Growing up, we all learn about the color wheel in art class- the way all the opposite colors complement each other, like green and red or orange and blue. The way they contrast each other can be vibrant and beautiful if done right, and jarring if done wrong. However, there are other ways that colors can mix beautifully besides opposites attracting.
Analogous colors are colors that are similar to each other, and they are next to each other on the color wheel. They use their similarities rather than the contrasts to create a well matching color scheme.
Blue, teal (blue-green), and green are a good analogous set, as are red, orange, and blood orange (red-orange). It’s a good, very natural set up, although be careful to stop these from matchingtoowell and blending the colors together.
Split complementary is a mixture of complementary and analogous colors- it uses two parts analogous colors and one part complementary colors. Purple, indigo, and yellow would be a good example. It softens the edges of the complementary paint colors and is a good pattern for beginners.
If you want to be daring and use four colors at once, then the rectangle and square patterns can be wonderful- the rectangle or tetradic color scheme uses two complimentary sets of colors to match each other, such as green and red, plus blue and orange. The square color scheme are colors evenly spaced around the color wheel, such as red, green, purple, and yellow.
These are only the most basic color patterns, and there are a multitude of other patterns to use- however, those should be left to professional – like a paint color consultant!