The Psychology of Colour

Note: I will be giving a talk at a lovely private venue downtown on November 20, 2019, from 7-8 pm. The topic of conversation will be how your home impacts your wellness. I have 4 spots available, so message me . if you would like to attend and I will give you the location details. This is a private event so it's important to reach out in advance!

One of the main principles of interior design is colour. By incorporating and playing around with the right colours, you can create a space that will make you fall in love with your home. And considering how much time you spend in your home, it’s important to create a space that makes you feel as happy and comfortable as possible. But how can the colours you choose have such a heavy influence on you? Let’s find out:

How Colour Affects Us  

Whether you realize it or not, specific colours will affect your mood in different ways. It’s been found that certain colours like pink, white, and green make it easier for us to pick up on the positive emotions of others, which makes them perfect for your boosting mood and enhancing positive feelings in the home. Researchers are even looking into how the colour blue can be used to help treat depression. So if you’re feeling a little “blue”, the best way to combat that could be to add more blue! Ironic, huh?

Besides mood, different colours can also affect our performance and how we perceive people, situations, places, and items. For instance, the colour black is often associated with power and mystery, while white is associated with cleanliness and youth. Red can make you feel more excited and passionate, and drive you to take action, while yellow can make you feel optimistic and prone to think more happy and positive thoughts.

The Relationship Between Colour and Lighting  

Did you know that colours don’t only influence the way that we feel — they also have a direct relationship with lighting? So when finding interior design ideas for your colour scheme, it’s important to take the type of lighting that your home has into consideration. Do the rooms you’re decorating have big open windows, that will let in lots of natural lighting? Or will you need to rely on more artificial lighting? And what types of lights are you looking to implement — fluorescent, incandescent, or LEDs?  

Depending on the type of lighting you’re using (and the temperature), the lighting in your home will impact your colour scheme. Warmer tones will make your colours look more warm and saturated, while icy tones will help them look cooler. So keep this in mind, or your yellows and oranges might end up looking more saturated than you were expecting. You can learn more from this colour temperature scale here.

How Colour Affects Vibrations   

How else can colour affect the space in your home? Through vibrations. You see, everything in the universe is made up of different frequencies or vibrations. Due to varying wavelengths, each colour has its own vibration and therefore generates different impacts on people. Whether you know it or not, these subconsciously impact the way that we think, feel, and behave. For example, red is a stimulating colour as it is on the lower end of the visible light spectrum with a longer wavelength. Violet, on the other hand, is on the other end of the spectrum, as it has the shortest wavelength and is known as a magnetic and cooling colour.

You can use this information when coming up with interior design ideas for your colour scheme. This depends on the room you’re designing, and how you want to feel in it. For instance, while a workspace or kitchen might benefit from vibrant, stimulating colours that encourage you to take action, you might want to choose more calming colours that are higher up on the spectrum when designing your bedroom. 

If you’re looking for interior design ideas that will make you fall in love with your space, contact us online. Sabrina will work with you to help you find the right colour scheme, layout, and theme that you’re looking for, and create a space that’s perfect for you. Reach out today to book a consultation!