Step 4: Choose a Color Scheme
Everybody has favorite colors and color combinations, but many people don't know what they like. Look analytically at your wardrobe and you'll see colors you obviously like - since you choose to wear them! Some of your clothing - a scarf or tie for instance - likely has patterns incorporating several colors. Look at how well these colors go together, and you'll get an idea of how to select your multicolored palette for decorating. Successful decorating schemes work well when they use a maximum of three colors. One should be the main color (used on the walls or for window treatments or carpeting, since these are the biggest surfaces to decorate); the other one or two colors should be used in smaller amounts as accents. Many patterned fabrics and wallcoverings make choosing a color scheme easy because they contain a good combination of colors, which you can see at a glance work well together. Wallcovering books are particularly useful because the coordinating patterns are presented side by side

			In an appealingly decorated room, fabrics and wallcoverings do not contain more than three or, at most, four different patterns; they also have common elements, such as motifs and colors. You can create a dynamic space by combining stripes, plaids or checks and floral, in both small - and large-scale patterns, as long as there are some solid areas in one of the colors to provide balance.