Cornflower Colors

Varying Shades

• About as many shades of cornflower blue exist as there are companies that produce it. Various companies mix colors differently to imitate the cornflower found in nature. While this can cause problems for you as you decorate, it also gives you the opportunity to use varying shades of the same color in one room. If you need colors to match closely, take in a sample of a cornflower item you already have --- say, a pillow --- when buying a new item, such as cornflower blue paint. Though an exact match may not be possible, the sample helps to get the shades as close as possible.

Where to Use It

• Before you stock up on cornflower room decor, plan how you want the room to look. In a cornflower-themed bathroom, for example, you might place a blue shower curtain, rugs and hand towels. Yet in a living room, using cornflower everywhere possible can lead to blue overload. Choose key items to be blue, depending on how much you want blue to dominate the room. Walls and key pieces of furniture, such as sofas, make blue a central part of your decor; picture frames, pillows, flowers and trinkets make it noticeable but less so.

Complementary Colors

• Unless you make everything in the room cornflower --- which would be near impossible, though not advisable in any case --- you need another color in your decor. Use a color palette tool to choose one or two other colors. Color palettes show you which colors complement a given color in your room. In the case of cornflower blue, those colors are shades of red, yellow and orange. You can also use black and white.

Accents

• Pick out decorations for your room in shades of red, yellow and orange that are similar in intensity to the cornflower blue in the room. Don't go overboard, though, or you risk diluting the cornflower theme of your room. The most important thing about your home decor is that it pleases you and your family. Experiment with different amounts of cornflower until you find the level that suits you.