Decide what colours you like and plan to use them in your room. Look at magazines and decorating books for ideas. Your wardrobe, a treasured painting, a lovely handmade rug or a pretty fabric can all serve as inspiration. Weigh your selections along with the lighting in your room.

A room with limited light can seem somber when dark colours are dominant. If aubergine or rust are among your favorite colours but you want a well-lit, bright atmosphere, use those hues in toss pillows, vases, lamp bases, candles and other accents. Use each colour more than once for a unified scheme.

When a colour is used just once, it will seem as though the colour was introduced into the room and forgotten soon afterward.

Plan ahead. Pin or tape swatches and scraps of paper in the colours you desire to a poster board. With the samples in the room, adjust the lighting as you experiment with mixing colours to achieve a pleasing balance.

Keep the colours in adjoining rooms and spaces compatible. For example, a periwinkle-blue, cornmeal-yellow and navy bedroom will link more harmoniously to a sky blue and butter cream-yellow bathroom than to one with sage green and taupe.

If you're still unsure of yourself, pick a favorite colour and use it along with a white. (Of course, you'll still need the necessary neutrals, such as the exposed brown wood on chair legs and the terra-cotta of a flowerpot.) Put drama into a monochromatic colour scheme by varying the textures and using a few accessories - a painting, a vase, a pillar candle - in a bold accent colour.