There are many starting points for choosing room colors, all equally valid. The easiest way is to take your cue from paint manufacturers, who offer brochures and color chips with specific suggestions on which colors to use together. These up-to-date color choices needn't apply only to paint; use them to choose fabrics and accessories as well.

Or, begin with your favorite color, adding large doses of white or off-white, and perhaps using smaller amounts of one or two accent colors. Choose slight variations of the main color for a monochromatic room, or choose accents from the complementary color palette for more excitement.

A good rule of thumb is to use warm colors with warm and cool colors with cool. If you want to modify the color temperature of the room, however, choose from the opposite side of the color wheel.

Another way is to begin with a favorite fabric, rug, or object, drawing your colors from those chosen by design professionals. If the color combination seems overly bold for an entire room, vary the proportions or use paler shades to suit your tastes.

Some combinations are tried and true: one color plus white, blue and yellow, or red, white, and blue. These color schemes never seem to go out of style, even though specific shades may vary in popularity from year to year.