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Color Terms You Need to Know When
Decorating
by Jude Wright
Color is the key to successful decorating. You can have the most
expensive furnishings you can find, but without the right color scheme,
they mean nothing. Color can work magic in a room by taking disparate
furnishings and uniting them with color.
Adding color to a room is quite inexpensive. A new color of paint and
fabrics can totally change a room.
The human eye can perceive approximately 10 million different colors.
Just imagine all of the different color combinations that can be
created. Even so, some color combinations are definitely better than
others.
When looking at colors, there are eleven different terms that you should
know:
1. Primary colors are the three main colors that every other color is
made from: red, blue and yellow. Primary colors are often used in
children's rooms because they are bright and will catch a child's
attention.
2. Secondary colors are the colors that are created when you combine
equal parts of the three primary colors. The color orange comes from red
and yellow; green is from yellow and blue; and violet is from blue and
red.
3. Tertiary colors are the result of combining a primary color with the
nearest secondary color to it on the color wheel. The colors would
appear as blue-green, yellow-green, yellow-orange, red-purple, and
blue-purple.
4. Related color schemes result from combining secondary and tertiary
colors. For instance, the colors blue-green and green will evoke a
calming effect because there are no jarring changes in color.
5. Complementary colors are located directly opposite each other on the
color wheel. They would turn gray when they are mixed together in paint,
but they can be used together - carefully - when decorating a room.
Sometimes these color combinations can be too overwhelming so care is
needed when using them.
6. Hue is a descriptive word for color, such as leaf green, robin's egg
blue or burgundy.
7. Saturation means how saturated (how much color) there is in the basic
color. For example, light blue and navy are both still blue. Navy is
more saturated with the blue color.
8. The value of a color is how light or dark a color is. White has the
brightest value and black has the darkest value.
9. Tints represent the colors that are closest to white in value. These
would be pastel colors.
10. Shades are the colors that are closest to black in color, like
hunter green or deep purple.
11. Neutrals are the "non" colors, like black, white, gray, brown and
beige. They can produce a pleasing color scheme on their own or mixed
with other colors.
Color plays an important part in decorating. The entire feel of a room
can be changed just by changing the color scheme.
About the author
Jude Wright is the owner of
http://decoratingsimple.com where you can find great decorating
ideas for those on a budget. Stop by and get your free e-book, "Home
Decor Ideas for Those on a Budget."
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