If you have the option to choose from different colours for a desk that fits your space and budget, it is helpful to know how different colours work together. The two things to consider when it comes to colours is balance and associations. Balance means that the colours in your home should be coordinated in some way, so that the room looks like a unit. Usual techniques to achieve this are considering a colour wheel, and going for colours that are either quite close to each other, or quite far. Associations with and emotions connected to colours are equally important to keep in mind, and there is no shortage of guides for these from those by 19th-century Impressionist painters to modern interior design guides. It is quite probable that these associations are cultural and learnt, which means that they can be quite different in different cultures or just for different individuals. Blue is often connected to productivity, but also stability, calmness and even sadness. Green is undoubtedly the colour of nature, and is said to evoke safety, luck and envy (though in other cultures envy is yellow). Yellow is always a shouty colour and can mean brightness, warmth, energy and attention (likely because of the sun), except when it is dark and becomes brown, when it is said to be relaxing and comfortable. Red is thought of as the colour of friendship, energy, leadership, desire and revenge - a very wide range of emotions. But it is clear that in nature, it means danger or importance, so it should be put next to a calm colour to allow the brain to rest. These emotions point in so many directions that these guidelines seem to boil down to just this: pause and see what the colour means for you.