Red
Red energizes and excites the body, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration. Studies suggest the color red increases athletic ability but is also associated with increased aggression, inability to focus, and headaches, potentially harming academic performance.
Pink
Pink evokes empathy and femininity and when using softer tones, creates a calming atmosphere. Over time however, the red base in the pink can become irritating, leading to agitation and anxiety.
Yellow
Yellow is associated with happiness and motivation. Soft subtle yellows promote concentration while brighter shades stimulate memory and increase metabolism. Too much yellow can result in feelings of anger and frustration from over-stimulation.
Orange
Orange possesses the same positive attributes of red and yellow. Orange is friendly and welcoming, sets people at ease, and inspires interpersonal communication. Like yellow, too much orange can be over-stimulating.
Blue
Blue calms the mind and body and lowers blood pressure, heart rate, and respiration. It decreases feelings of anxiety and aggression. If your child has trouble sleeping or has behavior problems, blue may be a good color to try on their walls. Blue also cools the body and can be used effectively in warm, humid locations.
Purple
Purple contains both the energy of red and the stability of blue. Because of the difficulty creating the color directly from nature, purple was historically the color of royalty. It is associated with wealth, wisdom, and spirituality.
Green
Green evokes nature and creates a calming environment, bringing a sense of serenity to the inhabitant. Associated with health and well-being, green has a soothing effect on the body and mind, reducing anxiety and promoting concentration. Studies suggest exposure to green may increase reading ability.
Color theory is best understood by referencing the color wheel. The order of the colors corresponds to the rainbow with Complimentary Colors lying opposite one another and Analogous Colors adjacent. This is an important distinction. Interior color schemes are referred to as related or contrasting. A related scheme would be monochromatic or analogous in nature, with varying intensities in hue which is a good way to add cohesiveness to a room or series of rooms. Complementary or contrasting color schemes provide a dramatic effect but can still appear harmonious if the hues are of the same saturation.
“All I want to know is what color I should paint my walls!”
This page is meant to help you understand how important the choice of color is in your decision-making process and hopefully helps you avoid the pitfalls of picking the wrong color for the wrong space. Color can alter a home in many ways, either by enhancing its detail, compensating for a lack of architectural character, or masking undesirable features. Color theory is relatively simple but is somehow often misunderstood as it applies to construction, resulting in kitchens that wind up dark and bedrooms that don’t feel very cozy. There are many decisions to be made during the construction process and picking a wall color can be one of the tougher ones for a homeowner. Just take white for instance; there are several hundred different shades of white and the best place to start is knowing why you should rule certain shades out. Why would you choose one that feels more yellow over one that’s seems slightly grey or even pink over blue? How is it going to make you feel when that color is everywhere? It means a lot when you have to look at the choice you made every day, and even more when money's involved. This page is meant to help you know why you would want to choose one shade over another for any room in your house, no matter what the hue, no matter what the style.
First let’s take a look at the color wheel and remember 'hue' means color, 'value' or 'tone' means how light or dark, and 'saturation' means how intense the color is.
There are guidelines to follow depending on which style you emulate but, in general, just ask yourself how you want to feel in the room and usually the function of the space will determine how you will want to paint your walls. For instance, everyone wants a feeling of energy in the kitchen. You want it to be lively. This is why kitchens and master bathrooms typically get painted with a light tone of a warm hue, low in saturation. Lighter colors create a sense of openness and make a room seem larger, whereas darker colors bring the walls closer and make the room seem smaller and cozier, the way you might like your living room, study, or entertainment room to feel. Cool colors appear to recede and give a sense of depth to a space while warm colors bring surfaces closer. Bright colors can be cheery and uplifting while darker colors can have a somber effect.
Painted floors can expand a room’s boundaries and add a refreshing decorative touch. By painting surfaces that are generally overlooked, an element of surprise can be brought to a room. Balance an equal number of warm and cool colors of the same saturation in your room to create a cohesive multi-hued palette.
It’s important to note that perception of color changes depending on many factors. Consider differences in the amount of light, the quality of light, the texture of a painted surface, the sheen of the paint selected, and even the eye of the observer. The best way to know how a color is going to look to you in a particular room is to tape samples to a wall and leave them there for awhile, checking to see how the color looks at different times of the day. How does it look when it’s cloudy versus sunny? A wall that looks yellowish in the morning may appear whiter at midday and violet at twilight.
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