Colors and Mood

Did you know that the colors in your home can affect your mood?  Let’s take a look at some moods and colors and how they can affect you.

To increase your focus and concentration, choose a golden color to feel more energized and motivated.  If you are a writer, researcher or editor and want to seem more focused, you will want a color like eggplant purple.  A throw pillow on your home office loveseat or a picture frame in eggplant will work perfectly.  It is important to note that for better concentration that you use eggplant because not all colors in the purple family help with focus.  

Colors like a rusty red or pumpkin will help resolve conflict.  Why?  Because rusty red and pumpkin are soothing colors.  Add a touch of pink to soften the ambience.

Are you in the party mood?  If you aren’t in the party mood then try colors like lime, raspberry or plum.  These colors are a great for stimulating conversation.

To help your children get more in the studying mood, try the color steel grey.  Many people think that grey is a boring color and if you are one of those people then try adding a touch of coral to the mix.  These two colors are great homework helpers.  And you don’t have to change anything drastic.  If your children do their homework in their bedroom, add some throw pillows or desk accessories.  

When spending an intimate moment with you loved one, add a touch of periwinkle or toasted olive.  These two colors encourage frankness.  Or trying adding pecan brown which also boasts frankness.  Try a plant holder in pecan brown with a periwinkle vase on the coffee table.  

Are you or someone in your home a senior citizen?  Yes there are even colors that soothe the mood of senior citizens.  Studies have shown that as people get older, the lens of the eye undergoes a bit of an alteration.  As a result, cool colors such as blue, green and purple are viewed with a murky cast.  Therefore direct lighting should be used to help see more clearly.  But do not use a combination of blue, green and purple together.  These colors used in combination will worsen the vision problem.

Let’s go over some colors and what they mean.

Black- Black stands for authority and power.  Priests wear black because they have the power of god.  Vampires wear black because they have special powers.  

White- White stands for purity and innocence.  White is considered a summer color and is popular in decorating because it is light and neutral.  But white is not used by some people in decorating because it shows dirt, dust and pet hair more than any other color.  

Red is the color of love and romance.  In decorating, it attracts attention.

Blue is peaceful and tranquil.  In decorating, blue increases productivity.

Green is the most popular in decorating.  It is calm and refreshing and can even help improve vision.  

Yellow is cheerful and sunny.  Studies have shown that babies will cry more in a yellow room and people will lose their tempers more.  

Purple shows off luxury and sophistication.

Color Meanings- Part Two

People think a lot about the meanings of colors when they are decorating their home.  Here is the second part in the series of color meanings.  

Purple- It has been said that Cleopatra loved the color purple and that she had her servants soak 20,000 Purpura snails for 10 days.  In the city of Thailand, the color purple is worn by a widow while she is mourning her husband’s passing.  A purple heart is given to a soldier who was wounded in battle.  Purple is also the color of royalty.  Leonardo Da Vinci had believed that if you mediate in a purple light such as a purple light bulb, the power of meditation is increased 10 times.  In decorating, the color purple painted in a child’s room means the child will be imaginative.  Richard Wagner composed his operas in a purple room to help him with his inspirations.

Yellow- Yellow is the color of mourning in Egypt and Burma.  In the old days, the color yellow was worn by executioners in Spain.  In India, merchants and farmers are identified by the color yellow.  In France during the tenth century, the doors of traitors and criminals were identified by the color yellow.  In India, the color yellow is worn by Hindus to celebrate spring.  Yellow ribbons are displayed as a sign of support for soldiers.  Yellow is also a symbol of deceit.  During the Middle Ages, actors who played a dead person always wore the color yellow.  Those who are in the holistic filed believe the color yellow stands for peace.  Yellow is the color of warning and is also used to mark off a crime scene.  

White- A white flag is used in battle to symbolize a truce.  In China and Japan, the color white stands for mourning.  In movies, angels wear the color white.  The ancient Greeks wore white at bedtime so that they would have good dreams instead of bad ones.  In India, Thailand, Burma and Sri Lanka, the people believe that a white elephant is sacred.  Most brides wear white to symbolize purity and innocence.  White heat is a state of intense enthusiasm, anger, devotion or passion.  A whiteout occurs in a snow storm when visibility is near zero.  White lightning stands for moonshine which is homemade alcohol.  

Black- The ancient Egyptians and Romans wore the color black to symbolize that they were in mourning as most Americans do today.  A “black hearted” person is an evil person.  In the business world, a business that is in the black is said to be making money.  A black belt in karate is the highest honor for a martial artist.  In racing, a black flag signals the driver to get off the track and head to pit road.  

And there you have it; two complete articles on the meanings of color.

Color Meanings- Part One

Many people, when decorating, like to know what the meanings of colors are before they decide which colors to use in their home.  This article will detail each color and their meanings behind them.

Red- In the times of the ancient Romans the color red was used to signal for battle.  In order for people to pay attention to signs such as stop signs, stop lights and fire equipment, they are also painted red.  The color red means beautiful in Russia and the Bolsheviks used a red flag when they won the battle against Tsar and the color red symbolizes communism.  In the country of India, the color red represents a soldier.  In South Africa, the color red is shown when someone dies as a symbol of mourning.  Some people say that tying a red bow on a car will bring you good luck.  In China, the color red stands for good luck and is used in holidays and for weddings.  People who are superstitious believe that the color red will scare the devil away.  Many people use the saying “Paint the town red” to mean to party.  

Green- There is only one national flag anywhere that has one solid color on it and that is the flag of Libya that is only green.  Ancient Egyptians used the color green for their flooring.  In Greece, the color green represents victory.  People use the saying “Green-eyed monster” which means jealousy.  In decorating, the color green means youthful.  A person who is said to have a “green thumb” is a great gardener.  Green is also the color of nature.

Blue- In the country of Iran, the color blue is used is mourning.  The color blue is also used to ward off witches who apparently don’t like the color blue.  If someone tells you that you are “true blue” it means that you are loyal and faithful.  The color blue stands for love which is why on her wedding day a bride wears something blue.  In decorating terms, the color blue represents a relaxing room.  If you are felling blue it means that you are feeling sad or depressed.  In a competition, the first place winner always gets a blue ribbon.  Have you heard the saying “blue blood?”  A blue blood is someone of noble descent.  If someone is going “into the blue” it means they are going into an unknown area or place.  Ancient Egyptian pharaohs wore the color blue to protect them against evil forces.  A person who is said to be a “blue stoking” is someone who is smart and very knowledgeable.  “Blue laws” are used to enforce moral standards.  And the blues is a type of music that originated from southern African-American songs.

Part two of this series includes more color meanings.

Color and Design- Wall Art

Color and design is important when decorating your home with color.  

The first thing you need to be concerned about is the colors of your wall décor.  The first thing you need to look at is why you are adding wall décor.  Are you adding it to enhance your current color scheme or are you just adding paintings you are interested in to keep your walls from looking bare?  The latter part of that last question is what you want to avoid.  You not only want your house to look attractive to you but you also want to wow your visitors.  So the first thing you need to do is choose a color scheme.  How do you accomplish that?  It is recommended that you start with fine art that boosts colors.  Now wouldn’t a beautiful landscape painting look beautiful on your living room wall?  It is important to purchase beautiful wall art in the colors that you love the most.  

So exactly where do you purchase these love pieces of work?  The best place to start is online.  Do Google searches of the artist or painting you enjoy the most.  Or you can do a Google search for a particular type of piece.  Say you enjoy landscape pieces or still life pieces.  You can type in landscape or still life paintings and see what comes up.  If you don’t have internet access or you want to see what you are buying before you make a decision, then you have many offline choices such as starving artist shows which appear in many communities, art galleries and craft shops.  Roam around these places until you find a color or scene that catches your eye.  There are advantages to being able to view a piece in person.  It allows you to see and feel the texture of the piece as well as feeling the mood of the piece.  Which every venue you decide to choose, your art piece will be an investment for years to come.  Every single art piece goes up in value as the years go by.  Another great place to find artist paintings is a yard sale.  Sometimes at a yard or moving sale, the seller will sell a painting that is worth hundreds for $10.  Why?  Because they more than likely do not know the value of the painting.  

When choosing a painting for your home, there are a couple of things you can do to make things easier.  First, if you are interested in a certain work of art, imagine that painting on your wall at home.  Does it match your color scheme?  Will it stand out in your home?  If you still can’t decide, hire an interior decorator that can help you decide which paintings will match your décor.  Or if you don’t want to go that route, take a friend or family member along with you that has good taste and ask their opinion.  

Just remember, this house is your castle and you want that castle to stand out among the rest!

Color and Design

When it comes to color and design, there are several rules of thumb that you need to know and follow.  

Monochromatic- This means just one color.  The color scheme you choose will have just one color associated with it.  

Value- This refers to the lightness or darkness of a color.  A good example of this is say you have a picture on your living room wall about your couch.  Now put some lighting to reflect light on the pictures.  If the light shines on the part of the picture that is nearest to the light source, which is where will be the lightest in value because it reflects the most light.  The part that shines further from the light source will be the deepest in the shadow and thus darkest in value.  The good thing is that you can change the value of a color.  If you add the color white, the color becomes lighter or higher in value.  If you add black color, the color becomes darker or lower in value.  

Neutral Colors- Neutral colors contain equal parts of black, white and grey.  Sometimes brown is also considered a neutral color.  When you mix neutral colors to other colors, the value changes.  

Warm Colors- These colors represent warmth such as a fire.  So oranges and reds are considered warm colors.  Warm colors appear larger than cool colors.

Cool Colors- Cool colors represent coolness or iciness such as blue sky or green trees.  

Primary Colors- There is three primary colors:  red, yellow and blue.  This means that all colors revolve around these three colors.  

Secondary Colors- Secondary colors are obtained by mixing two primary colors together to make a secondary color.  If you mix red and yellow, you get orange.  If you mix yellow and blue, you get green.  If you mix blue and red, you get purple.

Intermediate Colors- Intermediate colors are created when you mix one primary color with a secondary color.  Red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-purple and red-purple are all examples of intermediate colors.

Emphasis- This refers to an area of art work or painting that draws the attention of the viewer first.  The first area that attracts the viewer first is the dominant element and the elements that catch the viewers’ eye second are called subordinate elements.

Unity- This allows the viewer to see a combination of elements, principles and media as a while.  Unity is created by harmony, simplicity, repetition, proximity, and continuation. For example, you could use the repetition of a color scheme to unify a composition.

These are just some rules of thumb that you can follow.  You can use these suggestion to suite any color scheme to your own personal style.

Choosing Interior Paints

To come up with amazing color combinations that produce amazing results with interior paints, follow these easy steps.

Everyone has a favorite color.  But if you really sit down and think about your favorite color, think about what exactly it is that you like about that color.  Does it put you in a happy mood?  Does it make you feel safe?  Does it give you a feeling of calm?  Does it make you hungry?  These answers may help you decide on interior paint.  What if you still aren’t sure on a color scheme?  Sit down and look through interior design magazines and cut out ideas that catch your eye.  Tape these pictures to a large piece of cardboard paper.  Take the paper with you in each room you go into.  Notice how each of the cutouts make you feel while you are in that room.  

Check out the colors you currently have in the room now.  Decide which colors you want to keep and which colors you are going to get rid of.  Take a look at the room from different angles of the room.  Stand by the windows and check out the colors.  Also what do you see when you walk into the room?  What do you like and dislike about the floors, carpet, furniture, appliances, doors, tiles and curtains.  

Now it’s time to figure what is best for each room in your home.  Before you chose interior paint colors, you need to ask yourself a few questions.  What is the room going to be used for?  Will it be just for entertaining or for everyday use?  How bright is the room now?  Does it face north where there is not much sunlight or does it get lots of sun?  If it doesn’t get much sunlight, choose warm colors and if it is a bright room, tone it down with cool colors.  How big is the room?  This will also tell you if you need to use warm or cool colors.  Warm colors make a room look smaller whereas cool colors will make it look larger.  

Now that you have a clear idea of the colors that you like, it is time to do a little experimenting.  Does any color suggest itself as a starting point for a color scheme?  Maybe a picture, a quilt or afghan, a carpet or rug, a bowl on the coffee table, a vase, a chair covering or a couch?  

There are many ways to apply a color scheme in a room.  Accessories are often a great starting point for choosing interior paint colors and color schemes.  You may have to try different colors until you find the one you like the best.  Paint and hardware stores have many paint swatches you can take home to see how a particular color will look in a certain room in your home.