I love color and it’s power to affect our state of mind. Many people are afraid of using color in their home, so today I’m writing about the psychology of color to help you understand how you can use it intentionally to design a home you love. As a designer, I’m very interested in the topic of color psychology and how we can be strategic, not just with how color looks but how it makes us feel. I’d been reading about the topic for a while when Arhaus reached out to me asking if I’d be interested in writing a post about it! I couldn’t believe the timing of the request, and I’m honored to share what I’ve been learning.

The Psychology of Color

How Color Affects Us

The psychology of color is a large topic, so let’s start by talking in general terms. I’m sure you all know from school the warm colors (red, yellow, orange), the cool colors (green, blue, purple/violet), and the chromatic colors, or neutrals (white, black, gray). These groups come from our observance of nature, which I think is really helpful in thinking about how we experience these colors.

Warm colors can be found in fire, for example, and make us feel cozy. That’s why warm colors are often used in homes, often in spaces like the living room. In the extreme, warm colors can feel intense and overbearing, like the heat from a fire.

In contrast, cool colors are calm, relaxing, and contemplative. Like a body of water, a forest of trees, or the sky. Cool colors are often found in bedrooms, where people like to feel restful. Interestingly enough, cool colors in their extreme can feel depressive and negative.

Neutrals have become very popular in the last decade. Grays, tans, whites and blacks are dominating the interiors scene like never before. It takes a talented designer to create an interesting, comfortable and cozy space using neutrals, because they are psychologically less impactful than warm or cool colors. You see these colors in nature in the earth or dirt, sand, and rock. Used incorrectly neutrals can be bland and boring.

How can we take this general information about warm, cool, and neutral colors to create a home we enjoy being in?

Creating Mood Through Color

Each color affects our mood in different ways. Arhaus created some graphics to illustrate this, here is the one for blue.

While in general people experience color in similar ways, how we want to feel in our homes is widely different. We can create our own state of mind by the color we bring into a space. When designing the nursery below, I wanted the space to feel vibrant, energetic, playful, bold, and a little bit glam. I created that mood through my color selections.

Energetic, Playful and Bold

Red is a very energetic color, but it can be a little too aggressive. The perfect solution for this space was to use pink, which as we learned in school is a tint of red (tint just means to add white to a color). The yellow/gold tones in the drapes are also a bold color, as is the same tone in the leopard print pillow. The greens/blues/purples in the drapes bring in some cool tones to balance out all the warm tones, keeping the room from getting too intense. A lot of black and white grounds the space (neutrals), but is still interesting because of the stripes.

Another reason the psychology of color is so interesting to me is because it’s so personal. I really love vibrant, bright color in my home. It makes me feel happy to be at home. You might want to experience a different mood in your home, and I’ll share some other moods in the photos below.

Warm and Cozy

Julia Markham of the blog Chris Loves Julia does warm and cozy really really well. In her home office she brings in gorgeous warm tones through the orange/coral rug, the wood in the coffee table and shelves, and the brass in the floor lamp. The room feels really balanced through the use of the cool toned, but still deep and moody, wall color, and it’s grounded by the black sofa.

Light, Bright and Elegant

Mrs. Paranjape does light, bright and elegant really well in this dining room. All of the white paneling, the white table top, and the glass chandelier help it feel light and bright while the warm wood tones keep it feeling comfortable.

Q&A: How to Pick a Color?

On my Instagram Stories I asked what was the hardest part of bringing color into your home. The majority of the answers were which color to choose! There are tons of color tints and shades to choose from, and I think the answer to that question is, how do you want the space to FEEL. What energy do you want to have when you are in the room? What state of mind do you want to be in? The answer to that question is a great starting point for picking a color, and from there a shade or tint.

Let’s do an example using some beautiful furnishing from Arhaus. When talking to clients about how they want their space to feel, I often hear the words light, bright, comfortable, and relaxed. Those words can be interpreted differently sometimes, but in my mind I’m immediately going to stay away from red, orange and yellow. Because those colors tend to be very energetic, I don’t usually use those colors for those feeling words. I do think of blue and green, with some warm neutrals to make it feel comfortable. Something like this:

We have just scratched the surface of the psychology of color in this post, so stay tuned for more practical advice on how to bring in specific colors into your home. If there’s a color and/or mood you’d like me to tackle first, let me know in the comments! Thank you to Arhaus for asking me to write on this topic!

0 Shares