Colour is the single most important element in styling a room. Choose colours that reflect your lifestyle or to create a special mood.

The opportunity provided by today's colours gives  you many options for enriching and expressing a  room's character, mood and feelings.

Sometimes too much choice can be confusing  and many people revert to old comfortable and  safe boundaries.

To build confidence with colour you need to  explore ways of using colour palettes and seeing  the exciting relationships that exist.

Some GuidelinesS

As a rule of thumb, three colours work very successfully in a kitchen, so any additional colours will require careful planning. One useful method is to select one main colour and work around the colour with variations to match the required mood.

Determine the surface you are looking at most of all and select these colours first. This is usually the benchtop and splashback.

When planning your colours, avoid dark colours on doors if the space is small. This closes the walls dramatically. Horizontal work surfaces (benchtops) can introduce some 'drama' to your colour scheme.

Highlights can be incorporated in edges, skirtings, colour strips in doors, drawers and handles.

The floor can be either lighter or darker than the cupboards. The ceiling and wall colours are then selected to complement the other colours.

Around the edge of the circle are the three primary colours (red, blue and yellow) and various combinations of these primaries. The colours around the edge of the circle are the pure colours, and for every pure colour there are a range of other tones, inching towards the centre of the circle.

Colours on the blue and green side of the wheel are cool and receding (these colours will make a room look bigger). Colours on the red and orange side are warm and advancing (these colours can make the walls seem much closer).

COLOUR SCHEMES

Using the colour wheel you can examine the colour  relationships of various schemes. Three main  colour schemes exist: monochromatic, harmonious  and complementary.
 
Monochromatic schemes are based on tints and  shades of one colour. They are very popular as  they are easy to use and create a simple background for other features.

Harmonious schemes are based on the use of  adjacent or similar colours not more than two  colours apart on the colour wheel. For instance, yellows, oranges and greens. The common colour
 in the group is yellow.

Complementary schemes are based on colours which are opposite each other on the wheel like yellow and blue violet - they can create a bright cheerful mood.