Hey Friends,

I’ve given a lot of thought to this new color, design and organization series. One of the most important things I believe you will be able to take away is having a great foundational understanding of color, the use of color, home organizing on a budget and functional design for any space. I’m extremely excited to share my knowledge, experience and the tips and tricks I’ve used as I have organized and designed all of my living spaces through the years. I’ve gone from a 700 square foot apartment with blow-up furniture (no joke!) in college to a beautiful 4 bedroom home that I am currently putting the finishing touches of art and decor on now. It is through my understanding and work as a designer using color theory, layout, design and spatial balance that I have been able to work with a myriad of spaces and convert each into a space that I love, am proud of and happy to entertain others in.

I hope to teach others to do the same no matter if you are a young first time home-buyer, an empty-nester downsizing or just transitioning into a new space and you have no idea where to start. First, we must start with the basics of color and how very powerful it is. So today we are going to talk primary hues, neutrals and secondary hues.

The Basics of Color

I am going to keep this information simple and easy to use. Color Theory is an extremely in-depth subject involving science, light, depth and saturation. This is just to give a basic understanding for your everyday reference.

The traditional primary colors on a color wheel are Red, Yellow and Blue. These colors are special because they cannot be created by mixing any other colors. They exist naturally. From these colors, all other color are created. There are some people that prefer to use Magenta, Yellow and Cyan as the basic primaries (think about your ink cartridges in your printer), but we are going to work with the traditional color wheel that I used in my Color Theory courses.

Neutrals are actually not colors, but rather the absence of color or the presence of all color, known as White and Black. I also like to use my most favorite neutral, Gray which is a mix of both Black and White.

On to the secondaries. Orange, Green and Violet are secondary colors born from mixing combinations of  the primary hues, red, yellow and blue.

Red + Yellow = Orange

Yellow + Blue = Green

Blue + Red = Violet

Here is a basic color wheel for reference:

With these six basic colors and the neutrals of black and white, there are an endless amount of variations that can be made. It is quite overwhelming. One fun thing to note is complementary colors. These are colors that are directly opposite of each other on the wheel (ie: Blue & Orange). This means when these two are paired together, they are at their most vibrant. Ever wonder why the Christmas colors of Red and Green look so great together? This is because they are complementary to each other.

I hope this gives an easy to understand introduction into color. If you feel you want to know more, here is a great online resource to use on the full world of  color theory and beyond.

Until next time, remember color is your friend!

With Love & Color,

-Tina B.