Color is everywhere. There is no escaping it. It is also fickle. Next to some hues, colors can be dull; next to others,
vivid or jarring. Next to white, a cream colored lampshade can look dirty. Next to blue, that same lampshade will look crisp
and clean. The trick to getting color right is to mix and match different palates until you find one that is harmonious with
your lifestyle and zen.
Your bedroom is the first and last place that you see each day—a private sanctuary of your very own. The
atmosphere you create in your bedroom should be harmonious and comforting. Base your design thinking around colors, textures,
fabrics and objects that make you feel good, in addition to anything else that is dear to you, like photos or mementos.
Read below to experience what's known as "color psychology." The information provided will help you make good decisions
about how to color your room.
WHITE
What It Represents:
Positive: birth, clarity, cleanliness, efficiency, humility, hygiene, innocence, marriage, neutrality,
peace, precision, purity, reverence, safety, simplicity, snow, sophistication, surrender, truth, winter, youth
Negative: barriers, coldness, elitism, sterility, unfriendliness
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: aids mental clarity, encourages cleanliness and purity, enables fresh beginnings, and creates
feelings of peace and comfort, freedom and uncluttered openness
Negative: feeling bland, cold, empty, exposed, isolated, separated, sterile, and unfriendly
When Decorating:
It is bright because of its tendency to reflect light, and creates a sense of space or add highlights.
It is considered a summer color and is popular in decorating because it is neutral and goes with everything. However, white
shows the dirt and is therfore more difficult to keep clean.
 GRAY
What It Represents:
Positive:
independence, neutrality, practicality, self-reliance, solidity, timelessness
Negative:
dampness, death, depression, evasion, fear of exposure, hibernation, lack of confidence, lack of energy lack of involvement, loneliness, loss, lost sense of direction, non-commitment, old age, separation, taxes
Psychological Effects:
Positive:
No direct psychological properties.
Negative:
No direct psychological properties.
When Decorating:
Gray is a neutral color that can enhance and intensify any other color it surrounds. It can enhance the psychological
response of the other colors it supports.
BLACK
What It Represents:
Positive: authority, clarity, depth, distinction, efficiency, elegance, emotional safety, formality, foundation, glamour, power, security, sexuality, sophistication, style, substance, and wealth
Negative: anonymity, coldness, death, drama, eccentricity, evil, heaviness, menace, mourning, oppression,
silence, and the underworld
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: feelings of comfort, protection, a restful emptiness, and a sense of potential and possibility
Negative: feeling overwhelmed, scared, inconspicuous, unhappy, sad, remorseful, angry, and depressed
When Decorating:
It works well with white and bright colors but should be used in moderation.
BROWN
What It Represents:
Positive: approachability, comfort, comfort of home, conservancy, conventionality, earth, familiarity,
friendship, genuineness, humility, leather, naturalness, nature, practicality, reliability, security, seriousness, strength,
support, trees, warmth, wood
Negative: heaviness, isolation, lack of humour, lack of sophistication, mourning, sadness
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: creates feelings of wholesomeness, stability, a connection with the earth, and offers a sense
of orderliness
Negative: can sometimes be sad and wistful
When Decorating:
The color brown is very neutral and will look great with almost any color. However, somewhere
in the room, be it an accent wall or just accessories in the room, you should introduce a livelier color for mental stimulation
which will compliment the brown.
 RED
What It Represents:
Positive: adventure, ambition, basic survival, comfort, desire, dignity, energy, giving, heat, intensity
life, love, masculinity, movement, optimism, passion, romance, seriousness, sexuality, speed, strength, valentines, vitality,
and warmth
Negative: aggression, anger, danger, defiance, fire, rage, strain, visual impact, and violence
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: feeling strong, happy, excited, in charge, solid, welcome, encourages action and confidence,
increases enthusiasm, stimulates energy, creates a sense of protection from fears and anxiety, stimulates the adrenal glands
(which help us to become strong and increase our endurance), escalates the body’s metabolism, and dispels negative thoughts
Negative:stimulates a faster heartbeat and breathing, evokes a fight-or-flight response, raises blood
pressure, makes people feel irritable and overwhelmed, often provoking headaches
When Decorating:
Red is known as a sociable and lively color. It is generally used as an accent, because of its
ability to focus attention on a particular element, rather than overwhelm. If used on the walls, however, it is a good idea
to vary the shade of red.
ORANGE
What It Represents:
Positive: abundance, ambition, autumn leaves, balance, enthusiasm, excitement, flamboyancy, food, fun
Halloween, passion, physical comfort, pumpkins, reassurance, security, sensuality, stability, sunset, vibrance, warmth
Negative: deprivation, frivolity, frustration, immaturity
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: stimulates activity, stimulate appetite, encourages socialization, aids digestion, strengthens
the immune system, relieves feelings of self-pity, lack of self-worth and an unwillingness to forgive, connects us to our
senses and helps to remove inhibitions and makes us independent;
Negative: There are no negative psychological effects to the color orange. It has only positive effects
on your emotional state.
When Decorating:
Be aware that orange can make a room look smaller, so make sure you only use orange in a room
with lots of natural light.
YELLOW
What It Represents:
Positive: confidence, creativity, energy, enlightenment, extraversion, friendliness, gold, good times,
happiness, hope, idealism, imagination, inspiration, intellectual thinking, joy, laughter, optimism, philosophy, self-esteem,
spirituality, summer, sunshine
Negative: anxiety, betrayal, covetousness, cowardice, deceit, depression, dishonesty, fear, hazards,
illness, irrationality, jealousy, suicide, warnings
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: speeds metabolism, activates the lymph system, builds self-confidence, stimulates the brain,
making you more alert and decisive, sparks creative thinking, cheerfulness, energy, organization, discernment, memory, clear
thinking, good decision-making, good judgment, awareness, interest, curiosity
Negative: makes people lose their tempers and creates feelings of frustration and anger
When Decorating:
Yellow should not be used for bedroom walls, as it is not a very restful color. Even off the walls, it
can be quickly overpowering if overused, but it used sparingly in just the right places it can be very effective.
 GREEN
What It Represents:
Positive: balance, conservation, ecology, environment, equilibrium, fertility, freedom generosity, good
luck, grass, growth, harmony, health, life, masculinity, money, nature, peace, plants, reassurance, rebirth, refreshment,
renewal, rest, restoration, security, spring, stability, trees, universal love, vigor, wealth, youth
Negative: blandness, boredom, death, decay, disease, enervation, envy, ghastliness, government, guilt,
illness, inexperience, jealousy, misfortune, sickness, stagnation
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: improves vision and reading ability, has great healing abilities, alleviates depression, nervousness,
and anxiety, relaxes muscles, nerves and thoughts, is good for your heart, relieves stress, balancing and soothing for emotions,
creates feelings of well-being, makes people feel calm, refreshed, exuberant vivacious, relaxed, renewed, in control, harmonized,
comforted, lazy, peaceful, tranquil
Negative: olive greens can be detrimental to your health
When Decorating:
Green is an ideal backdrop in interior design because we are so used to seeing it everywhere
in nature. However, green can make people complacent or too laid back, so use different shades of green to make the room fresh.
 BLUE
What It Represents:
Positive: calm, cleanliness, communication, confidence, conservatism, coolness, decisiveness, dependability,
duty, efficiency, harmony, health, intelligence, knowledge, logic, loyalty, ocean,order, peace, reflection security, serenity,
sky, stability, steadfastness, tranquility, trust, truth, unity, water
Negative: depression, technology
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: blue has calming chemicals which generate feelings of serenity, peace, tranquility, security,
orderliness, weightlessness, spirituality, refreshedness, exhilaration, sedation, mental control, clarity, creativity, restfulness,
and contemplativeness; it also lowers the pulse, aids intuition and concentration, connects us to holistic though, gives us
wisdom and clarity enhancing communication and speech, stimulates the pituitary
gland, which then regulates our sleep patterns, eliminating insomnia, and helps the skeletal structure to keep bone marrow
helathy; people are more productive in blue rooms
Negative: aloofness, cold, depressing, fear, gloom, uncaring, unemotional, unfriendliness, sadness
When Decorating:
Blue is a color of distance and thus is effectively used as a background color.
 PURPLE
What It Represents:
Positive: authenticity, beauty, ceremony, cosmos, creativity, dignity, enlightenment, exotic places,
feminity, fertility, job, luxury, magic, mystery, mysticism, nobility, prosperity, protection, psychic power, quality, romance,
royalty, sensuousness, serenity, sex, sophistication, space, spirituality, time, transformation, truth, wealth, wisdom, vision
Negative: arrogance, artificiality, cruelty, decadence, eccentricity, inferiority, introversion, mourning,
suppression, uneasiness, unrest
Psychological
Effects:
Positive: makes people feel loved, cherished, peaceful, uplifted, calms the mind and nerves, offers a
sense of spirituality, encourages creativity, alleviates conditions such as sunburn due to its purifying and antiseptic effect,
suppresses hunger, balances the body’s metabolish, balances the mind and transforms obsessions and fears, stimulates
intuition and imagination, combats shock and fear, has a cleansing effect amidst emotional disturbances, takes awareness to
a higher level of thought, and encourages deep contemplation or meditation
Negative: creates a sensitivity and partiality to beauty and high ideals
When Decorating:
Purple can be overpowering, so try to tone it down with a light shade of purple, use it for an
accent wall, or just accessories in your room.
 PINK
What It Represents:
Positive:
babies, calmness, feminity, flirtatiousness, freshness, gentleness, innocence, love, nurture, romance, sexuality, tranquility,
warmth, youth
Negative:
emasculation, emotional claustrophobia, inhibition, physical weakness
Psychological Effects:
Positive:
creates feelings of peace and restfulness, it is nurturing and physically soothing
Negative:
while pink’s calming effect has been demonstrated, researchers have found that this effect only occurs during the initial
exposure to the color, after which it becomes agitating, physically draining
When Decorating:
Pink can come across as too sweet and girlie – to counteract this one could introduce a neutral color.
Play around with different colors. Many paint companies sell paint swatches or fandecks which you can hold up against
the wall to see how you like it. For now, click here to return.
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