A plain white home has its appeal, but there’s also an argument for surrounding yourself with colour for a beneficial impact on your wellbeing.
When choosing colour schemes for your home it’s worth considering how they make you feel. Certain rooms will benefit from hues that put you in the right mood for either relaxing, studying, entertaining or sleeping. Colours can energise, help us focus, calm us down or cheer us up.
So, let’s dive into some ideas and explore the ways in which colour can enhance your living spaces.
1.
Orange
Orange lifts your mood and boosts creativity; it’s a wonderful colour to include in your home. If the idea seems too bold, don’t forget that it includes shades of burnt orange, rust, and terracotta. These deeper hues bring sophistication and warmth, while citrus tones inspire playfulness and energy.
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Orange is particularly good for stimulating creativity and sociability, so try including it in an office or a room used for socialising. You can add orange as an accent colour to stimulate appetite in a dining room.
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Above all, orange is an energising colour, very uplifting and good for clearing lethargy or a low mood and encouraging a sense of joy.
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2.
Pink
There are lots of reasons why pink is a good choice, it’s a powerful stress reducer that can lower heart rate and has calming and reassuring qualities. Pink is often associated with love and comfort, especially in softer shades.
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Another benefit to pink is its ability to make people feel good. We associate it with warmth, love, and playfulness, so choose pink for spaces where you want to encourage togetherness and relaxation.
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Pink can also be used to create an impact. Try pairing it with charcoal grey, deep green, or navy blue.
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3.
Green
Green is the colour of balance and harmony, believed to have healing powers and known to reduce anxiety. It’s also very versatile; many colours can be used alongside it and using several variations of green together can be effective.
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Because green is the colour of nature it is therapeutic, bringing peace and harmony to your home. It’s also the easiest colour for our eyes to process, making it perfect for spaces where you spend lots of time.
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Whether you incorporate the freshness of mint, the warmth of sage, or the impact of viridian, this versatile colour can connect you to nature.
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4.
Blue
Blue is calming and helps with relaxation. It’s been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce stress levels, creating a sense of tranquillity, making it an obvious choice for bedrooms.
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Having said that, blue can also help improve focus and productivity, which makes it a good choice for an office or a studio. To avoid your colour scheme seeming too cold you’ll need to balance it with natural textures like wood and woven textiles.
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Blue comes in such a wide range of shades, from a summer sky that will bring freshness and light to your living spaces, to deep velvety blues that will make you feel cozy and secure.
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5.
Red
Red energizes and stimulates. It's often used to motivate and can even increase heart rate, so be careful how much of it you use. Sometimes a few red accessories will be enough to create an impact.
Red is the best colour for making a room feel warmer, which is why it’s often used in spaces where you want to stimulate activity, conversation and appetite. Used well, red hues can create a space that’s welcoming and cosy.
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From deep burgundy to bright pillar box red, each shade brings its own mood to a room, but don’t forget that if you want to avoid making a space look smaller, stick to using splashes of this striking colour.
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6.
Yellow
Our brains react to yellow most strongly, which is why a little of this colour goes a long way. Yellow is associated with cheerfulness, but it also promotes positivity and creativity. It can stimulate the mind, improve focus and concentration, making it a particularly good choice for a study.
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Yellow is a surprisingly versatile colour. Citrus shades can be upbeat and welcoming in a hallway, while buttery tones can give a feeling of warmth and optimism to a bedroom.
Most importantly, yellow stimulates serotonin and can help combat seasonal depression, so consider using it in a room that doesn’t get much natural sunlight.
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7.
Purple and Lilac
Purple, especially lighter shades like lavender, are associated with calmness and thoughtfulness. These colours have a soothing effect on the mind and nerves, so purple hues are ideal for meditation spaces or areas where you want to relax.
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As well as soft lavenders and striking violet shades you could choose deep aubergines to create drama. With most of these hues it is best to pair with neutrals such as grey, taupe and cream.
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The colour purple is historically associated with spirituality, it stimulates creative thinking as well as problem solving, which is why it can be such a rewarding choice.
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In Summary
You don’t have to be a professional to implement colour therapy in your home. Start by choosing colour schemes that evoke the feelings you want to encourage. Pick a feature wall to be your focus, or a piece of furniture that will anchor the room. Lastly, find accessories that will contrast or complement your colour choices. And by all means share your ideas with us!