Decorating with Color

What is color?  Color has a different meaning to different people.  Business people use colors a lot in their public ads to draw attention to new customers.  For example, the color red is used in many restaurants because research has shown that it tempts the palate and increases the customers’ appetite.  The color red also means passion and having a love for life.  If you like wearing the color yellow, it states that you are very optimistic, fresh, creative, spiritual and idealistic.  If dark green is your color, then you more than likely enjoy the richness and luxury.  

Growing up, we have learned that different colors have different meaning and this is because of our culture.  But color choice is also an individual choice.  For example, if you decide to paint your living room walls red, this will convey a message of vibrancy.  If you like pink pillows on your couch, it conveys a message of sweetness.  Blue has a calming effect, green represents nature, yellow means happiness and makes any room brighten up.  If browns are your choice for decorating then your guests will be welcome in contentment and comfort.  My favorite color that I used to decorate my bedroom is the color purple.  Purple represents nobility.  If you love the color orange, it means you are a hard worker as well as adventurous.  White stands for innocence while black represents dominance.  

When choosing a color scheme for your home, you may be a bit lost on where to start.  The easiest way to approach this is to decide what colors appeal to you.  Look for something in the room you are decorating that catches your eye as a starting point.  The item can be anything from a rug or wallpaper or fabrics in the room.  You don’t necessarily have to decorate around that particular item but you can use it as a focal point when decorating your home with color.  You may want to start with three different colors that you think work well together and center your decorating around those three colors.  For example, if you choose blues, greens and yellows, you could purchase a fabric for your couch that has all three colors in a print.  Then you could paint your wall blue.  Or if you are decorating your bedroom, you could get an afghan that has blues, greens and yellows.  Then paint the walls yellow.  A good rule of thumb when decorating is to use neutral colors on your carpet, tile and countertops.  Neutral colors will blend well with everything and you can match the rest of your home with the colors you enjoy.