Color feeds the eye and has both physiological and psychological effect on the viewer. The following provides a brief description of what each color conveys psychologically and how it can affect the viewer physically.
| Blue | Blue is a favorite color of both males and females. Depending on the shade, blues can relax, soothe, and make us feel more spiritual and centered. Blue is often intuitively chosen for bedrooms for just this reason. It also improves productivity, so a good blue might be the right choice for a child's room where they will be studying. Blue is also considered to be a clean color, so it works well in bathrooms and laundry areas but it does not work well in kitchens. When blues are used in connection with food, they can have the effect of suppressing appetite, (which could be a good thing if you want to lose weight.) |
| Red | Red has the opposite effect of blue; it increases blood pressure and respiration rate. Red also makes people lose track of time and stimulates the appetite. Red is a powerful color so it´s is generally best used as an accent. However, certain shades like orange-red and brown-red may be muted; they are cozy, comforting earth colors like terra cottas, brick, and cinnabar. Using red in decorating makes a powerful statement, so red furniture and accessories should be clean and in good condition. |
| Yellow | Yellow tends to cause more eye fatigue than any other color. It increases metabolism. Although people also tend to lose their temper more often in yellow rooms, yellow often makes many people feel cheerful, energetic, and happy. Yellow is not considered a good color for a baby's room. Buttery shades are easier to live with long term than bright, sunflower yellow. The range of yellows is vast and some lend themselves more readily to decorating schemes than others. Yellows also frequently prompt more opinionated feelings than other colors. People who like it really like it and people who don´t like it tend to dislike it intensely. |
| Green | Greens represent a vast range of natural colors and for that reason appeal to many. Like blue, greens tend to calm and relax; it´s a healing color. It is often used in hospitals For interior color schemes, olive and sage greens seem to be appealing because of their neutral character. Lighter shades of both are easy to live with for a long time. Both combine well with many colors. Dark greens are favored as traditional banker´s colors like burgundy, ruby, and sapphire blue. Yellow greens and muddy greens are relatively unpopular. |
| Orange | Oranges are warm, welcoming, and vital. Melon, tangerine, and yellow-orange mango are bright, cheerful, and tend to improve appetite. Used in kitchens, breakfast nooks, and dining rooms, orange shades can be very comfortable. |
| Purple | Historically, purple is the color of kings. It may arguably be the most opulent of colors, and often connotes mystery or spirituality. Purples run the range of the red-purple such as eggplant to the blue-purples of a summer sky at sunset. Saturated purple is a dense, dark color that can provide a potent punch of color with great impact. As a tint, purple tends to lavender and is one of the daintier colors favored by many young girls. In certain shades, it can become a subtle, but very flexible neutral. |
| Black | Black denotes submissiveness. For this reason it is used by priests and nuns to symbolize submissiveness to God. Many people also find black to be a timeless color, classy and sophisticated. Black is not a good choice for interior painting since painting over black generally takes more than two coats of paint, which makes it a nuisance to cover later. In mixing a neutral room with some pieces of black furniture, the effect can be very elegant, and provide a contemporary twist for a traditional room. Black used with a mix of white and brights often looks very modern. If you don't want to use black in decorating, remember that using one accent piece in black grounds the room. |
| Pink | Pink is an interesting color because it has the cultural associations of being feminine, but it goes farther than that. Research shows that pink rooms reduce angry behavior at least temporarily. Some attempts have been made to use pink in prisons to control aggressive prisoners. Pink generally is a comfort color and is favored by many for its sweet, childlike appeal. It´s a good choice for a young child´s room; young girls often like pink and lavender combinations. |
| Grey | Grey tends to enhance creativity, which can make it a good color for offices and studios. Grey is also favored as an executive color. As a neutral, grey provides an unobtrusive background for an infinite number of color combinations. Greys on walls are often very liveable for a long while, provide an flexible neutral background for furnishings, and can be extremely stylish. Greys can be buttoned down and traditional, modern and contemporary, or beach house friendly. |
| Brown | Brown connotes security, credibility, and reassurance. It also tends to be soothing and comfortable. Browns wear well and are good for rooms that get a lot of use like family rooms. Browns also work well with spicy or warm colors. Like greys, browns span a broad range of neutrals and, depending on the shade, are appropriate for almost any room. Combined with unexpected colors like pale blue or fuscia, browns can be exciting and sophisticated. |
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