You advise sticking to either warm or cool colors, but your main photo mixes them (yellow and blue/gray) and looks GREAT.

You say in your article that black is the combination of all colors and that white is the absence of color. I always thought it was the opposite. Isn't black the absence of color, like when the lights are out? And white light is all the colors of the spectrum. And how does this determine cool vs. warm then?

jd2 makes a good point. I think mixing warm and cool is interesting when done correctly. I happen to have a blue rug with a brown couch and taupe walls and I think it's great. There are lots of rules in design, but when it comes down to it, surrounding yourself with stuff you love is key.

bessantdesigns.com

I have also been taught that black is the absence of color and white all colors.

In general, I love neutral colors and will use them in an instant on a design project. Some favorites are black, white, cream, grays and chocolate. However, we always like to throw in a splash of brighter color somewhere. A real departure for our team was a project in Palo Alto, California where the homeowner wanted us to start the color scheme with a bright orange speedcook oven. We used bright oranges, yellows and turquoise with glossy cherry wood cabinetry in her kitchen. It was recently featured at this link. http://www.calfinder.com/blog/category/kitchen-remodel/page/2/

Lanny Danenberg

enoyed your primer on color... However, having been raised in Massachusetts - followed by several years living in the NYC area, I wasn't quite able to envision your "savage" Red Sox vs. "gentlemenly" Yanks analogy...)

Great post Maxwell -
It's good to see AT getting back to basics.

However: The 80/20 rule also works the other way...
Some of the most amazing spaces are ones where 80% is bold - but it needs the 20% neutral to take off the edge.

Another thing I hope you might address in future: Color schemes, and how restricting oneself to a limited color pallete creates cohesion in a space.

in the light spectrum, black is indeed the absence of light.

when using pigments, the reverse is true, mixing all colours will produce black.

White is all colors (of light) black is the absence of light. However, white can also be defined as the absence of pigment and black as the presence of all pigments.

And I still don't completely understand why, but I gravitate towards a warm palate in the bedroom. In the dark, when I'm trying to go to sleep, I can't tell what color anything is anyway. And in the morning, all the bright, cheerful, warm colors make it so much easier to wake up instead of hitting the snooze button. Of course, I have white walls that I'm not allowed to paint, so maybe the room is cooler than I think, because I'm only considering the elements I can control.

As with many other human talents and abilities, some people have a natural affinity for recognizing and balancing colours, others can be educated to varying levels of expertise, and some few never quite get it no matter how it is explained to them. I have known people who insisted that all shadows are grey no matter what colour they fall upon. Design professionals (who may start off in the talented group any way) typically spend a lot of time studying how colour works and it's one reason why their solutions with colour tend to be more successful and polished than DIYers, IMO.

This is good... except that it ignores the "warmer" and "cooler" aspect of different shades. I can show you a cool purple, and a warm purple... so to oversimplify and say "purple is cold" just doesn't work IMHO.

I was thinking the same thing, krl2876. The walls in my house are painted a warm grey - more of a French grey, with some yellow in it. It's a long way from the cool greys that go to purple or blue... And even whites can be warm or cool, no?

Well Kozy and Sypage, it depends whether you were taught that fact in Science or Art class. In terms of light, blue, red and yellow together produce white (think of how a television works), whereas black, or darkness, is the absence of colour. These are what we call additive colours, which have a different colour wheel all together composed of Red, Yellow, Green, Cyan, Blue and Magenta.

However, in terms of paint (crayons, dyed fabrics, etc.), black is the combination of all colours, whereas white is the absence of colour (as stated in the original post). Just think of it this way: if you're painting and you mix all of the paints (colours) together, you get black. These are called subtractive colours, which are comprised of the wheel that we're likely all used to (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple). So, in terms of design, black is all colours, whereas white is the absence of colour.

Does that sort of make sense? I tend to ramble sometimes.

Another factor that doesn't get mentioned in this article is the kind of light coming into a room. North windows bring in blue light, or sunlight that is reflecting off the atmosphere and bouncing back filtered. It makes any cool color really sing and seem bluer. South light and beginning or end of the day raking east and west light is very yellow and will make really effect how you see the color paint you use. It is another reason why a good choice on paper can look so bad on the wall. I havent figured out yet how to use those different lights to chose colors.. Is warm paint better in a south room or would you use cool paint to counter the effect of the the light?

I appreciate this article, but in general articles about color and "mood" leave me feeling like I'm taking crazy pills.

Because it's all about hue. At least to me it is. I feel incredibly anxious in rooms that have "soothing blue tones" but I'm fine with the right shades of blue. And this is something very important that all the design "formulas" in the world don't take into consideration; color is a very personal thing.

What's "right" in design isn't any more than what feels good to someone who owns that home. We've seen it time and again on AT; one person's beet red, pink and forest green fabulosity is another's nightmare.

This goes for neutral colors or warm or cool, alike.

I've seen rooms and entire homes that don't follow any kind of color rules or these random percentages and they are simply fabulous, warm and inviting places to visit for all different types of people. I've also seen people try to adhere to formulations and recipes for design and fail miserably.

At the end of the day, there has to be room for some expression and some going against the grain and taking chances. Otherwise, what's the point?

I also think warm and cool colors can be mixed together in a room with great success, and have seen many rooms that proved it. My current living room has medium brown wood floors, creamy beige walls and ceiling, brown leather chairs with accent pillows in warm tones, black shelves, wood tables, and a sofa with a warm-toned fabric pattern. It also has an orange accent wall and orange rug. It's boring me to tears! There's no contrast. Nothing pops. I'm painting the walls grey.

Another detail is that the rods and cones your eyes use to "see" color can temporarily use up the chemical that transmits that color to your brain. That is why you see a purple spot on a blank wall after you have stared at a yellow light for a while. Your eye is left with seeing the opposite color because it takes a while for your eye to replenish it's supply of yellow.

That is one of the reasons an orange pillow will sing in a room with blue paint on the wall. Blue paint will actually make your eye see orange more brightly and you can use this in choosing accents.

I don't worry too hard about warm v. cool. I just try to keep the number of colors or color families from being too many or too few. And I do go by the rule where if you have a punchy color, use it in only a few places to strengthen its effect.

To fix the example problems in this post, I would advise:

- Mike needs MORE things in the blue/green range, things that don't clash with his rug. Painted shelves, or picture frames, or a few throws with some blue in them. Then the color won't look lonely and isolated.

- Same same for Laura with her green kitchen. Green towels, or dishes, or something. Some small green things. The clash can work if you COMMIT.

- Beige Sarah needs to pick 3 colors, two unsaturated and one saturated (or vice versa), and with two that fall opposite the third on the color wheel. Example: Bright, bright red, robin's egg blue, and soft teal. Or butter yellow, bright Tyrian purple, and cadmium orange.

My three cents; keep the change :)

As Maxwell says, color can get much more complicated than this. For instance, I was in a room that was painted a beautiful sky blue. But near the sliding doors the wall color was muddy and brownish. The homeowner didn't realize that the brick red that was on the deck was reflecting onto his newly painted walls. The competing warm and cool colors in similar quantities created dischord. Now he knows what to do!

I'm definitely a 80% color(s) and 20% neutral person! And I think you can very well mix warm and cool colors with abandon,as long as they balance. There are also cool whites and warm whites, cool red and warm reds, cool and warm purples, etc, a lot of depends on saturation,hue, lighting, shapes.....How about have some fun playing with color, educate your eye and find your own color 'voice', go to museums, make mistakes, put 10 paint samples on the wall, and train your eyes...you might be surprised at what you end up liking...

There's a line from a movie that this put me in mind of - "Talking about love is like dancing about architecture" - or reading about color! I'm sure this is all good advice, but I can't really envision it. More photos showing examples of the concepts would help me.

I also agree with other comments that the hue of the color and the color of the light in the room make a big difference. Last fall I painted a room a cool white and some people commented that it looked pink, which it wasn't at all - but they were picking up on the reflection of the salmon color of the house next door coming through the windows. Who knew?

I love blue and brown together.

"...and why the Yankees are considered gentlemen in their blue pinstripes, whereas the Red Sox are savages "

Only to people from NYC

Not to be nitpicky! I mean , I get this is a primer, just I think the post title is misleading. As posters are mentioning, this isn't so much about working with color as Color 101. I think working with color would include more of the issues raised in the comments...

hygeboerht: I agree. Picking out one or two colors that really highlight the room and being consistent with them is important. We're doing green and red because we happened to find two pieces of furniture that we absolutely refuse to part with, so now we're redoing portions of the house to make them work together. If it doesn't look intentional, people will think it's a mistake. If you make it look intentional, people will know you love it.

And then there are rooms that break nearly all of these rules and still manage to look great.

Discussing color in a context that ignores light will almost always lead one astray. One must also take into consideration what is often the second largest surface in the room, and that is the flooring. Wood is as much a color as a carpet, or tile, or whatever. And sometimes, no matter how much you love a certain color or scheme, you must let the architecture, light, and size of the room lead the way.

@ereuyi - Now THAT would be a great post, or series of posts! I would love to see examples of "rule-breaking rooms" and analysis of why they still work.

"Is warm paint better in a south room or would you use cool paint to counter the effect of the the light?"

How many times have we seen here the effects of someone deciding that they want a "Sunny yellow" or a "Serene blue" room just like So-and-So's...
...just to paint their space the exact same color and realize that it looks horrible: Either overpoweringly intensely yellow or frigid and depressingly blue.

That's because So-and-so had a north-facing yellow room - the yellow on the walls was a relief to the bluish quality of the northern light...
...or their blue room faced south, and the blue walls balanced the bright light in So-and-So's house.

That's why when folks post "Oh, what's the color in that room - I want it in my house", it's pretty much a wasted effort since the quality of the light, the color of their furnishings in their home - even the color saturation of their computer screen - is unlikely to be exactly the same as their perception of that within the room that's posted.

@Emily the Cat

You mean like the Red "Garden in Hell" Living Room Billy Baldwin did for Diana Vreeland?
http://www.saragilbaneinteriors.com/travelfordesign/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/vreelandgardeninhell.jpeg

That's about 95% bold!

EXACTLY. Although I'm not sure that it does work for me - that red carpet makes my eyes hurt! =)

Although I respect and appreciate Maxwell and his design sense, I pretty much disagree with this whole post. There are a lot of color theories, there are lots of opinions about what to do with them in decor, and this is just one of them. I wish the article weren't written with so much of the kind of assurance that says "this is the Right Way to do things." Since maybe it's only One Way of doing things and to describe them.

A great primer on the very beginnings of color and I largely agree with Maxwell on this, however I'd have emphasized that when choosing colors, yes, red tends to be a warm color, blue cool, but that within those two colors are varying shades of same, some warmer than others.

Take red for instance, if it has a base color of blue in it, it'll be a lot less warmer than a red with yellow or orange in it, in fact, a bluish red will feel a bit on the cool side, which may help in southern facing rooms where one wants to use red and vice versa is also true of cooler colors with a more warmer cast to them will work in northern facing rooms, but there again, how much to use of each in each scenario is key to a successful use of that color.

The problem I can see with Mike's room is that while brown and blue CAN work, the shade of blue didn't work with the shade of brown used, if the brown is more warm in cast, then the blue should have a similar warmer cast to it, not a cool light blue, a turquoise or aqua would work with a chocolate brown, but that same blue with a lighter brown would not most likely but they CAN work, but finding the right combo can be tricky so for the uninitiated, best to stick to warm colors or cool colors all the way until one gets used to how color works and I don't think Maxwell was saying these rules are set in stone, but good rules of thumb to learn from and once you know how colors work, you can then learn to break them where necessary is I think the key to anything one does.

So are there any truisms about choosing colors for north or south facing rooms? Do you think one has better luck going with the natural warmth or coolness or the space or trying to oppose it? I have a very white loft and am choosing to paint one wall a color in each bedroom. It has been easy to find warm colors that work in the sun like warm violet-grey-pinks but neigh well impossible to find a blue that looks great in direct sunlight without overwhelming.

And where you live makes a difference, too. Farrow and Ball colors look great in London, and other places with that same light and weather, but in Southern California? Not so fab, unless you've got a northern exposure and not much light.

I think in general, that if you look good in a color, you'll enjoy living in a space that uses or is painted that same color. I always pick my best, most flattering colors for my walls and go from there. Why should my sofa look better than I do?

Good points in the article, but I disagree with the main premise that warm and cool colors should not be mixed. In art and design one type of classic color scheme is complementary, that is those colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel. The main examples are red/green, blue/orange, yellow/purple. One is cool, the other warm and they enhance (complement) each other. Vary the intensities and add neutrals and you have a winning combination.

I always try to pay attention to the undertones of the colors and have found that to be very helpful when making color choices. ..and I do think you can successfully mix warm and cool colors and don't have to pay attention to the rules. The "rules" are silly - you need to love your space regardless of the rules. If you can't figure out how to make two colors you love work together, try finding a fabric in a pillow, tablecloth, art work, throw - something that has a little of both or all of your colors in it and use it in either or both of the spaces. It really helps bring colors together and unifies space. Lastly, if you think a color is too dark for a space, try changing the sheen of the paint - it helps to bounce light off the surface of the paint instead of being absorbed by it. I am a big semigloss - ok - gloss, really, fan. Whew! So much comentary on this subject......

Does anyone know the name or designer of the pendant light in the blue and white bedroom? It's gorgeous.

I am one of those people with a natural color sense, I guess I was born with it & then I went to art & design school & developed a fear of color ( on walls ). I paint everything white because I have trouble committing.

My 95 year old mother loves color & I'm helping her decorate her bedroom now. She chose lavender carpet & paint & has east, west & north light. It looks great & that color seems to go well with everything. I never would have chosen it but it looks great even with the hodge podge of other colors she has thrown in to the mix. Go figure!

@Tabitha - It's not exactly the same, but it looks a lot like this fixture: http://www.dwr.com/product/lighting/ceiling/pendants-chandeliers/logico-triple-suspension-lamp.do?sortby=ourPicks

Oh my gosh thank you!

"[T]he Yankees are considered cold, fame-seeking, money-grubbers in their blue pinstripes, whereas the Red Sox are passionate, full-of-heart heroes."

Fixed.

As to the nature of the post, bepsf has a terrific point (as usual), as do others, about the nature of light in the room in question. The natural light a room receives can support or hinder a bold color choice. Our living room could use a punch of red on the walls, but it faces North and thus the color would appear muddy, brown and depressing. So we compromise with small accents of color on a neutral background chosen to emphasize what little natural light we have.

I hate to be a buzz kill but why did you use a Ralph Lauren ad to make your point when you could have used a non-commercial foto from an interior? Especially an interior from one of the house tours? I thought it was one of the many ubiquitous ads that show up here now -- i know, you need them - and i resented that that was used as a color lesson. Stick with interiors, not corporate sponsorship or ads for clothing.

@meggilicious --

Accent walls are the worst - They pick up reflected light from the other 3 walls, ceiling and floors, so you never get the depth of color that's desired...
...and the other 3 walls get the reflection of the 4th wall too - It's a muddy problem. Plus you can't see the "accent" color when you're facing the wring direction.

IMO - Paint all 4 walls, or don't bother.

With all respect to the author of this post, his color theory is all wrong. He is not correct about black and white. White reflects all colors, so if you are using a true white, it will reflect the other colors you use around it. White can be either warm or cool, because it is all colors. Black is the absence of color, however, black will sometimes reflect other colors around it as well. Black can be quite cool. Also assigning emotions or moods to certain colors is individual not objective. Colors affect people differently, just as smells do. Furthermore, using warm and cool colors together is the basic theory of color complements.

Does anyone know the name of the rug in the first photo?

As several people have already noted, there are warm and cool shades of every color. For instance, many artists lay out their palette with a warm and cool of each color. Shadows will be painted in cool tones and the lights will be warm, or vice-versa depending on the effect the artist is going for. Color theory is more complicated than saying that one side of the color wheel is warm and the other is cool. For example, Cadmium Red is warm while Alizarin Crimson is cool. Lipstick shades are a perfect example of this. When choosing a red lipstick, pay attention to whether the shade is warm or cool or it will look off.
To complicate matters, lighting and reflections of neighboring colors also affect the way a color is perceived. Maybe there's a photographer reading this list who can speak about lighting. I know that warm lighting works best in a kitchen - it makes both the people and the food look better.

I agree with kingtiny. Using ads to illustrate your post is depressing. The site is so ad-heavy already. I know, ads keep it free but I can't help missing the simplicity and white space of the old AT.

According to this post, a room can only be public or private, warm or cool. What about a balance of both and choosing the colors you love to create an environment that reflects you? My living room is a cool grey, with cool browns, taupes and darker grey furniture. To place cool colors into this mix would be bleak and depressing. Instead, I have bright white trim, lime green plants and a bold orange bookcase/tv console. The space is cool and sophisticated, with just the right amount of quirkiness, much like me!

This post is rife with pseudoscientific assertions and sloppy thinking. I think I may be stupider for reading it. Thanks, AT.

Maybe this is too late but all this confusion and msinformation just confirms why designers need more color education than is currently taught. There is so much more to consider when selecting color than the simplified psychological implications and trends. Color must be selected in context! which includes style, lighting, finish materials, color tolerance and so on! there is a precise science to color and there is a very subjective side of color and for a successful color palette they must be married. If anyone is interested I teach a very intensive color course for designers and color consultants. www.smartdesignsystems.com or www.businessofcolor.com

does anyone know who makes that white and blue wallpaper? it's amazing!

I am having a hard time finding a gray that will go in my dr/kitchen. with sliding glass doors that face east and a green yard! I have been using grey owl thruout but it definitely turned green in these rooms. The feature wall is Deep Space(b-m) do you think if I change it to black it would help the grey owl look less green? east light is the worse!