For those who are not professional designers or artists, choosing the right colors can be somewhat scary. Many people will stick with white walls or neutral colors. That's too bad because color is so much a part of our everyday life.

I'm willing to bet that you have at least once in your life walked into a space that was totally you, and felt like this is the place I want to be! Color (as well as design) has everything to do with that.

The color Wheel originally came about in 1666 when Sir Issac Newton shone pure white light through a prism and was astonished at the range of color. His discovery of white light containing all the spectrums of color, has been the mainstay of artist and designers ever since.

Here are some basics on how it works.

The color wheel is broken down into 3 basic parts. Primary colors, red, yellow blue, secondary colors, green, orange and purple and the intermediate colors which are made by combining primary and secondary colors.

Using the color chart can help you determine which colors work together. Say for example you wanted to paint the walls green. Rather than painting it all the same green, you can take one of the smaller walls, paint it a darker shade, then paint the remaining walls a lighter shade To design with smaller pieces in the room like pillows, lamps and odd accessories, the color wheel can help you there. Take the color you are using, in our example, green, and look to the opposite side of the chart and you will have your complimentary colors. In this case, purple. So now purple becomes the accent colors in the room.

Getting an idea of what colors to choose can come from any number of items you may have in the home like a colorful art print. We usually know from a very young age what colors attract us so capitalize on that.

Any arts and craft store should be able to supply you with a color wheel for very little money. You can also browse on the internet for charts that you can print off for reference.

One more thing about the color wheel, color can be used to reflect your personality! If you are an out going kind of person then you may be very comfortable with colors like reds and oranges. If you are the calm type then maybe soft blues and greens may be your cup of tea. So you must account for that when you are designing.

Enjoy!

Learning how to use color can make your day!

Willie is a freelance writer, researcher, and artist. In addition to researching and writing, she promotes Motivational Posters at www.artinspires.com. When art inspires, dreams become reality.