Warm And Cool Colors

Learn how to combine warm and cool colors and create stunning color schemes. (There's more to cool and warm colors than most people think!)

On this page:  Warm Colors And Cool Colors / Turning Warm Colors Cool / What Makes A Warm Color Scheme? / Mixing Cool And Warm Colors

Warm Colors And Cool Colors

Four-Primary
Color Wheel Chart

'Warm' colors are usually seen as related to the yellow/red color families, and 'cool' colors to the blue/green color families.

In other words, the more red or yellow you can find in, say, a paint color, the more you would think of it as a 'warm' paint color (and vice versa for blue and green).

However, all of the primary colors have a 'warm' and a 'cool' side.  Have a look at the color wheel chart (above left) to see what I mean!

"Warm" Color Scheme

At the same time, not all colors are equally warm or cool. A color can have a cool tinge, or a distinctly icy smile, or make you wish you'd brought your coat.

Let's have a closer look at this. Would you agree that the color combination to the left is a warm color scheme?

???

Now, how about the color scheme to the right - warm paint colors or cool?

This is not as simple as black and white. If we compare the color swatch to the warm color scheme above, we can safely say it's cooler than that.

On the other hand ...

... can you see only cool color in the sample above right, or both cool and warm colors?

Which ones are more prominent, the warm colors or the cool colors?

???

Now for a third example.

Does this color swatch to the left have cooler or warmer colors than the previous one?

(Compare the individual elements of the pattern as well as the overall color impression!)

Next, let's put all three next to each other to look at the degrees of coolness or warmth in each.

Warm And Cool Colors

We normally judge the 'temperature' of a color by comparing it to other colors: cooler than, warmer than.

But does this also apply to cases where we only have one cool (or warm) color family like, say, blue ("cool") or yellow ("warm")? Let's take a look.

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Turning Cool Colors Warm
And Warm Colors Cool

Here's our next experiment (read:  this may or may not work!) Compare the two blocks below: One is composed of 'warmer' hues of blue than the other (provided your screen settings are similar to mine.)

The central squares are different, though. How 'warm' do you feel they are, compared to their surroundings?

Warm Colors and Cool Colors: Blue

They're both exactly the same color, but one will probably look warmer than the other. Test it by looking at them separately - hold your hand over one of the blocks at a time. The one surrounded by 'cold' blues should look warmer; the one surrounded by 'warm' blues should look cooler. (If you can't easily see this - don't worry. Your screen will display color temperatures differently than mine.)

As a rule, our perception of a color changes with the surrounding colors. So when you're decorating your home with warm and cool colors, it's important to keep an eye on the big picture - the whole room.

Next, let's have a look at how to use cool and warm colors together.

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What Makes A "Warm" Color Scheme?

You don't necessarily need all warm colors in order to mix a convincing "warm" color scheme. In fact, you need just a bit more warm color than cool color to do it.

This is because warm colors will generally win out over cool ones (unless they're really subtle, like warm beige and similar near-neutral warm colors).

If you're looking at warm and cool colors of similar saturation, the warm colors will be more dominant and attract more attention than the cool colors.

By the same token, you need more cool color to make a color scheme look, well, really cool.

Compare the following examples:

Warm Colors, Cool Colors

Okay, so these two aren't going to win the subtlety prize, but do you see how much cool color you can drop into a warm color scheme without really losing the impression of warmth?

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Mixing Warm And Cool Colors

Now, have a look at the following:

Warm And Cool Color Scheme

Which of the two color combinations do you find more attractive, and why?
(I know, these two aren't going to win the subtlety prize either!)

The only difference between the two color schemes above is in the borders around the cream-colored swatch.

On the four-primary color wheel (top of the page), turquoise is the opposing color to orange. (On the 3-primary color wheel, the complementary color to orange is blue).

Why use an opposing/complementary color? Because nothing brings out the beauty and strength of a color the way its opposite does (and in this case, either blue or turquoise can do the job equally well).

On both the 3-primary and the 4-primary color wheel charts, complementary and opposing sets are always made up of warm and cool colors.

Now, all this doesn't mean, of course, that all your rooms should be covered, head-to-toe, in high-saturation, warm-and-cool complementary color schemes. But it does mean that it's always worth looking for a complementary color to liven something up - a room, an outfit, a gift wrap, a table decoration ... anything, really!

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