How to Choose a Color Scheme for a Room

A color scheme provides a blueprint for the furnishings that will be used in a room. Here are some ways to set up and maintain a harmonious color scheme.

Things You'll Need

• Clear Tapes
• Fabrics
• Paints
• Pins
• Poster Boards

Instructions

1. Decide what colors you like and plan to use them in your room.

2. Look at magazines and decorating books for ideas. Your wardrobe, a treasured painting, a lovely handmade rug or a pretty fabric can all serve as inspiration.

3. Weigh your selections along with the lighting in your room. A room with limited light can seem somber when dark colors dominate. If aubergine or rust are among your favorite colors but you want a well-lit, bright atmosphere, use those hues in toss pillows, vases, lamp bases, candles and other accents.

4. Use each color more than once for a unified scheme. When a color is used just once, it will seem as though the color was introduced into the room and forgotten soon afterward.

5. Plan ahead. Pin or tape swatches and scraps of paper in the colors you desire to a poster board. With the samples in the room, adjust the lighting as you experiment with mixing colors to achieve a pleasing balance.

6. Keep the colors in adjoining rooms and spaces compatible. For example, a periwinkle-blue, cornmeal-yellow and navy bedroom will link more harmoniously to a sky blue and buttercream-yellow bathroom than to one with sage green and taupe.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're still unsure of yourself, pick a favorite color and use it along with a white. (Of course, you'll still need the necessary neutrals, such as the exposed brown wood on chair legs and the terra-cotta of a flowerpot.)

• Put drama into a monochromatic color scheme by varying the textures and using a few accessories - a painting, a vase, a pillar candle - in a bold accent color.