How to Decorate a House in Tranquil Colors

Choose a color scheme — a collection of related colors that look pleasing together — for each room. It will be helpful to know a few things about color theory when you're doing this. For ideas, lok at a color wheel, which is a chart showing the different colors of the rainbow and their relationship to each other. The cool colors (blue, green and purple) are on one side of the color wheel, and warm colors (red, orange and yellow) are on the other side. The color scheme should be low-contrast, meaning that the colors you select should be located near to each other on the color wheel, and approximately the same value, meaning the colors should be approximately the same degree of light or dark. As a general rule, cooler colors are perceived as more relaxing than warm colors, but some warm colors (such as warm browns and dark, rich reds) can also be peaceful. After you've chosen a color scheme, select one color to be the dominant color. A few suggestions for a color scheme include several shades of light blue combined with white, or gray blue and sage green combined with light gray.

Paint the walls in the color you chose to be the dominant color in the room. The dominant color should be whatever color you'd like to see the most of in the room. For the trim, paint a neutral color like gray, white or tan.

Shop for furniture that conforms to the color scheme. In other words, the furniture should be made from wood that looks good with the color scheme. Lighter woods should be used in color schemes that are made of lighter colors, and darker woods should be used in color schemes that include darker colors. Your furniture fabrics should include colors that are in the color scheme. Bring swatches of the color you just painted on the walls to the store with you to help you match the furniture to the walls.

Add accessories. For most of these rooms, accessories will include curtains. For rooms like the living room and bedroom, accessories will include pillows. Bathroom accessories will include towels and maybe knick-knacks, and the kitchen will need accessories like dish towels. In all cases, the accessories should come in colors that match the color scheme or neutral colors like tan, gray and white.