How Color Choices Impact Your Daily Life: Color Psychology In Interiors

We spend the majority of our days indoors. Basically, you wake up at home, commute to your day job, maybe you run errands and shop afterwards, work out at the gym (in a perfect world) and end the day back at home. Maybe you walk the dog or water your plants. That’s a lot of time spent inside! Most of our time is spent interacting with our built environments. Therefore, have you thought about how does color psychology impact the interaction between people and the spaces they inhabit?

A professional interior designer will have the skillset to achieve the desired ambience of a room or space given its function. Everyones’ psychological needs are unique and specific to them. Whether it’s creating stress-reducing retreats, designing creative-boosting workplaces, or incorporating elements to support specific health goals, personalized design with color theory is changing the way we experience our homes and workplaces… and it all starts with color.

What is Color Psychology?

For example, the cooler and calming blues and greens can reduce stress and anxiety, while the warmer invigorating reds and yellows can energize and stimulate. As well as, in bedrooms, soothing pastels promote relaxation, while vibrant dining rooms encourage sociability. Interior designers use this knowledge to create spaces that coincide with the client’s desired emotional goals. This is merely scratching the surface of the wide variety of emotions color can evoke.

Here’s what you need to know about color and their inherent psychological impact on the mind and body in relation to interiors along with BGI projects to demonstrate:

Red 

A fiery, warm color that creates a bold statement in a design scheme. Red aligns with power, sensuality and vigor. When the right shade of red is used, it can raise your energy levels so that you feel stimulated and invigorated. Since red has so much depth, it is typically used as an accent color in textiles and furniture. Like any color, red may seem overpowering if all walls are drenched in the hue, unless that is the desired look, of course. Keep in mind, the warmer the color, the more compact the space becomes.

(Click on the images below to see them larger!)

See more of this project HERE!

Yellow

A sunny yellow is linked to feelings of happiness and optimism. Painting rooms that do not get a lot of natural sunlight, like bathrooms or laundry rooms, a nice and bright yellow hue will evoke a sense of cheerfulness in an otherwise dull room. Too bright of a yellow, however, can spark feelings of agitation, and too dull of a yellow can make you feel jealous or ill. 

See more of these projects HERE (left) & HERE (right)!

Orange

Orange is linked to confidence, playfulness, courageousness, and success. It is known to breed creativity. Its warmth energizes you, especially when the shade is as vibrant at the fruit. It is similar to yellow as they both promote a sense of welcoming and cheerfulness to visitors. This is why orange is seen so much in commercial settings, though it also works well in bathrooms just like yellow.

See more of these projects HERE (left/middle) & HERE (right)!

Green

Green relates back to nature and is popular in home design due to the desire to replicate the natural environment in our built world. Similarly, this color can feel rejuvenating, creates feeling of freshness, growth and vitality. Many people gravitate towards green as it is safe and secure.

See more of these projects HERE (left) & HERE (middle/right)!

  Blue

Blue, like green, is reminiscent of nature and promotes serenity, intelligence, and loyalty. It has a calm and soothing effect which is ideal when creating a peaceful home environment and is one of the top color choices from the general population. 

See more of these projects HERE, HERE, & HERE!

Purple 

Purple sparks passion and intensity and can elevate a room to create a sense of drama. It is a hybrid of warm and cool colors which can be heightened one way or the other depending on which shade you select. Simultaneously, purple can make a room feel lively and can make you feel lighthearted and playful. 

See more of these projects HERE, HERE, & HERE!

Black

Although distinct, black connotes elegance, timelessness and power. Subsequently, when combined with white, the design will feel classic. However, when too much black is used, it will feel dramatic and even depressing.

See more of these projects HERE, HERE, & HERE!

White

White symbolizes goodness and purity. It is most commonly used on ceilings to avoid a heavy overhead feeling. White also makes rooms appear larger with its refreshed and clean qualities. These all work together to make you feel relaxed and at ease.

See more of this project HERE!

In summation for color psychology…

Red

• Power
• Sensuality 
• Stimulated 
• Invigorated
• Bold
• Energy 

Yellow

• Happiness
• Optimism
• Cheerfulness
• Dull yellows can make you feel jealous or ill
• Positivity 
• Bright
• Warm 

Orange

• Confidence
• Playfullness
• Courageousness
• Success
• Welcoming
• Cheerfulness

Green

• Nature
• Rejuvenating
• Freshness
• Growth
• Vitality

Blue

• Serenity
• Intelligence
• Loyalty
• Trust
• Peace

Purple

• Passion
• Intensity
• Dramatic
• Lively 
• Lighthearted
• Playful

Black

• Timeless
• Elegance
• Power
• Bold
• Formal
• Dramatic 

White

• Goodness
• Purity
• Refreshed
• Clean
• Relaxed
• Easy 

Color psychology doesn’t just revolve around interior design. In fact, it heavily applies to fine arts like photography and painting, advertising, branding and marketing as well as fashion and beauty… and so many other fields! Historically, we’ve seen how humans have used color to depicted the moods of the nation. Specifically, think of the dull grey and neutral tones used in World War II, the light pastels in the post World War and Civil Rights Movement, and the bright neons in the 1960’s. Subsequently, now that we spend so much time in our homes, it is important to be knowledgable of the meaning behind color in interior design. Therefore, similar to what we’ve seen in history, the ambience of our home dictates the mood of the inhabitants and visitors. Ask yourself: Do you or your company feel welcoming and peaceful or uninviting and chaotic?

Some of this information was taken from the resource below…..

https://www.stoneside.com/resources/articles/interior-design-understanding-the-psychology-of-color-in-spaces

To see more design inspiration & refreshing trends, visit our Instagram at @bgidesigner , our Facebook page here or Pinterest at @BGIDesigner13. We would look forward to you stopping by to say hi in the comments on our social platforms! Let us know how this article helped you revitalize your home.

I’ll look for you there,