It will come as no surprise that colour affects our mood and alters our perception.
We experience it all the time.
From the food we eat to the brands we buy, colour subtly shades our taste and choices in extraordinary ways.
What we might not be so aware of is the ways we can hack these affects and use them to make more of our homes.
When the average person decorates, they either copy existing examples or work from a vague ‘sense’ they have.
The problem with this? It’s hard to properly visualise what it’s going to be to spend time in a room, how your decoration is going to affect your mood, behaviour and desires.
Reverse engineering this process, starting from what you want your home to do to you, can reap enormous benefits and help you decorate better.
Let’s say, for example, you want to make sure your bedroom is a calming, relaxed space.
Do you sit down, imagine a calming, relaxed bedroom, and then attempt to recreate that image?
Maybe.
If you absolutely love frustration and disappointment.
What might be more effective though, is knowing that blue is widely regarded as a calming colour.
Not only that, but there’s scientific evidence that it lowers blood pressure.
So using blue for a clam bedroom seems a no brainer.
Of course, you might hate blue, and that’s absolutely fine.
Instead, you could opt for white, which is known to create a sense of greater space and freedom.
And if you do like blue, then combining these two facts – painting your walls a soothing blue and your ceilings a spacious white – might be optimal.
Once you have this plan, doing the actual decorating is so much easier and more fun.
To help you get the most out of your home, here are some facts about other colours:
Yellow: usually associated warm bright and energetic environments, yellow is a great colour for a kitchen
Green: a colour the human brain has a particularly easy time perceiving, meaning it’s ideal for a home office where you want to minimise distraction. It is also said to reduce anxiety.
Purple: associated with luxury, purple can be a rich, mysterious colour for a feature wall. It is said to prompt creativity, meaning it would be a great choice for an office if you do creative work. Equally, a lighter purple can be a good colour for a bedroom, with its mix of luxury richness and calmness.
Orange: associated with energy and enthusiasm, a warm orange is a great choice for a living room to promote socialising and increase people’s willingness to get up and do stuff.
Red: known to raise the heartbeat and irritability, red is a colour to be careful with. It has romantic implications, and can be great for socialising. A dining room, particular one designed to host diner parties, would be a great choice for a rich red, which promotes excitement and a sense of intensity.
And if, after all that, you feel professional skills are necessary to really make it come alive, don’t hesitate to drop us a line for your free quote…