Cool Colors in Interior Design: How to Decorate With Cool Colors

Cool colors refer to any hues on the color wheel (a circle diagram that illustrates the relationships between different colors) that have a “cool” temperature. Cool colors skew closer to blue, generally considered the coolest color on the wheel. (Colors closer to yellow—considered the warmest color on the wheel—are warm colors.) Cool hues evoke relaxation and calm, while warmer colors inspire energy and life.

Of the three main cool colors, one is a primary color (blue) and two are secondary colors (green and purple). Any tertiary color that has elements of cool blue has a cool undertone.

Color theory is a method of working with colors based on the color wheel, which charts how the color relationships between the various warm and cool hues. The standard warm colors are reds, oranges, and yellows, while the cool colors are blues, greens, and purples. However, all colors have warm and cool variations.

The color wheel has a warm color half and a cool color half. Beyond being across each other on the color wheel, there are a few notable differences between warm and cool colors, including:

• Mood: Cool colors appear cool in temperature, which gives them a calming effect. Warm colors evoke warmth and coziness and have an energizing effect.
• Focus: Cool-colored objects recede into the background. In paintings, they can add depth or perspective. In painting and décor, warm-colored objects spring forward and attract light.
• Usage: You can generally use cool colors for bathrooms and bedrooms, where relaxation is important. They can make smaller rooms feel bigger. Warm colors make an impact in rooms where people are more likely to gather, such as living rooms and kitchens. They can make a bigger room more inviting.

You can learn determine whether you’re working with a warm or a cool color by:

• Pinpointing the mass tone: The first way to find color temperature is to assess whether the color is closer to yellow or blue on the color wheel. Colors with a mass tone—or the first identifiable color—closer to yellow than blue are warm, and those closer to blue are cool.
• Detecting the undertones. Many colors with a mass tone that is either warm or cool will have the opposite undertone, an underlying tone that can affect how you see a color. For example, a blue with red undertones gives the color more warmth. Undertones can make a particular color lighter or duller, or warmer or cooler.
• Comparing to similar colors. To figure out the temperature of a particular color, look at the color beside it or other similar colors to determine its relative temperature and measure its mass tones against its undertones. You can try a paint color swatch wall at a homewares store, where you can see hundreds of variations on a single color side by side. Determine the warmth or coolness of the mass tone—which should either be closer to yellow or blue and then identify whether the color’s undertones make the mass tone cooler or warmer. For example, when looking at two different reds, one red may have a yellow undertone, while the other may have a blue undertone. The yellow-red would be a warm red, while the blue-red would be a cool red.

Here are some tips for using cool colors in the color palette for your next interior design project:

• Consider a room's function. Color temperature inspires different moods. Cool colors are relaxing, while warm colors are energizing. Think of this when choosing a color scheme for particular rooms in your home.
• Start with neutrals. Start with a base of neutral colors (white, black, gray) in your décor, which will act as a canvas for your dominant color scheme. Keep major pieces of furniture neutral to give yourself more room to play with accent colors. If you want to create a consistently cooler atmosphere, ensure your large pieces of furniture and walls are all cool colors.
• Play with color mixing. Choose accent pieces with complementary colors to your cool or neutral base to give your room a dynamic color palette. For example, if you're using blues and greens as your base, throw in some cool colors with warm undertones or some warm colors with blue undertones to prevent the color scheme from becoming too flat.
• Go monochromatic. You may want to go all monochromatic with a single cool color for an extra calming atmosphere. If you've chosen a single color, such as green, to dominate your space, you can create points of interest by including both cool greens and warm greens to liven up the color scheme.

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