In his translated Turkish novel My Name is Red , Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk writes: "Colour is the touch of the eye, music to the deaf, a word out of the darkness."

Indeed colour has the power to uplift your mood. It can also transform lacklustre spaces into memorable places that you are proud of.

And over time, interior decor has evolved to the point where colour plays a more important role than ever before. By simply changing colours and colour combinations, you can alter the entire ambience of your home.

Choosing colours for the inside and outside of your home is something you want to do right.

For the exterior, it is important to look at your natural surroundings, as the colour of your home should blend in with them.

Gathering inspiration for the exterior can be as easy as driving around your suburb to view other exterior combinations.

But it's important to always test the colour(s) first against your walls before making a final choice.

Paint test areas on the south, north, east and west facades, as well as in sunlit and shaded areas.

This will give you a good impression of how the colour is affected by the sun's angles and other environmental factors, such as reflections caused by the pool, lawn or your neighbour's house.

For the interior the colours that you choose should be the colours that reflect your personality, and that you and your family like to be surrounded by.

Creating a scrapbook of ideas for interiors and colours is a way of recording what inspires you.

Spend some time browsing the internet and looking at décor and design magazines.

There are plenty of ways to choose colours - you might enjoy having a reference like a colour wheel, or you can even put together a mood board of sample fabrics, paint colours or wallpapers.

A harmonious colour scheme, for example, is one that involves combinations of colours that lie next to one another on the colour wheel, like pink and orange.

Remember that dark colours make a room look smaller, and lighter colours make the same room look larger, so choosing the right wall colour for your room - and what you put in it - is vital.

Research and experimentation are key to finding the perfect colour combinations.