Choosing the right interior paint color for you home can be daunting and confusing, but with some creativity and thoughtfulness, it can prove quite rewarding. The right color for a room can stand out beautifully and elegantly, and either attract you to it, or deter you. Color has been shown to have demonstrable psychological effects on the brain and is known as color psychology. Many times, we have no control over which colors bombard our visual cortex, however when it comes to the most important place in the word – your home, you have complete control over which colors you rest your eyes upon. The science of color psychology is not an exact one, as the influence and meaning ascribed to colors varies from time to time, and from culture to culture. However, there are trends which we can understand that are relevant to today in which colors affect us.
Black: Black absorbs all other colors of the color spectrum, and has traditionally been frowned upon as a color to paint with. Understandably one can see that the reason for this is that black is symbolic of darkness and somberness. Black also is associated with power and luxury, which has made it a popular choice of color for expensive luxury cars. As a highly bold color, black accents in a home can make its other features pop, and stand out more, but should be used sparingly. Black contrasts perfectly with white and when paired conservatively, can truly make a homes accents look elegant and beautiful. Most commonly, black is an accent color that baseboards, doors, and door frames can be painted with.
Gray: Gray is a perfect neutral color that can be paired with any other color. Gray is a popular neutral color to paint with due to its excellent ability to pair with other colors. Gray is associated with knowledge and wisdom and is perceived as long-lasting, and refined. Gray is also a great color to paint a room and allowing one wall to be dedicated as an accent wall. Choosing a powerful, commanding color for an accent wall will work really well in a soft gray room, as both colors will help accentuate the other. Choosing the right gray when creating a classy, modern look for your home is a great idea, and with over 500 shades of gray to choose from, you can rest assured that there is an ideal shade for your home.
Blue: Blue is one of the most favored colors by men of all ages, and is highly associated with feelings of peacefulness and calmness. Whether you’re staring into the ocean, or gazing up at the sky, shades of blue are a surefire way to add feelings of serenity to your home interior. Blue is an excellent choice when deciding to paint a boys room, and is perceived as a color of stability and reliability, thus making it an excellent choice for offices and places of business. Lighter and paler shades of blue can be used to create a cooling effect in a home, and is also a great choice for powder rooms and sun rooms.
Red/Pink: Red and pink are both bright, warm colors that are commonly associated with passion and intense emotion. Red was primarily used in the past for decorating accents in a home and rarely would one find entire rooms painted in red. Nowadays however, red is becoming more and more popular as a great way to spice up a room or home office. Love and comfort are common emotions that deeper hues of red invokes, and when used with lighter tones and shades, feelings of being welcomed and modern living are surfaced. Pinks are a great way to decorate younger girls rooms, and when used in lighter shades, they provide viewers with calming and soothing sensations.
Yellow: When looking to brighten up a home with cheeriness and feelings of confidence, yellow is the go-to color for many people. People with homes that do not receive much sunlight throughout the day can add some light to their home by painting with yellow. Having the greatest color association to sunlight, painting your home interior with yellow can brighten up a person’s mood, and invoke feelings of happiness and joy. Pairing yellows with other colors is a great idea to add more versatility to your home, and increase various contrasts between a room and its accents. Providing warmth and brightness, painting in yellow is popular during the fall and winter.
Green: Painting with green can be fun and creative. Green is associated with birth and regrowth more than any other color. Is is symbolic of Spring, and is very easy to look at which makes it such a versatile color because you can find a hue of green to match any room in the house. Aside from blue, green is the most common color we see when we look at the world. This makes it such a terrific color to pair with the wood furniture or decorations you have in your home. Green is calming and stress alleviating, which makes it a great choice to paint a living room or entry way with, so that you feel its positive effects upon coming home also. Any room that you would like to dedicate to relaxation; maybe a study, office, movie theater or yoga room, green is an excellent choice.
Brown: Quite possibly the most common choice of color to paint with, brown is an all time favorite and versatile color. Light brown, or beige is the most common color for new homes to be painted with as it is a soft, neutral color that many people find appealing. It’s hard to go wrong with a soft beige because it can be paired with almost anything (similarly to gray). Brown is a strong and sturdy color (think about expensive furniture), much like the earth, but if painted in the wrong hue, it can create a sense of loneliness and emptiness, much like the desert. However, a warm, saturated brown can be the perfect color to create a sense of coziness and tie a room together as some browns create a sense of warmth and security. Browns are especially popular colors to paint with in areas with colder climates for this reason.
