Decorating your kitchen can be a fun and rewarding task. One of the first things you need to decide, however, is what color to paint or wallpaper the room in. Since the color has a huge effect on the look of your design, you should consider this carefully. Here's some tips on what colors you might want to use for your chosen kitchen design style.

French Country French country style is both rustic and elegant at the same time. Since the furnishing and accessories highlight this style, it is often best to go with plain walls. Try using a light colored paint in pale blue or yellow with crown moldings on the walls, or if you want something different go with stenciling. For an aged look try faux painting the walls to look like aged plaster or use plaster with a warm golden shade.

Tropical There are a couple of variations on the tropical style. One is the traditional "Florida" tropical that uses corals or pinks and turquoise. These colors can be rather bright on the wall so you might want to stick with white walls and use these colors as accents or include them in borders and stencils.

The other variation is the more modern "palm tree" tropical which uses more earth tones in khaki tans and greens. Painting the walls a sage green or tan and using palm tree borders is great - you can even get a nice palm tree wallpaper with matching border if you want. You could also consider having a tropical mural painted right on the wall, or you can buy wallpaper murals - there's even a cute one of a faux window overlooking the beach! Tuscan Tuscan walls should have an age old look. Try a golden mustard yellow or earth tones as a paint color. Consider a faux plaster with an aged patina on the walls, or use faux painted walls that look like cracked plaster. A mural of a window looking out on the Tuscan countryside could really add some interest to this type of kitchen.

Victorian When I think of a Victorian kitchen, I think of a simple black and white motif. White walls with black and white checked tile. You may want something a bit more colorful and in that case you can go with a floral print on the walls or plain paint in a white or off white and accent the walls by hanging antique plates and other assorted items. Mexican The Mexican motif is about deep rich colors - reds, cobalt blues and dark yellow. You can use any of these colors successfully or try using a stucco on the walls, or maybe go with faux paint that resembles plaster. Think about adding some colorful Mexican tile to the back splash to really get liven things up.

Your colors are a vital piece of your overall decor, yet many people are afraid to paint their walls in anything but white. If you really want a great look - try adding deep rich color to your walls then if you don't like it you can always repaint them!.

Lee Dobbins writes for A Kitchen Decorating Idea where you can find more articles on kitchen decorating.