The psychology of color plays a part in your choices when looking to pick the right color combinations for your home. How you feel about a color is based on past experiences as well as one’s culture. While brides in the U.S. traditionally wear white, in some Eastern countries, it is a symbol of mourning!

Color, without us realizing it, has a strong effect on our feelings, emotions, moods, and the effect it can have on others. Previous studies show that viewing the color red before taking a test resulted in lower scores than those who viewed other colors.  Who would have thought!

Picking the right color combinations for your home can be tricky. You need to decide if you are going to go with a complete change, or if you need to add color to refresh a room, add style, or update to something more modern. Will you be buying new furnishings? Are you keeping only a few select pieces and revising around them? Color will be the best way to create the effect you want.

Let’s look at the bedroom. Your bedroom is the place where you take refuge in. It is used for relaxing, unwinding, and getting a good night’s sleep.  Look to the color blue as it initiates sleep and has a calming effect. Is your bedroom traditional in style? Then use various shades of blue. Deeper shades are great for showing off antiques, classic furnishings and artwork.

Maybe red or yellow is your color and you are thinking of using it in a room? Be cautious.  Go for a muted red or paler shades of yellow, and paint just one wall.  Use it on the wall behind your headboard or on walls with large windows, sliding doors or French doors. This will break up the intensity of the color and allow you use it as accents in the room as well. Be sure to use them with painted furniture rather than wood.

Another way to transform and add color combinations for your home is to highlight a room’s architectural features. Do you have arched doorways? Crown molding? Mantels? All of this gives you the opportunity to add interest to the room and its color. For molding and doorways, go one step lighter or darker than your primary color. It makes the eye ‘see’ the detail rather than simply color.

Do you already have a room you like but want to jazz it up a bit?  Look at the times you have in that room. Use your rugs, artwork and upholstery and find a central color theme. Maybe go a shade lighter or darker to add style, while creating that pulled-together look that designers seem to have an eye for.

While trends are great and everyone loves to follow them – think twice! Your home is where you spend a majority of your time and using the wrong colors can make life pretty unhappy. Not only for you but for everyone – whether they are family, friends, relatives, or new neighbors. Think outside of the box by making your home unique. You want it to reflect ‘you’ but sometimes we need to forego the wild side a bit and stay with something that will blend in and create the true impression we want.

Want some room ideas that are already pulled together? Need a visual? HGTV has some great examples.

Another good place for ideas? This Old House!

Still not sure whether your ideas will work? Then contact JK Cabinets & Design for help in getting started. JK Cabinets has more than 20 years of combined experience, and is the expert when it comes to the use of color and style in Arizona homes. They will meet with you to review your ideas and come up with the best solutions. Visit their gallery for more interesting ideas.

Color has power and color can be overwhelming. Don’t let it overpower you or ruin your design ideas. JK Cabinets is there with advise, assistance and award-winning customer service in all of your design needs. Contact them today by phone or use the contact form on their website.