Decor to die for: Thanks for the compliment!

We love to break rules when it comes to fashion... No white after labor day?! You can't wear black and navy together?! Please.

And we love to break rules when it comes to beauty... No blue eyeliner? No pink lips? Sorry!

But recently Miss Me and Miss t-w-h were lounging in a beautiful vacation spot relaxing in the sun and talking about decor like they always do... When Miss t-w-h dropped a decorating rule she had just learned regarding dining rooms and the space around the chairs at the dining table.... I know just what you would expect us to talk about in paradise right?

It has taken us a long time and lots of trial and error... Not to mention a few trips back to the store to make returns and lots of repainting rooms to learn something very important. The more rules you know about decorating, the more helpful tips you pick up along the way.... The less stress and strife you will face while decorating your home.

Because your decor is not the wrong shade of lipstick or the way too short skirt you thought you could pull off. You are spending your serious hard earned cash on that sofa or that art print... You can't just toss it out and laugh about it later.

We learned that in decor, rules our our friends!

So, we wanted to start learning more about said rules, and whether you like it or not you are along for the ride.

First lesson Complimentary colors!

We will assume you have foggy pot coated memories of your high school art class and the basics of the color wheel. No? OK quick run down.

(Please forgive the weird spacing, I took this from the web)

The color wheel is an important piece of basic of color design. It is literally a wheel with twelve colors on it made up of primary, secondary and tertiary colors.

Primary Primary colors are colors that cannot be created by mixing with other colors. These are often referred to as the true colors, because you need them to create all the other colors. They are:

• Red
• Blue
• Yellow

Secondary

Secondary colors are created by mixing primary colors. They are:

• Orange
• Yellow
• Green
• Violet

Tertiary

Tertiary colors are colors created by mixing a primary and secondary color. They are:

• Yellow-orange
• Red-orange
• Red-violet
• Blue-violet
• Blue-green
• Yellow-green

The place where the colors are on the wheel and where they are in relation to the other colors can tell us a great deal. It can tell us which colors will work well together.

All coming back to you now right?

Well, Complimentary colors are those that are opposite each other on the color wheel, and when you put them together they just sort of sing.

Use these combinations as a jumping off point for any room and you are sure to get it right.

For example:

Blue and Orange

Ahhhhh

Ohhhhh

Yummmmm!!!!

Yellow and Purple

Sighhhh

Wow.. Go Lakers...

Dreamy....

Island style

Just the right touch of yellow.

Red & Green

That works...

Delicious

Ahhhhh

J'adorable

Remember that when using complimentary colors you have the full spectrum of shades and tones to play with. For instance within the Orange and Blue complimentary range you can mix Turquoise and Salmon or Navy and Rust. In the Red and Green complimentary range you could use Bright Green and Watermelon Pink (one of our favorites!) or you could try Mint and Rose.

The possibilities are endless, and this is just lesson #1 on the color wheel! We haven't even started to tap into Analogous Colors (next to each other on color wheel) and Triad Colors (3 colors that form a triangle on the wheel)!

We have so much to learn!

Take the time to look at this site. Learn a little bit about color, you may be surprised at how much you already know instinctually about color theory. Look around your nest and see what you already have going on and then refine it, get inspired and have fun!

Because it is never too late to love rainbows!

XOXO- Things-We-Heart