Color Scheme to Decorate Walls

Warm Tones

• Warm tones introduce energy, excitement and fun into a room. Warm tones are those you might expect to find in a sunset: reds, yellows and oranges. Restaurants often work red into their decor because it has been found to stimulate appetite. Tests have shown that young babies are so excited by bright shades of yellow that they fuss more than usual. Warm tones are perfect in parts of the house where you want and expect a great deal of activity, such as playrooms, kitchens and family rooms.

Cool Colors

• The best way to understand cool colors is to picture a mountain vista and the colors you might find there. Blue, lilac and green are all cool shades that introduce calm and tranquility into a room. It's the calming element of these cool shades that helps to explain why so many hospitals and doctor's offices use them in their decorating palette. If you want a serene space that inspires introspection and quiet, a cool color is for you.

Complementary Scheme

• There's no rule that says that every wall in the house needs to be painted the same color. In fact, there's no rule that says every wall in one room needs to be painted the same color. Complementary colors are the shades that are found directly across from one another on the color wheel and demand attention. Orange and blue are complementary shades. If you're looking for a dramatic, contemporary color scheme, nothing screams louder than complementary colors.

Analogous Scheme

• Slightly less loud, but still dramatic, are analogous colors. Analogous colors are found directly next to each other on the color wheel and share a common base color. For instance, if you have mint green walls and are looking for analogous shades to paint the trim, your options would be lemon yellow and powder blue. The reason mint green works with these two shades is because it is a combination of both yellow and blue.

Monochromatic Scheme

• If you're looking for a sophisticated color scheme, consider the quiet decorative power of the monochromatic look. A monochromatic room is designed by layering in varying shades of the same color. For example, if three walls in a room are painted medium beige, the fourth wall might be accented with a dark brown shade and the ceiling covered in a light, creamy beige. Once you've decided whether you want a room to have a warm or cool color scheme, the monochromatic look will work with any color you choose.