Basics of Color Design

It’s important to learn the basics of color design before playing with colors while decorating. It’s easy to do to much or too little and many people shy away from bright or strong shades entirely. But, the most striking and beautiful rooms are often full of strategically placed color.

Colors and Emotions

Colors can give us an emotional reaction, especially in decorating. It’s important when learning the basics of color design to know what emotions certain colors evoke. If you are aiming for a peaceful, calming space, like a bathroom or bedroom, decorating in blues and greens may be what you want. If you are aiming for a more energetic room, like a kitchen or living room, you may want to decorate with yellows and reds. But each of us has specific colors that we love and hate. Some may see blue as a depressing color, while others think of the ocean. With green, some might see it as an envious, jealous color, while it reminds others of the natural world. In addition, you need to look at the room itself. You may want a bright, cheerful yellow kitchen, but if your kitchen is already strongly lit with sun and/or fluorescents, painting the walls yellow might be a little overwhelming.

The Color Wheel

The color wheel is an important piece of basic of color design. It is literally a wheel with twelve colors on it made up of primary, secondary and tertiary colors.

Primary Primary colors are colors that cannot be created by mixing with other colors. These are often referred to as the true colors, because you need them to create all the other colors. They are:

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

Secondary

Secondary colors are created by mixing primary colors. They are:

• Orange
• Yellow
• Green
• Violet

Tertiary

Tertiary colors are colors created by mixing a primary and secondary color. They are:

• Yellow-orange
• Red-orange
• Red-violet
• Blue-violet
• Blue-green
• Yellow-green

The place where the colors are on the wheel and where they are in relation to the other colors can tell us a great deal. It can tell us which colors will work well together.

Complimentary colors

Complimentary colors are the colors opposite each other on the color wheel. These colors often work well together. An example is blue and orange.

Analogous Colors

These are colors next to each other on the color wheel. These colors also work well together but do not offer the contrast of complimentary colors.

Triad Colors

Decorating with a triad means that you use three colors off the color wheel that form a triangle. This method can be difficult, but it creates a very balanced color look.

Neutrals

Neutrals are often used in home decorating because they work so well with each other and are fairly easy to use. Neutrals include colors like:

• White
• Brown
• Gray
• Black

Temperature

Temperature is a relative color term that relates to the warmth or coolness of a color. Blues and greens are generally cool, while reds and yellows are generally warm.

So How do you Choose Colors for Decorating?

• Ask yourself what your favorite colors are. Chances are good, you’ll want to decorate with those colors.
• Ask yourself what certain colors mean to you? Do you love purple or do you find it a vulgar shade? What about lighter or darker shades? Would a shadowy purple be okay, or a light violet?
• Look at your favorite decorating pieces. Do you have a picture or a vase you love? If so, draw colors from them.
• Use the color wheel to find colors that compliment each other and work well next to each other.
• Start slow. Don’t paint your all your rooms blue and then find you hate the shade. Experiment and expect to make mistakes. Remember, most things you do can be undone.

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