strategy question

If you have the option of castling either king side or queen side, how do you decide which is best?

Take a look at the pawn skeleton, too.

I think this really _is_ a strategy question. You should have some plan and you are probably guessing the plan of your oponent in the same time and it is all done based on the situation on the board. 

You can castle only once and you can't take it back. The king will sit there for quite a while too. So the basic questions are:

1. Where would the king be safer?
2. On which flank I'm going to play?

For example if your oponent already has doubled rooks on the half-open c-file, think twice before you move your king in front of them. 

Thanks for the responses. It doesn't really happen that often that I feel like I have a real choice but it did come up recently and I wasn't sure what to do.

Also depends on your style a bit

How so?

if you are more aggresive than I think you will castle queenside more often because it often leads to pawnstorms against both kings

Cool thanks. I think I try to play aggressively but not very effectively lol.

I will try and give you another way of looking at it. Ask yourself: Should I castle? Do I see any way my king could be threatened if you don't castle, or if you were to castle to either side.

Not all threats are credible, but many times a well timed sacrifice can open up a king's safety structures enough to more than compensate for the sacrifice.

If you are looking at the board, see no threats possible on one side, that is where I tend to park my king. If your opponent looks like they are trying to advance queenside, parking King side is usually safer. and the opposite is true as well.

Finally, if you see no tactical advantage one side or the other, look at your opponents side, and try to castle the same way they are going. More players are wary of advancing king's protection pawns, so this will give you a modicum of safety against a pawn storm if you aren't ready for it.