Choosing a color scheme is a basic decorating decision and using cheap slip covers can make it easier. Color is probably your most useful design tool as it can change a room's apparent size or alter its feel. And cheap slip covers make it practical for you to update an existing color scheme or create a new one.

Color Guidelines
There aren't rules you have to follow when choosing colors for your cheap slip covers, but there are several helpful things to keep in mind:

• Colors change appearance with different types and amount of light. The same color will look different under artificial light and sunlight. So be aware of the predominant source of light when matching colors. Also the more light in a room the more washed out the colors will look.
• A color's intensity can be affected by what colors it's combined with. Yellow cheap slip covers might blend in when surrounded by similar green colors, and yet almost glow if set against a background of dark blues.
• Usually, the larger the surface, the less intense you want the color to be. For instance, red and orange can make great accent colors, but you probably wouldn't want to have a sofa slip cover or a wall of solid red or orange.

Picking a Color Scheme through Matching
One way to decide on a color scheme is through matching an existing room color or colors. It can be anything from the carpet to the ceiling. If there's a particular pattern you like, it's a perfect example of which colors mix well. And it's not necessary to maintain the same color proportions, it's simply a starting point when selecting your cheap slip covers.

Choosing a Color Scheme with a Color Wheel
Although there are literally millions of different colors, they're all a combination of just three. Red, yellow and blue are the primary colors. If you combine equal parts of two primary colors, you get the secondary colors, orange, green, and violet. Tertiary colors are the next color level and are created by combining the primary colors on either side of the secondary colors. By using color theory and a color wheel, you can see which color combinations work for your cheap slip covers.

The colors nearest red are considered warm colors and help give a comforting feel to a room. While the colors nearest blue, are called cool colors. They tend to bring about a more formal feel. The color temperature also affects the apparent room size. Warm colors seem closer than cool, so the right color of your cheap slip covers makes it easy to have the room seem bigger or smaller.

Colors on the opposite side of the color wheel are called contrasting and provide good choices for creating accents. And colors next to each other are considered harmonious because they're similar and combine well.