Decorating your home with a Color Wheel!

So you’ve been given the task of decorating a new home or remodeling your existing home and you wonder where to start when choosing colors.  Although my specialty is in Window Coverings, the concepts of color as far as it pertains to Interior Design are universal.  Maybe you’ve had a chance to decide on the type of furniture as it pertains to the general function of each individual room but you need help on choosing a color scheme.  Maybe this is something you’ve never done before and you find it to be a bit overwhelming.  One thing I have learned is there is a fine line between an exciting room and a room full of warmth and color and a room that just doesn’t flow.  Getting yourself started on the right foot by picking the right color scheme is the place to start.  First of all, there are some basics you need to understand.  Are your colors going to be warm or cool?  Are you going for the dramatic or the neutral?  What about textures?

Understanding the Color Wheel

One resource you want to check out is a color palette that can be found on a color wheel.  No some color wheels come in complex versions, some come in simple versions.  Bottom line, if you understand the functionality of the wheel, a simple wheel will work perfectly.  I have included a color wheel below but you may want to go down to your local art store to pick up one you can use in person.

 

Color pallets in a diagram form have been used since 1666 when Sir Isaac Newton first developed the basic color wheel concept you see here.

Three Color Wheel

First, you need to understand the three Primary Colors.  You may remember this from art class in school.  These are the three starting colors that all other colors or hues are formed from by mixing different amounts of each of the Primary Colors.  These Primary Colors are Red, Yellow and Blue.

 

The Six Color Wheel

In Color Theory, by mixing equal amounts of each Primary Color, you form what is called Secondary Colors.  This doubles the number of colors on this more complex wheel to six colors.  You have now added Green, Orange and Purple.   Are you starting to notice colors that seem to work well together on the wheel?  The most common color schemes which work with just two colors typically pick a color from the wheel and then use the color directly across the wheel to compliment the first color.  These are called bi-color or complimentary color schemes.  An example of a bi-color scheme would be purple and yellow.  Using a light and bright color gives the feeling of openness while the darker color adds weight and grounds your décor.

 

The Twelve Color Wheel

As you may have guessed, you can add even more complexity to your décor color scheme by mixing adjacent colors (one primary and one secondary) on the Secondary color wheel to form a Tertiary Color Wheel.  You have now added Yellow-Orange, Red-Orange, Blue Purple, Blue Green and Yellow-Green.  By using colors exactly across the wheel from one another, you will have the same bi-color concept as described above but now have an enlarged, more sophisticated pallet of colors to choose from when selecting your color scheme.

In my next article, I will talk about how to choose three colors from the wheel to create an even more exciting color scheme in your home or office.