America has the blues — the decorating blues, that is. There is more blue paint, china and fabric sold than any other colour.

The reasons are simple. Blue is cool, soothing and easy to live with.

Shades from robin's egg to lapis, from navy to turquoise, go together as effortlessly as the clouds and the sky.

But no colour can stand the kind of popularity blue has enjoyed without a reaction. For decades blue has been paired with cream and a splash of sunflower yellow.

But now "a real change is in the air," says Stephanie Hoppen, author of "Choosing Blue" (Watson-Guptill, $20).

Blue is going modern. It's stepping out on the town with raspberry, acid green, bitter chocolate and steely gray.

And pale blue is substituting for white, especially white walls. Washed-out blues — shades Hoppen calls "almost turquoise" or "pinky lavender" — are serving as neutrals, fresh alternatives to beige and taupe.

And on the deeper end of the spectrum, cobalt blue is going where other colours — yellow and red — fear to tread.

The reason is that blue resonates differently, emotionally and visually.

A bold stroke of blue — a chaise covered in a shade borrowed from Matisse — doesn't jangle the nerves or steal the show.

Even in strong doses, blue "recedes, retaining an impression of larger volumes of space," Hoppen says.

To find out what are the newest ways of using blue, she's polled a number of top designers, including textile expert Albert Sardelli.

His forecast: peacock blue with acid green. "Periwinkle is a fairly conventional colour," he adds, "but using it with an unusual shade of tobacco makes it new again. And I think silver is going to be really big with blue."

New York designer Libby Cameron likes bachelor's-button blue with "corally pinks and greens".

With these accents, she says, blue "becomes livelier and seems clearer".

Her favourite true blues include Benjamin Moore's Ol' Blue Eyes (2064-30) and Brilliant Blue (2065-30).

When she uses blue on a wall, she makes sure it has a semigloss finish to reflect the light.

Darker hues like navy are an elegant choice for a room that doesn't get a lot of natural light, says British designer Nina Campbell.

"Often, using midnight blue or a similar tone makes that room look purposefully dark and luxurious," Campbell says. Not only that, it gracefully disguises awkward shapes.

As for pale blues, they are a delicate marriage of light and colour and require careful consideration.

"Due to the abundant amount of blue light that we get from the sky above, all shades of blue are going to show up differently in different rooms," notes Jason Bell, founder of the New York design firm J.D. Bell Inc.

Observe your pale blues by morning, afternoon and electric light.

And test them in a corner so you can see how their tone is magnified when two walls meet. With each wall that you paint, colour becomes stronger, Bell says.

"Be willing to cut the blue by mixing it 50/50 with white to achieve what you think you were going for in the beginning," Bell says.

A similar test is necessary for Gustavian blue-gray, the warm neutral that has been imported from Sweden as a substitute for white.

Swedish designer Lars Bolander says he finds he has to mix it "each time it is used, as every room reacts differently depending on whether it has many windows or few or faces south or north".

Easier to use but no less fresh are the weathered blues that are also serving as neutrals.

"There's nothing like a blue that has been battered about a bit, one that has aged well and faded so that it resembles something organic, like a bird's egg or a pebble rather than a man-made skim of acrylic paint," Hoppen says.

But, then, she's fond of all blues — and who isn't? As designer Tim Hobby explains, blues "evoke a sense of peace and calm".

He adds: "They reflect other colours in beautiful ways and they pair with almost any colour in the rainbow. I find this colour throughout my wardrobe, as I think it is the one colour that everyone looks great in".

Whether you love country checks or English Staffordshire, Mediterranean aquamarine or sharp-edged urban blues, there's a blue for you in Stephanie Hoppen's "Choosing Blue".

All you have to do is pick one.