I look forward to the responses to this question. I myself have been struggling with this. I have a greige in the dining room that is warm, and I have been playing with the idea of a pale gray blue in the living room which adjoins the dining room. I don't know how all of that will look together, so I am leaning toward cream because it's the easy way out.

I am hoping people post pics because I have a hard time envisioning it all!

I think you can mix warm and cool as long as you tie it all together with art work or accessories.

I have a very open floor plan (no interior walls on the 1st floor) and it's taken me awhile to learn how to work with this space. I have a painting that I really like and I use that to pull colors from. You can see the art from all over the house, so it's obvious that it is the unifying factor.

I asked this because in searching what is a cool color what is a warm color? It gave examples of what not to use when decorating - unless you want "that look". So I want a cohesive look throughout my first floor, yet there cool and warm colors that I like. I don't want to "wonder" why my space doesn't feel comfortable.

I'm hoping we get some helpful responses.

If you look at the color wheel it tells the story. Half of it is cool, the other half warm and the opposite colors are complimentary to each other. Greens (cool) and yellows (warm), Blue and orange and so on so sure you can mix warm and cool. It's not just the colors though, it's their saturation, hue or tone, the lighting in your room and yes, even your flooring

Our color expert funcolors has a website you should check out. It might help you to have a better understanding.

Here is a link that might be useful: funcolors website

I couldn't not use warm and cool together. All of one or the other would be too much for me. I like that balance and dynamism that mixing warm and cool brings.

Here is a pic of my last house. The wall behind the photographer is EK Mustard Seed, a definitely warm color. Floors are warm. Rug and sofa are warm. Chairs and walls are cool. Artwork is a mix but mostly cool. This is all open plan connected to the kitchen where the cabinets were a mix of warm cherry and cool pale blue.

I think that "all cool" or "all warm" (or all gray!) is one of those shortcuts used by people to make color selection feel easier. All of those "rules" we read are designed to make it feel easier. You are not bound by rules where color is concerned!

jeannie01-

As always, amysrq has great advice, especially her last sentence: "You are not bound by rules where color is concerned!", really, really take that to heart, because it is 100% correct, colors are a lot more mutable than we give them credit for (of course that's IMO).

To be honest, I can rarely tell if a color is warm or cool, I seem to lack the gene for that, so my house is full of colors that I just like together, and I don't think about warm or cool cuz I don't think it matters.

Good luck-

sandyponder