Choosing the right
colors is the first step to great looking room. It is not so
easy to select the right color of paint or wallpaper or the
right carpet color to deliver the best desired results. All too
often, a color that looks ideal on a small paint sample erupts
into a totally different color when you apply it to a wall. A
subdued light champagne yellow paint color turns into a
screaming lemon yellow on the walls, an olive carpet winds up
brownish in color, and a very light tint of any paint color
turns out white. Design colors in an office space must also be
mindful of the mood they will convey. Some studies have shown
that colors can play a significant role in how we feel and the
energy we have throughout the day. The practitioners of color therapy teach that people can have
emotional and physical responses to color. For example, colors
that are light or cool recede from the eye while dark or warm
colors make a room feel less expansive. Our perceptions of size,
weight, and temperature can also be influenced by color schemes.
Sometimes called chromotherapy or chromodynamics, color
therapy involves applying light and color in an effort to
stabilize emotions, mind, spirit, or body. This balance is
demonstrated by the positive and negative aspects related to
each color meaning.
Here are some of the
commonly accepted mental and physical connotations of colors:
Red
Positive – passion, love, excitement, fire, strength,
courage.
Negative – anger, war, danger.
Effects – increased respiration, blood pressure, appetite,
and metabolism.
Orange
Positive – happiness, endurance,
stimulation, enthusiasm, determination, attraction.
Negative – heat.
Effects – increased mental activity,
appetite, and energy.
Yellow
Positive – cheerfulness, sunshine, energy,
joy, intelligence,honor.
Negative – deception, cowardice, caution.
Effects – increased mental activity,
awareness, and energy.
Blue
Positive – tranquility, loyalty, truth, depth,
confidence, trust, sincerity, expertise, masculinity.
Negative – depression, solemnity, coldness.
Effects – increased calm and satisfaction.
Green
Positive – safety, nature, restfulness, growth,
fertility, harmony, newness, security,money; power, wealth, dignity,royalty, luxury, magic,
wisdom, drama, mystery,ambition, creativity, femininity.
Negative – greed, envy, jealousy, ignorance; snobbery, gloominess.
Effects
– improved healing and relaxation; increased creativity and intuition.
White
Positive – cleanliness, innocence, purity,
kindness, light, simplicity.
Negative – chilliness, sterility, emptiness.
Effects – increased sense of sophistication and
sanitation.
Black
Positive – formality, night, elegance, mystery, prestige,
power.
Negative – evil, death, fear, grief, depression.
Effects – increased sense of sophistication and depth.
Gray
Positive – wisdom, atonement, intelligence, industry,
futuristic.
Negative – dreariness, storminess, boredom.
Effects – increased sense of sophistication and calm.
