To properly decorate your home (or a client's home) for the holidays, you need a workable understanding of how color works so you can create a pleasing ambience. One of the best ways to learn is through the color wheel.

A color wheel can be understood best as the spectrum of colors bent into a circle. It organizes colors into an understandable and logical sequence. It describes the relationships between colors. If you will notice it is organized so that any two PRIMARY COLORS (red, yellow, blue) are separated by the SECONDARY COLORS (orange, violet, and green).

Notice there are three primary colors; red, yellow and blue. You can use primary colors to mix and create all other colors.

Primary Colors are your most basic colors and cannot be created from other colors. Think of them as you would prime numbers in mathematics. Two primaries can be mixed together to get a Secondary Color. Therefore each Secondary Color on the Color Wheel is flanked by two primary colors.

There are consequently three secondary colors: green, orange, and violet. Secondary colors are the hues between the primary hues on the color wheel.

Complimentary colors. Complimentary colors are colors that are across from each other on the color wheel. Violet and yellow are complimentary to each other; Blue and orange are complimentary to each other; Red and green are complimentary to each other. You could say color complements are color opposites. These colors contrast each other in the most extreme way possible. They also help to make each other more active.

Intermediate colors. There are six intermediate colors: red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue-green, yellow-green, yellow-orange. These colors are created by mixing a secondary color with a primary color.

You can never go wrong by mixing colors that are adjacent to each other on the color wheel or colors that are opposite one another on the wheel. So if you're not sure, start there; then experiment with other schemes.

But remember color has three properties:

1. Hue. Hue is the name of a color, such as red, blue, or yellow.
2. Value. Value is the lightness or darkness of a hue (color). The value of a hue can be changed by adding black or white.
3. Intensity. Intensity is the brightness or dullness of a hue (color). Pure hues are high-intensity colors. Dull hues are low-intensity colors. Vary the values and the intensities within the room, otherwise it might be over-the-top too bold.

Warm colors. Warm colors express warmth; they are red, yellow and orange.

Cool colors. Cool colors have the feel of being cold or cool; they are blue, violet and green.

So Thanksgiving becomes the perfect time of year to focus on fall colors and bring that influence into your home. Fall colors typically are nature's colors as opposed to the reds and whites and silvers of Christmas or the light bright colors of summer. The colors are nothing short of spectacular and provide an excellent palette upon which you can decorate your home.

The leaves and foliage of fall make excellent arrangements and garlands. If you want to hold onto the look for years to come and incorporate them into your regular fall decorating rather than simply enjoying them for one Thanksgiving holiday there are plenty of excellent and life-like silk leaf garlands that will make excellent additions to your home decorating contributions. The better quality you find in these the more likely they are to stand up to years of service and storage. The same holds true with any imitation items you purchase. Better quality typically indicates a much longer shelf life.

Fall fruits and vegetables also make excellent decorations when it comes to giving thanks and home decorating. In fact, the food from the harvest and the friendship of the Indians was the very reason for the first Thanksgiving why on earth shouldn’t it be included in your celebration of thanks?

Wreathes in fall colors are another excellent idea for decorating your home for Thanksgiving. It makes all who enter feel welcome and it is appropriate for the season. There is no such thing in this day and age as an all season wreath though there are many that can be adjusted to meet the needs of each season with simple steps. A grapevine wreath is a good start and can easily have seasonal things tied or attached to it in order to experience greater longevity.

Pilgrims also make an excellent addition to your Thanksgiving decorations. They were after all the original celebrants of this tradition that has become a holiday for this great nation. You can have your children help select or even make the pilgrims that you will be adding to your decorations as well as a handprint turkey or two. Not all home decorations need to be expensive or elegant. Sometimes the simplest decorations drawn by the hands of a child are the ones that make the most memorable impressions on friends and family alike.

Cornucopias are another great centerpiece and decoration for the Thanksgiving holiday. Not everyone has a large enough dinner table to accommodate one of these but they also work well on a buffet, a hall table, and almost any other location your heart can desire and you can manage to fit it in.

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Instead of the traditional cornucopia, why not decorate up this year? Use your tiered display dishes or create one out of a set of baskets (each basket is smaller than the other).

Small clear glass containers are excellent ways to help bring out the festivities of the holiday. Fill them with colorful candies or nuts. Fill them with cranberries or grapes. Even corn will do.

Barbara Jennings is author of 17 decorating books/ebooks: Decor Secrets Revealed, Rearrange It, Home Staging for Profit, Home Staging for Yourself, A Real Estate Agent's Guide to Offering Free Home Staging Consultations, Staging Portfolio Secrets, Staging Luxurious Homes, Getting Paid: Financial Strategies for Home Stagers, Home Staging in Tough Times, Arrange Your Stuff, Advanced Redesign, Pro Art Consulting, Where There's a Wall - There's a Way, The Secret Art of Hanging Art, Great Parties - Great Homes, Do's and Don'ts in Home Staging and Redesign, and Wall Groupings! The Secrets of Arranging Art and Photosos