The mighty color wheel is based off of three colors: red, blue and yellow. Every color combination out there is based off of those three colors with the occasional help from black or white, if you're actually sitting down to mix up some paints.
Cool and warm colors are largely defined by the associations they conjure. Cool implies a rainy day, an overcast beach, a field of lavender. This means colors based off blues, greens, grays and purples. Warm implies a layered sunset, a sunny desert, a field of oranges. These are your reds, oranges, dark yellows, and browns.
A cool room is relaxing, ideal for bedrooms, bathrooms or any other area you'd use to wind down.
A warm room is stimulating and invigorating, perfect for kitchens, living rooms and places where you want people to congregate.
When decorating you always want to keep in mind the room's purpose. How do you want to feel in that room? The answer to that will help you narrow down a cool vs warm color scheme. From there, consider your budget. If it's not too flexible, focus on bright accents such as pillows, flowers, framed prints and even peel-off wall decals. Take out as many colors already in the room as you can so that the new ones you incorporate are highlighted. Neutrals can also have cool or warm tendencies, but that's a post for another day.
That's all for now. If all you remember is the handy color chart I inserted, then I've achieved my purpose. Now go out there and start looking at the world through color theory!
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