 different patterns on this  monochromatic grid-based page. (Get more ideas for mixing patterned paper on scrapbook pages.)

5. Use a monochromatic scheme for a clean and elegant scrapbook page

I took the bits of color in my photos — red — and used them on this red-and-gray monochromatically-schemed page for a clean and elegant look befitting any evening.