 It’s easy to pick a favorite color for your rooms. For the visual tension that makes things interesting, however, a single color isn’t always enough. Mixing colors takes some skill, but it shouldn’t intimidate. Begin with your favorite color, then use the simple color wheel lessons on the next few paragraphs to find compatible accents for it. For starters, you can prevent color clashes with a palette from one of four color groups: primary, secondary, tertiary, and monochromatic.  For rooms that come off feeling strong and solid, a scheme of primary colors – red, blue, and yellow – is an ideal choice. Each is a pure color that can’t be created by mixing other hues. Use them in pairs or combine all three; they work equally in country, traditional, and modern rooms.  Secondary colors – green, orange, and purple – are created by mixing two primaries in equal amounts. Green is made from blue and yellow, orange from yellow and red, and purple from red and blue. Like all colors, each secondary hue can be tinted with white or shaded with black for variations. If you can’t envision a bold orange and green room, think about pairing up their paler tints of peach and sage. The primary and secondary colors illustrate that you can make a compatible triadic scheme by choosing any three colors equidistant on the wheel  These colors are an equal mix of a primary plus its closest secondary color: blue-green, yellow-green, red-orange, red-purple, and blue-purple  What prevents a monochromatic scheme from being bland is subtle variation of a single color’s intensity. For instance, orange, coral, peach offer variety within the same family  The colors you live with really do influence your emotions. Some palettes lighten and brighten your mood, and others pacify or purify. We respond to color with our hearts, not just our heads, so it’s important to choose wisely. Understand that colors behave in three basic ways- active, passive, and neutral – and you can easily match every room’s colors to your personal desires and taste, and to how you intend to use the room  On the warm side of the color wheel, active colors include yellow, orange, and red. Extroverts, these advancing hues step out in the room to greet and sometimes dominate. They inspire conversation and an upbeat attitude. Red, the most intense, pumps the adrenaline like no other hue. Small doses of the fire engine hue wake up an entry or turn up the heat on a hearthside den. Golden or lemony yellows-good for home offices and kitchens-unleash creative juices  The cool color – blue, green, and purple – will pacify, staying quietly in the background to calm and restore depleted spirits. They’re ideal for bedrooms or private retreats, but if yours is a cold climate, you may want to work in some decidedly sunny accents for warmth and contrast  Neutralizers are the “uncolors” – browns, beiges, grays, whites, and taupes. They neither activate nor pacify but combine and cooperate, bridging together different rooms and colors. They’re good transitions on woodwork, trim, hallways, and functional spaces such as kitchens and baths, but even living rooms can benefit. Darker neutrals tone down other colors; crisp white intensifies them  Pink: soothes, acquiesces; promotes affability and affection. |
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