How To Use Color - Choosing color for your home

The psychology of color and how color affects human behavior is now a serious course of study in classrooms. Fast food restaurants and offices are painted in colors to influence the behavior and mood of the people who use these spaces. Choosing color is critical! Even the products on the shelves of your local supermarket have been packaged in colors carefully chosen to attract your attention and encourage you to buy. So why are people so hesitant to use color in their home environments? Why is the neutral space currently the ideal?  Why are we afraid of color?

The first step to relinquishing fear in the use of color is to understand the psychological effects it has on us. Red is known to stimulate the appetite - so it’s an excellent color for dining rooms. Both blue and green are fresh and calming. They are the colors of nature and could be popular choices for bedrooms. Yellow and orange are energizing like the sun, so are good choices in rooms where your energy may need boosting - the kitchen perhaps. Orange in its toned down terracotta form can be ideal in a home office; it has the energizing effect of both red and orange but isn’t so bright that you won’t be able to stay at your desk!

Consider the texture of your colors. A bright red dining room can be toned down by the application of various glazes so that its vibrancy is turned to a rich burnish. Bright yellows can be color washed over a white base to wash them out. In both cases the original character of the color is maintained and only its brightness is muted. Colors can be layered for unusual effects. A piece of inexpensive pine furniture can be transformed by distressing it - painting an undercoat of blue, an overcoat of white and then sanding off the white paint on its corners and around its handles to make it look like its an antique.

If you’re stuck for ideas when trying to decide what color scheme to choose for a room, look at the furniture and objects you want to use. You may have a painting or a rug that can act as your inspiration. Many Interior Designers build up complex color schemes from just one item. Look around you - even an old purple vase or the faded red covers of a collection of books can be the starting point of a whole room scheme.

Have fun with color. Be brave! Be bold! Call us today!!