There is an old wives’ tale that outgoing people prefer red and that introverts like blue. But it’s just not true, says interior designer Mark McCauley, ASID, author of Color Therapy at Home. "We may tend to one side of the personality spectrum or another depending on the circumstances," he says. "And it’s the same with our homes. We may want our living room to have one kind of atmosphere and our bedroom to have quite another, depending on the function of the space. There’s no reason for a home to be all one color." Great news, but which color is right for which room? Here’s help: Use McCauley’s word-color chart to help you choose how you want a certain room to feel or how you want to feel in that room. Scroll over the colors to identify the emotional and intellectual qualities associated with each.
One of the easiest ways to think about combining colors is the 60-30-10 rule, says designer McCauley. Pick three colors and use one for a base color, one for a primary accent color and the other for splashes. Still can’t imagine what a color might look like in your home? Check out this rainbow of rooms >
Learning about the color wheel is elementary school stuff, but it also comes in handy at home. That’s because while most of us can identify a favorite color, few of us have much confidence when it comes to combining them. Enter the rainbow wheel with 12 color slices. Use it like this: If blue is your fave color but an all-blue color scheme is too chilly, go across the wheel to its complementary orange, which will warm up the blue. To check out four rooms each inspired by a different color scheme, from complementary and analogous to monochromatic or triadic, click any of the rooms below.
