Interior Design: Choosing the Right Colour

It’s the best design tool there is - a splash of colour here, a splash of colour there. Want a quick budget makeover for any room – paint it another colour! Want to change the feel of a room - change the colour of the accessories. But how do we pick the right colour for the room? How do we make the bedroom a calm, serene haven and the dining room a lively place to have your meal?

You need to take a look at colour psychology and meaning. Through the years we have assigned meanings to different colours based on their traditional uses. Analyzing the symbolic meaning of colours will give you some valuable insight on how to choose the right colour for the right place and help you in every aspect of interior decorating, from choosing a paint colour to redecorating your home on a budget.

Whites and Neutrals

Whites and neutrals tend to project purity, cleanliness, and neutrality. Notice that most hospitals have white walls, brides wear white gowns and a white picket fence surrounds a safe and happy home. Whites tend to:

• Add to your mental clarity
• Encourage us to clear clutter or obstacles
• Purify or clears thoughts or actions
• Evoke a feeling of fresh beginnings

Yellows

What is the first thing you think of that’s yellow? The sun, of course. Yellow is powerful colour that suggests warmth, richness and happiness. Yellows in the right doses can:

• make you feel happy
• give you more energy
• cause people to become angry quicker

Yellows can have a magical effect on a room, but with the power of this colour, using too much or having it too bright can cause problems.

Reds

Even more powerful than yellows are the reds, its is one of the most powerful colours you can use We associate red with love, valentines, danger, desire, speed, strength, and even stop signs. It is considered the first colour that is recognized by human eye and this colour:

• Promotes alertness
• Increases vitality
• Increases strength
• Stimulates conversation

Ideas for the use of red include dining rooms, and a dash of red as an accent can spice up other rooms as well.

Greens

Greens are a fresh colour to use in almost any room, and is one of most-often cited favorite colours. It represents nature, environment, health, good luck, youth and fertility. Greens represent:

• A healing force
• A rejuvenation;
• Nature and growth.

You can use greens almost anywhere, anytime for anything - in the right shades, of course.

Blues

Blue is considered a universal colour. It represents peace, tranquility, stability, trust, confidence, security, loyalty, sky, water, cold, technology, and even depression. Blue can

• slow the pulse rate
• lower body temperature
• reduce appetite.

Blue is universal familiar colour, and is comforting. It’s known for its calming affect and should be used in any room you would like to promote tranquility and peace, like a bedroom.

Browns

The colour brown represents earth and steadiness. But the first thing I think of with brown is chocolate, of course, which symbolizes smoothness and luxury. Brown tends to make us feel:

• Luxurious
• Elegant
• Comforted
• Earthy
• Wiser
• Stronger

If you need a touch of sophistication in a room, brown may be just what you need.
colours are going to play a major role in your life and colour choices throughout your home are going to influence your mood, so be emotional about your colour choices.
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