With the holidays upon us, many of us are redecorating. Before you pull out that paint brush, hang that wall paper or hang new curtains, have you ever taken stock of your home and its color schemes. Is it primed for happiness?

Ever wonder why black signifies mourning? Yellow, happiness? Red, danger? Gray, conservative? It's because color affects mood.

More of us are experimenting with color in our homes. If you've ever wondered why this room is so depressing, that room feels so lively and that other room just doesn't feel right, take a moment to discover the meaning behind color and how it can affect you.

There are three groups of colors: primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary colors are red, blue and yellow. Secondary colors are green, orange and purple. The tertiary colors (aka intermediate colors) are red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, yellow-green, yellow-orange, and red-orange.

Primary colors are pure, meaning that no mix is needed to achieve them. Secondary colors are created by mixing equal proportions of two primary colors. For example, if you mix equal portions of red and blue, you get purple. Tertiary colors are (aka intermediate colors) are made by mixing a secondary and a primary color, eg, red and purple make pink.

One of the most important tools an interior decorator uses is a color wheel. The color wheel is a chart of colors that demonstrate the relationship between colors. For example, complementary colors (eg, red and green) are opposite each other. Analogous colors (eg, red and yellow) are side by side.

Becoming familiar with colors and how they relate to each other is integral to understanding how color evokes moods.

The color wheel is divided into warm and cool colors. The warm side is red to yellow-green. The cool side is from green-blue to violet. Warm colors are known to excite; cools colors to calm. Depending on the hue, color can over stimulate or depress. It is usually in the tertiary colors that we find the right balance. The following is a list of attributes that are widely described to primary and secondary colors.

• Red: (think passion) stimulates, arouses, heightens awareness.
• Blue: (think water; the ocean) relaxes, calms, transfixes.
• Yellow: (think sun) recharges, energizes, revitalizes.

Now that you know more about which colors evoke what moods, it should be easier to begin selecting colors that not only fit your design palette, but your emotional palette as well.

Warm colors work well in areas where you wish to stimulate conversation and promote interaction, especially important this time of year. Think lively yellow in the kitchen; demure red in the living room; terra cotta orange in the den. These are rooms where family and friends congregate and interaction is expected.

By contrast, you want to put cool colors in areas where you relax: lavender bathroom; ocean-blue bedroom; forest green study.

Although these are widely accepted notions, the assignment of qualities to color is based on culture. For example, in America, black is for mourning. In China, it's white.