Intro
While most of us may not spend a lot of time thinking about room color, it affects every day of our lives. Room color can influence our mood and our thoughts. Colors affect people in many ways, depending upon one’s age, gender, ethnic background or local climate. Certain colors or groups of colors tend to get a similar reaction from most people – the overall difference being in the shade or tones used. So it’s important to choose wisely.
To have a beautiful home, you do not have to worry about trends. Color trends will come and go. The people who live in a home make it beautiful by choosing colors that reflect their likes and their personalities. The trick is to blend those colors you like into a pleasing combination. Choosing color combinations is one of the most intimidating steps for beginners. Color has the power to change the shape and size of furnishings as well as the shape and size of the room itself.
Selecting colors is not difficult if you equip yourself with some basic information about color and its effects, so let’s find more about room colors, and how these affect your mood.
Let’s begin …
When selecting color for a room, keep in mind that each color has a psychological value. Think about how those colors make you feel. The main color of your room can have an effect on your mood. These colors can make you feel anything from tranquil to rage. So when trying to create peace and harmony in your home choose your colors wisely. Some colors in large amounts will have just the opposite affect on you and your loved ones’ moods.
What mood do you want to create? Which colors will help you achieve that mood?
Find clear answers to these questions. If you find this task quite difficult try to look at magazines, decorating books, blogs and websites for ideas, or let your fabric be your guide. In fact, this is a good approach to take even if you’re starting from scratch. Fabric, carpeting, furniture and tile are available in a more limited range of colors than is paint, so choose them first and then decide on your paint color. Once you’ve found what you where searching for limit the number of colors in a room to no more than three or four. Too many colors can make a room look busy or cluttered.
Paint is a fairly inexpensive and transforms a room more quickly than anything else you can do so you can afford to experiment a little.
Room Colors
Understand that colors behave in three basic ways : active, passive, and neutral , and you can easily match every room’s colors to your personal desires and taste and to the room’s purpose. Light colors are expansive and airy, they make rooms seem larger and brighter. Dark colors are sophisticated and warm; they give large rooms a more intimate appearance.
Now let’s find more about some colors.
Red raises a room’s energy level. It’s a good choice when you want to stir up excitement, particularly at night. In the living room or dining room, red draws people together and stimulates conversation. In an entryway, it creates a strong first impression. Red has been shown to raise blood pressure, speed respiration and heart rate. It is usually considered too stimulating for bedrooms, but if you’re only in the room after dark, you’ll be seeing it mostly by lamplight, when the color will appear muted, rich, and elegant. Red, the most intense, pumps the adrenaline like no other hue.
Crimson can make some people feel irritable. With red invoking feels of rage and hostility is a color that should be avoided as the main color of a room. Sitting for long periods of time in a room this color will likely breakdown any peace and harmony you are striving to create in your home. Ancient cultures used the color red to stimulate the body and mind and to increase circulation.
Yellow captures the joy of sunshine and communicates happiness. It’s perfect for kitchens, dining rooms, and bathrooms, where happy color is energizing and uplifting. In halls, entries, and small spaces, yellow can feel expansive and welcoming.Yellow although is a cheery color is not a good choice in main color schemes of a room. People are more likely to lose their tempers in a yellow room. Babies also seem to cry more in a yellow room. This color tends to create feeling of
frustration and anger in people. This color is the most fatiguing on the eyes.In chromotherapy yellow was believed to stimulate the nerves and purify the body.
Blue brings down blood pressure and slows respiration and heart rate. That’s why it’s considered calming, relaxing, and serene, and is often recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms. Be careful, however: A pastel blue that looks pretty on the paint chip can come across as unpleasantly chilly when it’s on the walls and furnishings, especially in a room that receives little natural light. If you opt for a light blue as the primary color in a room, balance it with warm hues in the furnishings
and fabrics.
To encourage relaxation in the rooms where people gather family rooms, living rooms, large kitchens consider warmer blues, such as periwinkle, or bright blues, such as cerulean or turquoise. Blue is known to have a calming effect when used as the main color of a room. When going with blue go for softer shades of blue. Dark blue has the opposite effect. Dark blue evokes feels of sadness. So refrain from using darker blues in your main color scheme. Stay with the lighter shades of blue to give you and your loved ones a calm effect.
Green is considered the most restful color for the eye. Combining the refreshing quality of blue and the cheerfulness of yellow, green is suited to almost any room in the house. In a kitchen, a sage or medium green cools things down; in a family room or living room, it encourages unwinding but has enough warmth to promote comfort and togetherness. In a bedroom, it’s relaxing and pleasant.Green also has a calming effect when used as a main color for decorating. It is believed to relieve stress by helping people relax. Also believed to help with fertility this is a great choice for the bedroom.
Purple in its darkest values (eggplant, for example) is rich, dramatic, and sophisticated. It’s associated with luxury as well as creativity, and as an accent or secondary color, it gives a scheme depth. Lighter versions of purple, such as lavender and lilac, bring the same restful quality to bedrooms as blue does, but without the risk of feeling chilly.
Orange evokes excitement, enthusiasm and is an energetic color. While not a good idea for a living room or for bedrooms this color is great for an exercise room. It will bring all the emotions out that you need when jumping into your fitness routine.In ancient cultures orange was used to heal the lungs and increase energy levels.
Neutrals (black, gray, white, and brown) are basic to the decorator’s tool kit. All-neutral schemes fall in and out of fashion, but their virtue lies in their flexibility: Add color to liven things up; subtract it to calm things down. Black is best used in small doses as an accent , indeed, some experts maintain that every room needs a touch of black to ground the color scheme and give it depth.
To make the job easier, you can rely on the interior designer’s most important color tool: the color wheel.
Something about Ceiling and Walls
The ceiling represents one-sixth of the space in a room, but too often it gets nothing more than a coat of white paint. In fact, for decades, white has been considered not only the safest but also the best choice for ceilings. As a general rule, ceilings that are lighter than the walls feel higher, while those that are darker feel lower. Lower” need not mean claustrophobic: Visually lowered ceilings can evoke cozy intimacy.
Dark walls make a room seem smaller, and light walls make a room seem larger.
Conclusion
These general guidelines are a good starting point in your search for a paint color. But remember that color choice is a very personal matter. You’re the one who has to live with your new paint color, so choose a hue that suits you, your family and your lifestyle.And after investing time to select just the right color, make sure it continues to look that way long-term by investing in a top quality paint.
P.S – If you’ve found this article useful, you should also read “Things You Should Know before Buying a New Bed”
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Good post! My old room in my mothers house it’s painted in blue and the room on my actual house it’s painted in white. Anyhow I don’t feel any difference between one and other one.
You feel them, but you are not aware of them.
Just spend some time in a room, and study the effects.
Very interesting! How about the colors that we wear everyday? Same ideas?
What the hell this doesn’t even make sense. Yellow is supposed to convey happiness yet it has been known to invoke anger and rage in people? Lol
Just wanted to tell you that I appreciate the info. It not only applies to room color, but personality. When I was younger, I was more drawn to red and black, more energy and lots of stimulating conversations. Now that I am older, I have found more time to be creative and do things that I have always wanted to do. So now, my favorite color is purple. Interesting.
Thanks.
Thanks for the advice on colors! I currently live in a “Neutral” space. Actually, every room in this apartment is a neutral white color. So I can’t wait to eventually get my own place and color the walls! >__
(ahhh! One of the emotes I made chopped off my first comment!)
Thanks for the advice on colors! I currently live in a “Neutral” space. Actually, every room in this apartment is a neutral white color. So I can’t wait to eventually get my own place and color the walls! When that time comes I’m definitely coming back to this article!
Interesting… The walls surrounding the office where my cube and all my co-workers cubes are is dark blue.
As adults red is stimulating for us, however if you follow Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposphical views, he indicates that it is the opposite for children. For children it has a claming effect, if you give a ‘rowdy’ child a pot of red (only)paint, the action of painting will calm him/her. Also if a child wears red clothing will also have a calming affect on them.
The bit about the ceiling color is interesting. I have VERY low ceilings, but instead of just leaving them a boring old white, I painted the entire ceiling in my bedroom with the same color as my walls, just 2 shades lighter. It gave the room the airy effect of a light colored ceiling while still allowing me to liven it up a bit. (Using 2 shades of the same color on the walls and ceiling also did wonders to tie in the rest of the decor in the room because it gave me a base color scheme to work with!)
its eally very interesting, can u tell me more about the colour effect through our clothing and atmosphere at work.
I wanted to write to clear up some widely-believed myths about color that are unfortunately being perpetuated in this article. I am a color consultant, and associate member of the IACC (International Association of Color Consultants). If curious, you can check out the website here: http://www.iaccna.org/
Studies have actually -not- shown that babies cry more in yellow rooms. Also, I think it’s important to steer clear of formulas and recipes for using color. Statements such as, “So refrain from using darker blues in your main color scheme” are too generalized. These pre-conceived ideas are both subjective, and incorrect.
I do believe color does or can affect mood. Actually, when I am dealing with a client that wants to paint a small room dark blue, I try to figure more about what she/he is really trying for first. They may use terms like “warm” and “comfy”. Not only are they going for a look, but often speak in terms of mood.
Hayden Fry, former football coach at the U of Iowa, had a lot of fun with this notion–he painted the visiting team’s locker room pink, and his successor, Kirk Ferentz, took it even further. Pink urinals! Regardless of whether that color had the effect he claimed to be seeking, it certainly got under the opposing teams’ skin a lot of the time.
Hmm, my office is all white. Not too sure what other colours can I use for it.
I am looking for colours to increase the productivity or the morale of the people. Any advice?
The article is a good start, but its incomplete.
Red and pink tend to trigger sharp emotions. Those who are already edgy will get pushed over the edge. More arguments happened when a company switched their fluorescent lights from the traditional blue-ish ones to a “cheerful” pink light.
Orange tends to stimulate the appetite. (Red does too, if exposed for short periods of time.) Look at the interiors of McDonalds, Wendy’s Carl’s Jr., Burger King, California’s In-and-Out Burgers, and so on. They tend to use red or orange as their accent color for some odd reason
“You want fries with that?”
Darker blues are the “authority” color. Blue suits, blue accents, dark blue in the floor tiles. You’ll see it a lot at the FBI and local law offices, too.
Pale green and light blue are supposed to be restful and relaxing. There’s another reason why the talk shows actually have a “green room” for the wating guests before they walk on stage.
Ardie
i need help paiting a small 2 story studio apartment. any ideas?
jessy – read this post, and decide what do you want for your studio, how do you want to feel, what do you want to create.
This one makes sence “One’s first step in wisdom is to kuesstion everything – and one’s last is to come to terms with everything.”
excellent
I like this article very much.
I am decorating two classrooms in a small language school. Which colours stimulate learning and communication?
Thanks,
Lea
i am a teenage girl i am getting a new room …what color should i paint it
Thank you so much!
I’m a sophomore in highschool and doing a presentation on how color affects your mood, and I need to create a child’s toy, to present joy and activity. It helped me tremendously!
Also, this will help me work on my 5-years-outdated room.
I went through my stage of “Goth” and now it’s black.
I’ve noticed I really hate going in my room, because I find it depressing.
I want some white curtains, and I want to paint my room a light green.
I often feel myself stressed with homework, friends, etc. Do you think coming home to a green room will help me?
Once again, Thank you!
Love, Allie.
Try using accent walls. Paint one wall in the room a different color than the other three walls. I prefer to choose the wall that you are facing when you enter the room; i.e., the wall opposite the doorway. Paint that wall a color that is darker yet complimentary to the other three walls. Use the colors of the floor (wood, carpet, or rug) and/or the colors of the decorative items (comforters, curtains, etc.) and as a third complimentary color in the room.
What colors should I put in my room that will get me laid? Will an accent wall add a bonus effect on the girl?
very interesting article! thanks for the post!
I can vouch for the red. I briefly went out with a girl who had her whole room painted a deep red. It drove me batty. I’d pace around all the time, half talking to myself. It was very odd. Naturally she found me to be a bit odd as well, so things didn’t really work out. Its a shame; she was really cute.
“Mauve…… I think I’ll paint the ceilings mauve”
I am in the process of repainting my apartment, and dark bold colors are just my thing!
A couple years ago, I painted the living room a navy blue… this year, I’m redoing that, and painting the rest of the place… the kitchen is “oak cask”, a deep tan pumpkiny color… the bedroom is a deep red, the bath a darkish but very green… all bold colors… the doors, trim, and ceilings are bright white, very crisp… a fantastic contrast to the vibrant colors.
The biggest piece of advice I’d give anyone considering painting colors… It’s Just Paint. Go for it, cause it’s just paint! If you hate it, if it doesn’t work, whatever… it’s just paint! You can paint right back over it, so get bold and get painting!
I like to give myself a full week per room, personally. Each day after work, I do “something”… the ceiling, or trim work, or edging… and usually there’s a day or two I don’t feel like doing anything (so I don’t)… come the weekend, all I have left is to roller on the walls… that way I’m not stressed, I have plenty of time to take my time and do it right.
Oh, one last bit of advice… what I found worked the best for me was to pick ALL the colors I planned to use ahead of time, and made sure they were all complimentary. I can’t see the bathroom or bedroom from where I sit now, but there is 1 spot in the house where I can actually see all of the colors… and even if you couldn’t, you don’t want any jarring transitions!
Just my rambling 2 cents (and some change).
I’m in the process of picking colors to repaint my house, so thank you for all this wonderful info.
i am doing a science project on how colors can affect people’s moods, and if is anything like how smells affect your moods, than it should not be too haRD. If you could help me in any way, than please notify me. My email is Kikakitty@aol.com. I am 12 years old, and hope you can help me. Thank you. Bye.
Fascinating! We’re renovating, so this was perfect. Thanks.
i think green makes me sleepy too but blue is a better color
I agree that color changes your mood. My mother’s house, the walls are all this extra pale lavender color. Just very neutral and basic. I always feel “blah” when I stay there. It’s not warm or inviting. But my best friend’s home is FULL of color and it brings my mood up.
Whoever wrote this- thanks. i am doing an independant study on interior design with my first unit in color and this is pretty interesting… it helped a lot
Nice article. Thanks for sharing.
Thanx for the info. I am an owner of an Internet Cafe, I am looking for colors that would provoke Rage, Violence and Hostility. Red-Orange looks like the best bet for me.
My daughter is 7 and she wants her room pink, what do you suggest for the colour pink?
Hi I can’t decide on a color for my Romulan ship, the Carniac Revolver. Half the ship’s crew think purple, the other half think the traditional green is best. I just can’t decide!!!! And then there’s the inside!… please help!!!
i am doing a science project on how room colors can affect your moods, and this info. really helped me a lot on the Background Research. Thanks(alot)
this was exactly what i was looking for! THNX!
yaaaaa…….. that true i have personal experience of that. Along with color the effects of lightning will also effect it so. not too bright lights should be used. The little dim light sky blue or low orange make your mood relaxing.
Lightening should deflects the phase on room wallpaper.
The effect of each colour provided above in article is extermely good and i think it will help the user to understand the details of impact
oh mi!! i wanted to paint my room bright blue and purple b/c those are my favorite colors BUT NOW imma gunna add colorful stripes everywhere!! hehe.
I am doing a project on how colors affect your emotiions and this website really helped me get the information that I needed. So thank you very much!!!
i thought it was cool and made sense
Useful article. Thanks. I just got it in the right time.
I am currently doing a study for a research corse on how color affects the moods of people. This has helped me alot and cleared up for me many of my hypothesis that I now know could not have been proved because they have already been proved wrong. Do you think culture has an affect on how people perceive colors?
thank you very much,
I’m a student in highschool and doing a researsh about the effect of colors on mood and behavior. this article has helped me alot.
Hello, I am very much knee to known what sort of paint color I should use to paint my room because I watch tv & read & do all my daily actives in the same in night I take rest, so you please guide me choosing the paint color.
Wow, im in eight grade and i already knew about ALL of this. WOW.