Color in the Home
There are many variations of the basic colors. The paler versions give us the same qualities as the bold color but in a gentler way. When decorating an area – the complementary colors, and their variations, should be remembered and combined with our main choice of color by way of soft furnishings perhaps, pictures etc.
It is also helpful to take in to account the aspect of a room. For example, should you require a calming atmosphere in a north facing room, which may well be one of the colder rooms in your house, remember to use some warm colors (i.e. variations of the warm colors of yellow, orange and red) to avoid the room feeling colder.
Following is a table of colors and their suggested uses in various areas.
Color Effects Suggested
VIOLET: Calming for body and mind. Good for meditation and prayer. Enhances purpose and dignity. Heightens our awareness and helps us to give of our very best. Purifying.
INDIGO: Sedative. Helps to open up our intuition. The color of divine knowledge and the higher mind.
BLUE: Calming, relaxing and healing. Not as sedating as indigo. Also, the color of communication.
GREEN: Balancing, harmonizing and encourages tolerance and understanding.
YELLOW: Stimulates mental activity, feeling of confidence. Helpful for study as it helps us to stay alert.
ORANGE: Warming and energizing. Can stimulate creativity. Orange is the color of fun and sociability.
RED: Energizing, exciting the emotions, stimulates appetite.
MAGENTA: is the eighth color in the color spectrum and is a combination of red and violet, thus it combines our earthly self and spiritual self, thus balancing spirit and matter. It is uplifting and helps us to gain a feeling of completeness and fulfillment.
TURQUOISE: Cool and calming and good for the nervous system and immune system.
PINK: This color soothes and nurtures. It helps to dissolve anger and encourages unconditional love.
BLACK: Used with another color enhances the energy of that second color. Black gives us the space for reflection and inner searching.
WHITE: Contains all the colors. It emphasizes purity and illuminates our thoughts, giving us clarity.
Areas That Work
Violet Places of worship, entry areas to clinics and hospitals, festival areas. Pale violet in bedrooms.
Indigo Not suitable for areas for entertainment but for more ‘quiet’ places. Bedrooms, treatment rooms.
Blue Any rooms except those used for physical activity or play.
Green Depending upon the shade, can be used for most areas. Use with other colors as well to avoid the balance and harmony becoming more like total inactivity and indecision.
Yellow Activity rooms, entrance halls. Not for bedrooms as can interfere with sleep – it tends to keep our minds “switched on”. Not ideal for areas of possible stress.
Orange Any activity area and creative areas. Not ideal for bedrooms or areas of possible stress.
Red Any activity area. Needs careful choice of tone and depth and the space in which it is to be used. Can make a space look smaller and be claustrophobic. Used well, however, red can make a space feel warm and cozy. Often used in restaurants.
Magenta Lecture spaces, chapels, halls etc. Not ideal for playrooms or activity rooms.
Turquoise Any room except it is not ideal for activity areas.
Pink Ideal fora baby’s or child’s bedroom.
Black Not ideal as a single color, but when used with care, can enhance and complement other colors in almost any situation.
White Any room, but it can be a little intimidating to some Needs to be broken up with another color or with plants/ornaments/pictures etc.
Babies
It should be remembered that babies and very young children will be more sensitive to the effects of color than adults and care should be taken with their room colors and their clothes.
A baby’s first experience of color is in the womb where they are enveloped in pale peachy pink. This is where they have been nurtured and where they feel safe. Thus, decorating the baby’s room in pale pink will help them feel safe in the outside world where they need time to adjust to their surroundings.
Babies are very sensitive and should be kept in white clothing as long as possible and particularly for the first nine months. Special care should be taken when choosing the color of a hat since a baby’s head is particularly sensitive.
Most experts will agree that the first nine months of a baby’s life is so important in their development on every level – emotional, mental and physical. Keep the colors pale for a baby’s room – pale pink, pale blue, pale violet, butter cream, white and ivory are all calming.