The color wheel is divided into two categories - warm and cool colors. Warm colors are known as 'active' colors, which helps explain the effect those colors have in decorating. Cool colors are known as 'passive' colors, colors that have a calming effect.

The warm colors are: red, yellow and orange.

The cool colors are: blue, green and violet/purple.

There are also the 'neutral' colors such as: white, beige, tan, cream, brown, gray, taupe, etc. Some say that these colors should be reserved for bedroom, kitchens and bathrooms, but they can be used virtually anywhere. A nice effect is using the bright white on the baseboard and other wood trim, while painting the wall a darker color. The two-toned effect give a classy look. If you do have a lot of white, all you need to do is add some accessories with color - or even paint one wall a different color. Using a darker 'neutral' color, such as tan or a darker shade of taupe, the other colors throughout your room will be softened a bit or toned down. When you use a bright white, the other colors will stand out more and be more intensified (sitting against that solid white background).

You can make any color warmer by increasing the amount of yellow in it. You can make any color cooler by increasing the amount of blue in it. This way you can have, for example, 'cool red' and 'warm red' as colors. This way you can use the color red without it being to soft or being too bright. Warm red has more yellow in the color and cool red has more blue in the color.