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Your Guide to Coordinating Colors

Ashwini Kulkarni Sule
Every color has its own personality and its own character. Here are some information on the topic of coordinating colors.
The crux of coordinating colors lies in understanding color psychology and the 'relationships' between different colors. Some are naturally dominant, while others are subdued, allowing the dominant ones to lead. But what if you place two dominant colors together?
Each will try to create its impact in an attempt to suppress the other. The overall effect won't be much pleasing to look at. Whereas, two subdued colors will fail to create an impact itself, no matter good or bad. Thus, right from your walls to your clothes, you need to coordinate among different colors.

Coordinating Colors in Rooms

This is an important aspect of interior designing. Your wall paint speaks volumes about your personality and taste. Generally, aggressive and dominant people opt for warm hues like red, orange, purple, etc.
Whereas, those seeking tranquility opt soothing colors like pastels or light subdued versions of the bright colors. However, you can coordinate warm colors with cool ones to create a balanced effect. While coordinating colors, always keep in mind the size and illumination in your room.
If you have large and spacious rooms with adequate natural light, you can simply choose any color in the color wheel. However, if you have small rooms with limited natural light, go for calming ones to create an illusion of space.
Warm colors render a constricted yet cozy look to a room. However, do not use all of them together, as it can become quite an eyesore to the onlookers. Similarly, do not bring in all the pastel colors together, as it can create a gloomy ambiance. While coordinating wall colors, combine red or orange with butterscotch yellow or lime green.
While managing kitchen colors, always makes sure that your choices impart a clean look to your kitchen. Avoid brown and burnt orange or forest green for kitchen walls, and instead go for warm ones like orange, yellow, pastels like powder blue, lime green, turquoise, etc.

Coordinating Colors for Clothing

Most of us fumble with our clothes every morning while getting ready for the office. Matching trousers with a shirt is a big headache for most people.
This is the reason why many prefer to stick with neutral colors like black, navy, brown, and white. However, life can become listless if you wear the same colors everyday. To help you out of this everyday hassle, the given list of color combination is provided.
  • Tomato red: Baby blue, mint green, creamy white, and gray
  • Cherry red: Blues, gray, pale orange, and pale yellow
  • Baby pink: Browns, tan, mint green, olive green, gray, turquoise
  • Dark pink (fuschia): Gray, tan, yellows, lime green, mint green, and browns
  • Light brown: Pale yellow, creamy white, blues, greens, purples, and reds
  • Dark brown: Lemon yellow, baby blue, mint green, baby purple, and lime green
  • Tan: Baby pink, dark brown, blues, greens, and purples
  • Pale orange: Gray, browns, and forest green
  • Dark orange: Pale yellow, forest green, browns, and cherry red
  • Pale yellow: Fuschia, gray, browns, tan, reds, blues, and purples
  • Lemon yellow: Cherry red, browns, blues, and gray
  • Golden yellow: Gray, browns, blues, reds, and black
  • Lime green: tan, browns, pinks, dark orange, navy blue, and gray
  • Mint green: Brown, gray, navy blue, reds, gray, and tan
  • Olive green: Tan, browns, grays, creamy white, and black
  • Forest green: Oranges, light brown, and tan
  • Turquoise: Fuschia, cherry red, tan, browns, creamy white, and dark purple
  • Baby blue: Reds, gray, browns, and dark orange
  • Electric blue: Golden yellow, tan, light brown, gray, and silver
  • Navy blue: Baby purple, tan, brown, gray, yellows, oranges, greens, and reds
  • Baby purple: Dark orange, dark purple, and olive green
  • Dark purple: Tan, pale yellow, gray, turquoise, mint green, and pale orange
You also need to coordinate colors according to different occasions, and the mood of the function should be taken into consideration. For example, coordinating colors for weddings should be done according to the decided theme. Also, take into account the spirit of season while coordinating them.