A Brief Color Psychology Breakdown for Redecorating

COLOR affects our moods – humans have known this instinctively throughout the ages.

Why else do we use color to identify our feelings? We talk of being green with jealousy, red with rage, tickled pink, and many more.

Psychologists have confirmed the science behind color and mood which is incredibly helpful when we are thinking of redecorating our homes.

It lets us ask ourselves what we want each room for, and by picking the right color for the mood we want to set for that room we help ourselves emotionally.

Ultimately, shades and colors are a personal choice of course and reflect your own character and tastes, which should always shine through to mark your home as your sanctuary. But by using a little knowledge of color psychology and carefully selecting color combinations, you can create the ideal backdrop for the functions of each room in your home.

The starting point for making a color decision for a room is to ask yourself what mood most suits that room – bedrooms are for relaxation and rest, kitchens are busy environments, and offices are for productive work.

While individual color choices – and their effect on us – are skewed by gender, age, culture, and climate, there are common responses to groups of colors.

Warmer colors cover reds, oranges, pinks, and yellows. A red is the most intense color in provoking a psychological reaction – it is one of nature’s warning colors and has been shown to raise our blood pressure and heart rate. Using red in a room raises the energy level and can boost feelings of passion and love, but also anger and power, and as such is a good color choice for dining and living rooms but can be overpowering in a bedroom.

Orange boosts our interest in the activity and stimulates enthusiasm and excitement – ideal for playrooms and exercise rooms. Yellow is linked strongly with feelings of happiness and warmth from the sun and works well in kitchens, dining rooms, bathrooms, and living rooms. Pink is naturally associated with kindness and love, boosts our creativity, and suits bedrooms, nurseries, and offices.

Cooler colors feature in the green, blue and purple ranges. Green has been shown to be the most restful color, representing the natural world. It relieves stress and calms emotions. It is ideal for bedrooms, living rooms, and kitchens.

Blues represent calmness and soothe our souls. It has been shown to do the opposite of red and helps reduce respiration, blood pressure, and heart rates – ideal for bedrooms and bathrooms where we let our guard down physically and mentally.

Purple, long adopted by royalty and clergy, is noted for its sophistication and adds depth and stature to offices, living rooms, and bedrooms.

The third grouping of colors is the neutral ones, featuring browns, greys, whites, and blacks. As the term applies, these work well in any room, especially when used as a base for a warmer or colder color in accent with it. Traditionally brown is a comfortable color and provides a good backdrop to add warmer colors such as reds and oranges.

Grey is the currently highly popular base color beloved of new build houses and officer blocks, and with good reason. It is highly versatile for pairing with almost any other color, adds comfort to a room, and is timeless.

Whites calm people down, and importantly make rooms feel larger, more open, and spacious, which is why it is so commonly used on ceilings and for trim, as well as being classically associated with cleanliness. Its literal opposite black is ideal for small dose accents and adds definition and depth to a room.