What Color Schemes Do and Mean when Decorating a Home

Choosing color schemes for decorating a home is not all about what colors you like. Each color that you choose causes your body to react differently. While it's entirely possible that you like the look of a red kitchen in a designer magazine, how that color makes you feel in person might be a completely different matter. Color schemes for decorating a home must be chosen with care to emphasize the activity that the room is designed for.

Color schemes for decorating a home; what colors do and mean in homes:

When you go to decorate any room in your home, you should work in three colors. Find a color wheel online, find your color on the wheel, then chop the wheel into thirds to find out what other colors compliment your color choice. Opposite colors on the color wheel will make a dramatic statement: red-green, yellow-purple, or black and white.

White: White is the wall color of a rental. Icy white walls will never bring warmth or coziness into your home without outside help from other colors. White walls show dirt, glaring lights, and alone indicate an income that can not afford to upgrade. Always add wallpaper borders or wood wall trims to white walls for a professional feeling finish.

Color schemes for decorating a home in white should include using white as a backdrop to emphasize a stronger meaningful color as your focal point color in a room. While white-on-white is a popular decorating choice in some circles, it never stays white on white after people or pets enter the room. White reflects light nicely for a plant room.

Black: Black is the color of power; do not paint your home so that it is more powerful than you are. The color black will draw your eyes towards it, which makes it a perfect color to use as an accent to enhance the feel of other colors that you are working with.

Color schemes for decorating a home in black should include using black sparingly as an accent color, or by devoting less than 1/3 of the room space to the color of solid black. Black shows dirt, and is just as hard to keep clean as the color white is.

Purple: Various shades of purples can give your home an elegant tone. The color purple is a mixture of reds and blues, so that it goes well with the colors opposite these on a color wheel.

Color schemes for decorating a home in purples should include coupling purples with yellows, golds, earthy browns and plant shades of green to give the feeling of wealth in small rooms. For large rooms, add white marble statues, mirrors, and other icy feel accessories that you would like to highlight in front of your wealth colors.

Blues: Blue is the easiest color for the human eyes to look at, and that is why grandma enjoyed having it in her kitchen as she slaved to make breakfast, lunch, and dinner from scratch every day. When a color wheel is chopped into thirds, blues, yellows, and reds will be the thirds that highlight well together along with the base colors of white or black in color schemes. Use blues anywhere in your home as a relaxation color for your eyes to look at. Students will enjoy blue desk accessories while up studying late with books.

Greens: Green is the color of hope -- nature's antidepressant drug. Since green is the most popular color in nature, most people feel comfortable in a green toned room instantly. Scientists have done tests on colors and have found that green makes us more productive.

Color schemes for decorating in green can include reds and pinks from the opposite side of the color wheel as well as all purple combinations mentioned above. Every home should have regenerating green areas in it to prevent lethargy and stress related depression.

Yellows: Yellows are the hardest color for the human eye to look at, and rooms done in yellow as the predominant color tend to have more crying and fighting people in them. While yellow walls might simulate a shot of sunshine in a cold basement washroom, do not use yellow as your basic color in rooms that you want to relax in.

Color schemes for decorating in yellow should be used in rooms that you do not visit for long stretches of time, or just as an accent color.

Reds: Reds are the bold, strong colors that make everything appear bigger than it actually is. Like yellow, red is an eye irritant and that is why red and yellow are used at almost all fast food stores. The colors that irritate our eyes are the first colors that our eyes are drawn to in a room (or on a computer page.)

Color schemes for decorating in red can include powerful black, glaring white, or argument causing yellow. These bold colors all compliment each other to ensure that your room is demanding in flavor.

When using bold colors for decorating, always add areas within the room in soothing colors for your eyes to have a place to rest. Plants, tablecloths or wall hangings can be a way of sneaking lesser colors into your red room. Red kitchens are toned down with chrome and mirror surfaces.