Chromatic Theology: What Color is For You?
Color envelops life, consciously and subconsciously affecting our psyche. Selecting the correct color can create an interior air to suite your area, aesthetics, ambiance, and psychological needs. Never underestimate the power of color.
Let me introduce myself. I am an interior designer with a vested interest in Mother Earth. I edit the Shelter segment at EcoSalon, a place for women of substance and style, where we present modern living with a heart (and a conscience, also ). In addition, I conduct a self-indulgent private design blog, elle oh. Art provides, alliterationflea markets make my pulse race, and I am totally obsessed with color. Delicious, saturated color.
As you devour the thousands of inspirational images on Houzz, this excerpt from Chromatic Theology (my series on color psychology) might help you narrow your search for the perfect picture of the ideal color. First, here is a searchable glimpse of 8 simple colors with complex connotations. Where better to start than red?
Klopf Architecture
1. Red (cranberry, flamingo pink, cardinal, etc.) projects stimulation, strength and force. Red is like a hot negligee for your walls — dramatic and dangerous.
Zuniga Interiors
2. Orange (mandarin, marigold, sweet potato, etc.) is a secondary color with conflicting emotional content. Recall some of your second tier lessons and keep in mind that orange is a combination of red and yellowish, highlighting the charisma of both colors. Orange requires attention, yet concurrently extends a warm invitation.
Jan Skacelik
3. Yellow (mustard, sunflower, buttercream, etc.) is a powerful, warm color, with pleasant and optimistic emotional content. Yellow is the problematic color, a cheerful and non-aggressive hue. This wholesome color is highly-reflective, producing expansive features reminiscent of sunlight.
Tracy Murdock Allied ASID
4. Green (avocado, kelly, bud, etc.) is a secondary color with compatible emotional content. Green brings life from yellowish, while blue lends a calming effect. One of the only real forms of beauty is character; green is the predominant color in character — commonly regarded as the ideal color, carrying the positive charisma of all hues.
Economy Interiors
5. Blue (navy, peacock, cerulean, etc.) is the coldest color. Blue demonstrates intense relaxation, denoting simplicity, innocence, dignity and truth. This hue is often combined with intellectual action; blue is contemplative, thought provoking, and meditative.
6. Violet (plum, magenta, eggplant, etc.) is a secondary color with a challenging character. This particular combination of colors is ambivalent, as a heavy dose of stress is present within violet’s conflictions of warm and cool, calm and intense. Spaces and color schemes implementing violet are often ambiguous and dramatic.
Chelsea Atelier Architect, PC
7. White (eggshell, ivory, snow, etc.) often reveals clarity, innocence, and pure simplicity. White is the perfect palette to make architectural components sing. Nearly all colors tend to distract from and contend with furnishings and architecture, but white lifts and emphasizes aesthetic and style details. White embodies the power to transcend climate, radiating warmth and coziness at winter and supplying fresh, cool relief from the summertime.
Ken Levenson Architect P.C.
8. Black (charcoal, cast iron, pewter, etc.) is a strong color that exhibits dignity, strength, and formality. Black can translate to the epitome of sophistication and elegance. Like white, excess black may cast the notion of emptiness or boredom, but with heavy and depressing implications.
Still craving more color? Scroll through the full series on EcoSalon to enlarge your understanding of colors and their effect on your emotions. Now I’m off to sift through the treasures on Houzz!
More: How to use the color wheel to choose hues