Feeling Blue? Your Room Colour Might Be Affecting Your Mood

“I’m seeing red” and “He’s got me green with envy”. Colour is an emotional language, and the shades of your surroundings can affect how you feel and behave.

While the time-tested formula of off-white walls, black couch, and stained wooden accents is always an option, here’s how you can inject a healthy dose of colour psychology into your home.

Red raises the energy of the room, and has been shown to stimulate your appetite for both food and physical activity.

This makes it a great shade for dining rooms, adventurous bedrooms, and workout spaces. However, those stirring passions also increase your blood pressure and heart rate so it’s a hue that works better as an accent than a base room colour. Think furniture or a bright red punching bag.

SOURCE: scapewallpaper.com

Avoid red in your child’s bedroom as it can lead to tantrums and irritability. This is also good advice if you are sensitive to your environment or have a pet bull.

SOURCE: jumbulen.com

Pink, purple, and orange offer great pops of colour. Pink has a reputation for being exclusively “sweet”, but this can be offset with greys, whites, and blacks without sacrificing the colour’s young, carefree emotions.

Purple adds a dash of mystery, fueling creativity while orange is an exciting, fun colour that can bring energy to a workout space or common area.

Yellow is the colour of sunshine and happiness. Its warmth radiates through the room, inviting you to sit back and connect with loved ones over conversation and a cup of tea.

Its uplifting nature makes it an excellent choice for kitchens, patios, hallways, and foyer for a boost of optimism.

SOURCE: hgtv.com

Like its cousin, red, bright yellow can be overwhelming and isn’t the best idea for restful areas in the house. Large amounts can create similar feelings of anger, with studies showing both adults and infants losing their cool in yellow rooms.

Green is all about peace and balance – it marries blue’s steady calm with yellow’s optimism. It’s an incredibly versatile colour that works anywhere in the home because of its earthy tone.

Give green a go in the kitchen or dining area where it evokes imagery of fruits and vegetables, or in your study room where its association with renewal and growth might just inspire you to concentrate and be productive.

SOURCE: thesensiblehome.wordpress.com

Earthy colours are always a good bet for spaces where you spend time at rest. Blue makes a great bedroom colour – it’s a constant in nature that we see in the sky and ocean so it builds trust.

It slows your heartbeat and respiration, which has an overall calming effect. On the flip side, blue can make you feel blue.

SOURCE: celiabedilia.files.wordpress.com

Counter blue walls with warm furnishings and fabrics, or vice versa, and ensure there’s sufficient natural light streaming through your room.

Do non-colours lead to non-feelings? Neutrals (black, white, grey, and brown) are basics in every homemaker’s toolkit and can be paired with warm or cool colours to ground them.

That said, they can still affect your moods when used without restraint. In excess, brown’s stability can be depressing, white’s purity and cleanliness can make it seem too sterile and cold, and grey’s trustworthy authority can be stifling.

So pair your neutrals with pops of colour for a well-balanced room!

SOURCE: newportcoastinteriordesign.com

For a colour often used to signify nothingness, black can be pretty dramatic. With its mystery, danger, and power; it’s the bad boy of the colour wheel.

Experts believe that every room needs a little black to give it depth; it can also lend a sense of grandeur and formality to your home.

Take notes from angsty teen rooms everywhere – black statement walls can be cool on their own, and will make brighter colours pop. Again, do also take note of the angst.

Colours are personal, and you’re bound to have favourites. Go with your gut if none of the above appeal to you.

Another feel-good trick is to use your favourite colours in spaces where you get dressed or put on your makeup. Experts also recommend using colours that bring back fond memories – painting your kitchen in the colours from your childhood can remind you of your grandmother’s heart-warming chicken soup.