3 Important Reasons the Psychology of Color Matters in Your Home
Faith Led Interior Design Show | Episode 28
Why do colors impact us? I believe it is because we (each of our bodies) have a color scheme.
We all have either a warm or cool color base to our skin. I have seen through the years that if our skin is warm-based, we love warm colors. If our skin is cool-based, we love cool colors. So, we feel the most relaxed and comfortable with colors like our skin tones.
How can color play a role in how you feel in your home? When your home has the perfect color scheme, you'll love going home and it will feel as good as it looks. If you find this fascinating, keep listening!
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Be Blessed Verse
Our verse for the week is Song of Songs 2:11-13 (NIV)
“The winter has passed; the rains are over and gone. Flowers appear on the earth; the season of singing has come….Arise, come, my darling; my beautiful one, come with Me.”
I’m in California! I get my seasons blurred a bit. We don’t have extreme season changes. Winter is not over yet, but I love that the season of singing has come! There is nothing like singing in our houses, yards, and everywhere. Whatever season it is, you are His beautiful one. He loves for you to “come to Him” and He loves to spend time with you!
Colors impact us because our bodies have a color scheme. We all have either a warm or cool color base to our skin. I have seen through the years that if our skin is warm-based, we love warm colors. If our skin is cool-based, we love cool colors. So, we feel the most relaxed and comfortable with colors that are like our skin tones. Fascinating, right?!
My skin's undertone is warm. I feel the most comfortable around warm shades of colors that have black added to them, such as warm autumn colors. You may feel more comfortable with soft warm spring colors or dramatic bright winter colors, or the cool bright colors and whites of summer.
A quick way to find out what your skin undertone is, warm or cool, is to ask a makeup artist at a local cosmetics counter. They are usually educated on colors for the skin.
I appreciate all colors, but I always match my client's interior design colors to their skin colors.
Notice what you feel the most relaxed in. Is it a warm, welcoming home? Is it a spa or beach that is casually elegant? Is it a high-contrast dramatic atmosphere? Is it a space with bright energizing colors?
Color can play a significant role in how you feel in your home. An interior designer is trained in creating a color scheme that gives you the home of your dreams and feels as good as it looks. (With your guidance and input on what colors make you feel fabulous, of course.) Let’s dive into everything you need to know…
Photo by Maiar Shalaby on Unsplash
3 Important Reasons the Psychology of Color Matters in Your Home
1. Common Mood Associations of Color in Your Home
Color feeds the soul. Here are just a few of the basic mood associations of colors:
Blues create freshness, peace, and serenity. It is said to create a calming effect in interiors. When used well, blues can add a beautiful softness to the room.
Green is a color that is reminiscent of the outdoors and brings the feeling of nature to interior design. Green can restore and renew energy. Greens can soften the feel of the room and bring repose.
Yellow is the sunshine color. Happy, cheerful, joyful, and energetic. Most of the time yellow is used very effectively as an accent color and highlights the main colors of your color scheme.
Reds are vibrant, alive, and happy. Again, this color is often used as an accent pop of color and can draw the eyes for emphasis. Red can create a feeling of energy and living life to the fullest.
Black in a color scheme can add elegance, formality, drama, and richness. When used with light colors it can create a visual contrast that catches the eye. Black can be used very discretely as an accent color for drama.
Despite the common color associations, each person experiences and feels color in a subjective and personal manner.
All of the colors come in warm and cool tones, so be sure to choose the colors that feel best for you.
Designer Tip: When selecting a color scheme for your home, take the colors from a favorite piece of art, a beautiful area rug, or even the colors or a print on a piece of clothing that you love to wear in your closet. Finding the colors that you love is a very good way to start a color scheme.
Photo by Becca Tapert on Unsplash
2. Variations of Color and How They Influence Your Mood
Hue is another word for color. Each hue can have its pure color or it can also be altered into:
A tint, which is the color with white added, gives a romantic and soft feeling to the home.
A tone, which is the color with gray added, creates a soothing effect in the home.
A shade, which is the color with black added, gives the room a dramatic and soft warmth.
The process an interior designer uses to determine the perfect color scheme for your home can be kind of like detective work. I will speak for myself because I believe everyone should have their own personal color scheme in their home, as opposed to what everyone else has.
The way I do this sleuthing is to first look at you and your coloring. I determine colors from the decor choices you have made thus far. I identify whether you love predominately warm or predominately cool colors. I look at your eye colors because people usually love the color of their eyes and when we reflect that in a home, even very subtly as an accent, it is always well received.
I look for things the clients love, not just like but love, that they already have. These are all "clues" to help determine the final color scheme.
Photo by Kara Eads on Unsplash
3. Best Practices for Using Color to Set the Mood in Your Home
A color scheme for an entire home is important to pull the whole home together. Each room should not be a different color that has nothing to do with the colors in the rooms next to it. If you took the roof off and looked down upon the house, it should not look like a patchwork quilt, but the colors should all appear to harmonize and create cohesiveness throughout the home.
There should be one color scheme per home, usually 1-2 neutrals and 2-3 accent colors, varying the tints, tones, and shades (see definitions for tints, tones, and shades above).
So a whole house color scheme should consist of 6-7 colors or 8 at the most. You can use lighter and darker variations of one of the colors from the color scheme for each room. If you would like help in establishing your color scheme, a professional designer who is trained in colors and color psychology is a great place to start.
I always feel so wonderful in natural interiors; the feelings for me are calming, restful, and lovely. What makes you feel the most comfortable? I am always so inspired by my clients and it is amazing to see the individuality of every person! Working as an interior designer has been so rewarding when it comes to color! One thing we do together with colors creates a "feeling" that you want to experience in your home.
Designer Tip: To expand your interior design spending dollars, make your base large furniture pieces neutral. Neutrals include warm or cool whites, creams, grays, or taupes. Put your color or patterns into pillows, art, and accessories. That way if you want a different color scheme or theme after a couple of years you can just switch out the art, pillows, and accessories, instead of the big-ticket items.
Photo by Aaron Huber on Unsplash
I am excited that you are working on a color scheme for your home!
Color is a subject that we could spend weeks and months studying, but if you keep it simple with a few main colors plus 2 or 3 beautiful accent colors, then you are well on your way! Just be sure to enjoy the journey of your color scheme selections!
Need a color expert on your team? We've got your back! Contact us here and let's chat, because I would love to help you achieve your dreams.
What’s Next For You?
I am working on a Color E-book to help you design your home within your budget. It will be out soon, so stay tuned for updates!
As our verse for this week says, I pray that the Lord is with you, delighting and rejoicing over you with singing this week. I’m singing in my house this week and walking with Him…So Beautiful!
Now, Stop Dreaming, Start Designing your luxury home within your budget!
Blessings and See you next episode…
