The use of certain colors can dramatically change the way a room looks. With the proper knowledge of color, you can tailor your room to the finest details.

The most useful tool in helping you decide what colors to use is a color wheel. It is made up of the three primary colors and related secondary colors and tertiary colors. You can see a commercially available color wheel at The Color Wheel Site.

• Primary Colors: Consist of red, yellow, and blue. These colors cannot be made by mixing any other colors together.
• Secondary Colors: Consist of green, orange, and purple. They are formed by mixing together primary colors.
• Tertiary Colors: Consist of red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green, yellow-orange, and yellow-green. These colors are created by mixing a primary and secondary color together.

When choosing colors for your home, harmony should be your goal. Color harmony means that the scene created by your color choices is neither too boring nor too overdone. If either extreme is taken, you take the risk of making the human brain glaze over what is it seeing. Now you may ask, how do I achieve color harmony? Various methods are available:

• Colors in Sequence: Choosing colors next to each other on the color wheel can yield good results. An example would be choosing green, yellow-green, green, and blue-green.
• Complimentary Colors: These colors lie on opposite sides of a color wheel from each other. This method can bring focus on certain aspects in a room, while still maintaing color harmony.

Choosing between dark and light colors can have a significant effect on your room. As a rule of thumb, dark colors have a shrinking effect on a room, while light colors can make a room feel bigger.

With this knowledge, you should be on your way to creating appealing rooms in your home. Have fun!