Color Effects

•Blue is calming. It can be strong and steadfast or light and friendly.

•Green is life. Abundant in nature, green signifies growth, renewal, health, and environment.

•A mix of blue and green, turquoise has a sweet feminine feel while the darker teal shades add lively sophistication.

•Silver, especially shiny, metallic silver, is cool like gray but livelier, more playful. Silver can be sleek and modern or impart a feeling of ornate riches.

•Red is the hottest of the warm colors. Red can stir up emotions, raise temperature and heart rate. Colors in the red family are the most attention-grabbing, mysterious, friendly, sophisticated, or mentally stimulating.

•Pink is romantic, charming, and playful and shows the characteristic of tenderness. Mix with light purple or other pastels to maintain soft, delicate and playful nature. Mix with burgundy, darker shades of pink or purple to add strength.

•Yellow yields to hope and happiness. Very warming, cheerful and welcoming. Although it can work as the primary color, yellow often works best as a companion to other colors. Use bright yellow to create excitement when red or orange may be too strong or too dark. Yellow can be perky.

•Orange is vibrant. It denotes energy, warmth, and the sun. But orange has a bit less intensity or aggression than red, calmed by the cheerfulness of yellow.

•Purple is royalty. A mysterious color, purple is associated with both nobility and spirituality. Purple has a special, almost sacred place in nature: lavender, orchid, lilac, and violet flowers are often delicate and considered precious.

•Lavender, this shade of purple suggests refinement along with grace, elegance, and something special. Pink with lavender is extremely feminine. A minty green with lavender is a cheerful, springtime look. Blues with lavender are cool and sophisticated combination or warm it up with reds. For a contemporary earthy palette try lavender with beige and light browns.

•White is purity, cleanliness, and innocence.

•Ivory is a soft neutral color that isn't quite white and has some of the earthiness of light browns. Ivory represents quiet, pleasantness with a touch of luster. As a neutral, ivory is a calming color. It carries some of the same pureness, softness, and cleanliness of white but is slightly richer, a touch warmer.