Choosing a color scheme is difficult when starting from scratch

Use these methods to choose colors that you will love from the first day

Choosing a color scheme is the next decision you are facing in your home decorating project. By now you have done some dream shopping, started a collection of pictures and ideas you are drawn to, and decided on some of your color preferences. But still, deep down you are saying, "But I still don't know how to start choosing a color scheme."

This is a very emotional area of home decorating. Once you make a large purchase of a sofa or carpet that item will be a fixture in your home for a long time. No wonder there is so much anxiety attached to this part of home decorating. Look here for more about color properties of individual colors such as red, purple, green,etc.

Choosing a color scheme from something you love makes the decision easier

One of the easiest places to start is to look at the items you already own. Do you have an area rug you bought because you loved the striped pattern in it? Do you own a vase or teapot with 6 different colors in it that you just had to have because of the colors? Look at your wardrobe. Is there an item of clothing you keep picking out to wear because of the color combination?

I call these inspiration items. Professional designers designed these items. Most likely if you bought it because of the colors, you will be able to design a room around it that you will be happy to be in.

Use this lamp as your inspiration piece. Use the colors in the lamp keeping the same color proportion in your room. The walls would be eggshell, the floors and wood furniture would be the various shades of brown, your upholstered furniture would be chosen with the orange, peach, yellows in mind, and the green would be used as accent pieces such as lamps and pillows. This could all be tied together with an area rug containing this same color scheme.

Of course this color scheme would not be everyone's cup of tea, but is used only as an example of how to use an item you love as a starting point for choosing a color scheme.

Shop the fabric stores for inspiration in choosing a color scheme

One of the best places to find great color schemes and also qualified help in choosing a color scheme is a fabric store. Quilt shops are particularly good for this type of shopping as they have highly skilled designers developing fabric for a group of very color conscious clients. In a quilt shop fabric is displayed in color families and the salespeople are very skilled and have a great eye for colors. If you have never been in a quilt shop, you will be amazed and probably overwhelmed at the variety of fabric and colors available.

Remember your mission. You are looking for inspiration. You are looking for some fabric which contains the colors you absolutely love. Take your time and look around.

Are there any fabric groupings that call to you? Are you drawn to a particular color family? Once you have settled on a color family, then start looking at individual fabrics. Look for pieces that contain colors you would like to have in your home. Perhaps you have some magazine pictures you cut out because you liked the color scheme. Can you find some fabric that contains these colors?

When choosing color schemes, do you find yourself drawn to anologous colors? Look for a fabric with an anologous color scheme in a color you prefer. This anologous fabric would be a great basis for a violet, blue violet, red violet color scheme with some aqua accents.

If you own a home with a lot of natural surfaces such wood, stone, and natural tiles, and find yourself drawn to neutral color schemes, look for a fabric that is based on this type of color scheme.

Once you find some fabric, buy a fat quarter of it. A quarter yard is 9 inches by 45 inches. This is a long strip of fabric. A fat quarter is 18 inches square. Many quilters prefer fat quarters because it is a much more useable piece of fabric for cutting quilt patterns. I prefer buying fat quarters for decorating samples because it is an easier shape to carry for comparison shopping and when finished can be hemmed for a napkin or made into a pillow for your sofa.

Once again, this fabric can be used as your inspiration piece for choosing a color scheme. One of the great things about using a piece of fabric as you shop is that you have right in your hand the perfect color you are looking to match.

When you buy fabric, you will notice running down the selvage side( the woven side of the fabric) a line of colored dots. This is a sample of all the colors in the fabric. You will find this a great aid in choosing the products and items you will be using in your room. But be aware, just because there are sixteen colors in this piece of fabric, you do not need to use everyone of them! Pick the three or four most outstanding that appeal to you, use some for accent pieces and accessories, and ignore the remainder. Be sure to keep the same color proportions in your room as is used in the fabric and you will have a color scheme that works. This fabric would appeal to someone who is choosing a color scheme of green and burgandy, or perhaps a violet and gold complimentary color combination.

One more caveat to be aware of

Use photo references for help in choosing a color scheme

The most obvious are home decorating magazines. There is an enormous selection of these available at every checkout counter in the country.

There are brochures and folders in paint and wallpaper stores.

There is the internet with it's 6 million home decorating sites. When you see a photo image you like, cut and paste it into your computer. If you are using these photos for help in choosing a color scheme and want to print it out, make sure you use a color printer.

Then lastly, there are the photos you have been taking as you go on your dream shopping tours.

Remember your mission!

Once again, I'll use this mantra: "Remember your mission!"

As you look through these photos, you are not looking at furniture styles, or how accessories were used. You are looking for help in choosing a color scheme you love. You are looking for details such as type of color scheme you are attracted to (analogous, complimentary, split complementary, monochromatic). You are noticing if the color scheme in the room was designed around an inspiration item such as a rug or piece of art. You are looking at the proportions of color used (how much is a neutral color used as opposed to an accent color?)

In short, you are becoming a color expert about what your color personality prefers.