Featured Speaker: Cathy Lee, A.S.P., I. A. H.S.P.
Achieve Balance and Harmony in your life with Color!
Research has revealed we can create peace, harmony and a sense of balance in our homes with color. While most of us do not spend a lot of time thinking about room color-it affects every day of our lives. Room color can influence our mood and our thoughts. Colors affect people in many ways, depending on age, ethnic background, gender or local climate. It is important to choose color wisely.
When selecting color for a room, keep in mind that each color has a psychological value. Think about how those colors make you feel. The main color of your room can have an effect on your mood. These colors can make you feel anything from tranquil to rage. Too many colors can make a room look busy or cluttered.
Paint is fairly inexpensive and transforms a room more quickly than anything else you can do so you can afford to experiment a little.
Understand that colors behave in three basic ways: active, passive, and neutral, and you can easily match every room’s colors to your personal desires and taste and to the room’s purpose. Light colors are expansive and airy, they make rooms seem larger and brighter. Dark colors are sophisticated and warm; they give large rooms a more intimate appearance.
Red creates excitement, stimulates the appetite and raises a room’s energy level. In the dining room, red draws people together and stimulates conversation. In an entryway, it creates a strong first impression. Red has been shown to raise blood pressure, speed respiration and heart rate. It is usually considered too stimulating for bedrooms.
Crimson can make some people feel irritable. With red invoking feelings of rage and hostility this is a color that should be avoided as the main color of a room. Sitting for long periods of time in a room this color will likely breakdown any peace and harmony you are striving to create in your home. Ancient cultures used the color red to stimulate the body and mind and to increase circulation.
Yellow captures the joy of sunshine and communicates happiness. It’s perfect for kitchens, dining rooms, and bathrooms, where happy color is energizing and uplifting. In halls, entries, and small spaces, yellow can feel expansive and welcoming. Yellow although is a cheery color is not a good choice in main color schemes of a room. People are more likely to lose their tempers in a yellow room. Studies show babies also seem to cry more in a yellow room. This color tends to create feeling of frustration and anger in people. This color is the most fatiguing on the eyes. Yellow is believed to stimulate the nerves and purify the body.
Blue, the tranquility color, brings down blood pressure and slows respiration and heart rate. It is considered calming, relaxing, and serene, and is often recommended for bedrooms and bathrooms. Blue is an appetite suppressant. Be careful, however: A pastel blue that looks pretty on the paint chip can come across as unpleasantly chilly when it’s on the walls and furnishings, especially in a room that receives little natural light. If you opt for a light blue as the primary color in a room, balance it with warm hues in the furnishings and fabrics.
To encourage relaxation in the rooms where people gather; family rooms, living rooms, large kitchens, consider warmer blues, such as periwinkle, or bright blues, such as cerulean or turquoise. Blue is known to have a calming effect when used as the main color of a room. When going with blue go for softer shades of blue. Dark blue has the opposite effect. Dark blue evokes feels of sadness. So refrain from using darker blues in your main color scheme. Stay with the lighter shades of blue to give you and your loved ones a calm effect.
Green is considered the most restful color for the eye. Often reminding others of nature, green is suited to almost any room in the house. In a kitchen, a sage or medium green cools things down; in a family room or living room, it encourages unwinding but has enough warmth to promote comfort and togetherness. In a bedroom, it’s relaxing and pleasant. Green also has a calming effect when used as a main color for decorating. It is believed to relieve stress and reduce muscle tension by helping people relax. Also believed to help with fertility, this is a great choice for the bedroom.
Purple, in its darkest values (eggplant, for example) is rich, dramatic, and sophisticated. It’s associated with royalty and luxury. Purple boosts creativity and our imaginations. It is a perfect color for children’s rooms and women's offices. Lighter versions of purple, such as lavender and lilac, bring the same restful quality to bedrooms as blue does, but without the risk of feeling chilly.
Orange evokes cheerfulness, warmth excitement, and is an energetic color. While not a good idea for a living room or for bedrooms this color is great for an exercise room. It will bring all the emotions out that you need when jumping into your fitness routine. In ancient cultures, orange was used to heal the lungs and increase energy levels.
Neutrals (black, gray, white, and brown) are basic to any home and needed to liven things up; or calm things down. Black is best used in small doses as an accent , indeed, some experts maintain that every room needs a touch of black to ground the color scheme and give it depth.
Conclusion
The best color in the whole wide world is the one that looks best on you! Coco Chanel quote.
Cathy Lee is owner of C.L. Design Services Home Staging in Danville serving the San Ramon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area. We strive to keep our clients, Realtors and many potential home buyers best interests in mind with every home staging.
November 17th Claudia Moose, owner of 
