Purple setups are everywhere, and for good reason. Purple looks good under LED light, it suits both dark and light rooms, and it sits between the pink and blue that most RGB equipment defaults to. It is also easy to overdo. A room where everything is purple and lit purple turns into a flat violet haze.
This guide builds a purple setup in order, so that the colour looks deliberate.
Step 1: pick your purple
Purple is a wide family. Choose one area of it and stay there.
- Lavender and lilac. Pale and soft. Suits white desks, light rooms and a cosy setup.
- Violet. The mid-range purple with blue in it. Suits dark setups and blue accents.
- Magenta-purple. Warmer, with pink in it. Suits a synthwave or neon look.
- Deep purple and aubergine. Dark and rich. Suits a moody, grown-up room.
Decide whether your purple leans blue or leans pink. Mixing the two without a plan is the main reason purple setups look muddled.
Step 2: choose the base
Purple needs a neutral to sit on. Most of the setup should be the base colour.
- Black. The classic. Purple glows against it. Black desk, black monitor, black chair.
- White. Fresh and light. Pale purples look best here.
- Grey. Softer than black, and it flatters every purple.
A useful proportion is the 60-30-10 rule: 60 percent base, 30 percent purple, 10 percent accent. See the 60-30-10 colour rule.
Step 3: choose one accent
A second colour stops purple going flat.
- Pink. Close to purple, so it blends. Warm and soft.
- Blue. Also close. Cooler and calmer.
- Cyan or teal. A stronger contrast. This is the synthwave pairing.
- Warm white or gold. A lamp, a brass detail. It warms a cool purple room.
- Green. A plant. Green and purple are a good pair, and a plant softens all the hardware.
One accent. Purple with pink, blue, cyan and green all at once is a rainbow.
Step 4: the desk mat
The desk mat is the largest block of colour on the desk, so it sets the tone. Choose it early.
- Purple Pink Wormhole. A spiral of purple and pink round a black centre. Strong colour, for a black setup with a pink accent.
- Liquid Metal Mist Pink. Despite the name, the artwork is a soft wash of violet and blue. It suits a pale or white setup, or a blue accent.
- Hand of the Stars. A violet-pink hand against a sky that runs from red to indigo. For a warmer purple.
- CRT Lion Retro Wave. A pale violet lion on black. Mostly black, with purple as the detail.
A busy, colourful mat suits plain equipment. If your keyboard and mouse already light up in several colours, choose a darker, simpler mat. See choosing a desk mat by colour scheme and the desk mat size guide.
Step 5: the wall
The wall behind the monitor finishes the picture. It is also what a camera sees.
- Match the mat. The same artwork on the desk and the wall ties the setup together. Purple Pink Wormhole comes as a poster and a tapestry. See the artwork post.
- Or match the colour, not the image. Light Nebula, a magenta and blue cloud, goes with any of the mats above. So does Hand of the Stars.
- For a large wall, a tapestry. Purple Night is black, white and purple, and stays dark behind a screen.
Dark art is easier on the eyes behind a monitor than bright art. See art above a TV or behind a monitor and desk mat and wall art pairings.
Step 6: the lighting
This is where purple setups go wrong most often.
- Don't light a purple room only with purple light. Coloured light removes other colours. Under strong purple LEDs, your purple mat, your purple art and your white desk all turn the same shade, and the detail in the artwork disappears.
- Use purple light as an accent. A strip behind the monitor or under the desk, turned down.
- Add a white light. A warm or neutral lamp on the desk lets the real colours show.
- Set every light to the same purple. Keyboard, strip, fans and lamp. Copy the colour code from one to the others.
- Or split two colours. Purple on one side, pink or blue on the other. Two is the limit.
See how to light wall art with LED strips.
Step 7: the details
- Keycaps: a purple and white, or purple and black, set. Or plain keys with a few purple accent caps.
- Cables: a coiled keyboard cable in purple or in your accent colour.
- Headset stand, coasters, wrist rest: black, white or grey. Keep them in the base colour.
- A plant.
- A pin or keychain on a pegboard or bag in the same artwork as the mat.
Hide the cables. A clean desk shows colour far better than a tangled one.
Three purple setups
Dark and neon
Black desk and equipment. Purple Pink Wormhole mat and poster. Pink accent. One strip behind the monitor in magenta-purple.
Soft and pale
White desk, white keyboard with lavender keycaps. Liquid Metal Mist Pink mat. Blue accent. A warm lamp, a plant, and no RGB.
Deep and moody
Dark wood or black desk. CRT Lion mat. Purple Night tapestry. Warm white and brass accent. Dim violet light behind the screen.
Common mistakes
- Everything purple. With no base and no accent, it has no shape.
- Mixed purples. A blue-violet mat, a pink-purple strip and a red-purple chair.
- Purple light at full brightness.
- Rainbow RGB left on its default cycle.
- A bright mat under bright equipment.
For more on the colour, see purple wall art. Browse the desk mats collection.