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There are so many considerations when choosing colors for your home.
As I finished up my Feng Shui/Interior Design certification, it dawned on me that, although I love the basic concepts of balance and the elements, I did not relate to Chinese design as it involved dragons, the color red (I despise), and too often referred to lame colors for rooms.
I knew that I would take it and make it my own, so I found a way to decide on colors that takes many things into account so it suits each person's soul rather than pre-determined palette.
After all, one person's forest green is another's seafoam.
NATURAL LIGHTING
A room that is generally bright with lots of windows actually could look awful with dark colors. If you want to keep it from being blinding, consider midtones, for example; grass green versus mint (light), but not as dark as forest green.
Bright light has a way of dulling and fading dark colors. Pale colors can add even more brightness, but mid-tone colors are a perfect medium. They will come across slightly lighter than they actually are, but won't dull their intensity.
It seems counterintuitive but the light coming in will deaden darker colors. A medium-lit room will handle darker colors better. A truly dark windowless room should go as light as possible on the walls.
CHOOSING WALL COLORS-
Bright rooms are best with light or medium hues.
Medium lit room is best with dark or light hues.
Dark rooms are best with medium or light hues, but can tolerate dark if you want to simply soak in darkness.
In general, you want to reserve dark walls and dark furnishings for a medium-lit room, and if you're adventurous utilize it in a dark room, but never a bright room. All rooms look good with light hues. Medium hues are best in light or dark rooms.
PURPOSE OF THE ROOM
Is the room energetic like a kitchen or home office or relaxing like a bedroom or TV viewing room? Do you want to stimulate imaginations or soothe and comfort?
Energetic colors: Reds, oranges, yellows. These are usually warm colors, but bright and clear. The lighter versions of these colors are feminine and upbeat and the deeper these colors, the more formal and masculine. Warm colors advance, causing a cozy smaller-looking space.
Muted energetic colors, like say burgundy red or pumpkin orange, gold take these energetic colors into cozy and homey vibe.
Relaxing colors: Blues, Greens, purples. These are usually cool tones. The lighter of these colors you use, the more feminine or upbeat and the deeper of these colors, the more masculine or formal. Cool colors retreating so they have a way of looking further away, expanding a room.
Muted relaxing versions such as blue-gray, sage green, mauve will be more sedate, relaxing.
Rooms where warm colors work best - kitchen, office, playroom, man cave, bathrooms.
Rooms where cool colors work best - bedroom, living room, dining room.
WINDOWS FACING NORTH/SOUTH/EAST/WEST
When light enters a room from the east and is used in the morning when the light is strong, cooler colors are better. The same goes for a west-facing room used at sunset. North-facing rooms will receive strong light in the summer and low light in the winter. South-facing rooms will receive strong light in the winter and low light in the summer.
If the room is used for a Christmas tree or has a fireplace, it's a winter-based room and if it's north-facing it needs lots of warmth, so add rich warm colors to cozy it up. If it's a bedroom where you need the temperatures to be cooler for bedtime, consider cool tones.
PERSONALITIES OF OCCUPANTS
Are you sentimental and is your spouse introverted?
Are you a social butterfly and your spouse is an overachiever?
Are you beachy and he's all about the mountains?
It can be difficult to match two very different personalities or obsessions in one home. A quiet and nerdish book reader with a social and spontaneous partner might seem incompatible, but the fact is they complement each other. They influence each other to take more risks or stay still and turn inward. This is precisely how you can make it work in a home.
Let's say one partner is a perpetually upbeat jokester and the other is an anxious overthinker.
The jokester needs a bit of introspection and calming and the ruminator needs something upbeat to think positively.
In this case, a soothing color such as monochromatic grays might be ideal to calm down the jokester and a nature pattern might help the overthinker to remember the soft curves of plants instead of rigid stripes and geometric patterns.
A wallpaper like this (below) might be an ideal option in that it's playful enough for the jokester, but the color is calming, the color makes the overthinker feel safe, but also is reminded of the eternal beauty of nature so there is a refocus on life and living.
Wood, textures, accessories, plants, lighting/lamps, patterns, colors, metals, glass, clay, sharp versus curving shapes...
There are tons of ways to satisfy both partners, but allowing a wall color for one mixed with wood pieces or flooring that satisfies the other is a great compromise.
One couple I know, the woman is obsessed with mermaids, a colorful creative artist and the husband loves mid century orderly and modern vibe with monochromatic peace.
If these were characters in one of my screenplays, I'd say he needs to not take himself so seriously and she needs to find a bit of structure.
Their living room is out of a mid century showroom, but the wife has a large mid century fish tank with colorful rocks, sea glass, and a ceramic mermaid that satisfies her. As well, there is an architecturally beautiful large piece of coral on the coffee table.
Ultimately, he has his peaceful monochromatic room and she gets to have punches of expression in the room. Had they done the room with her super patterned and colorful attitude, he would have been wound tightly and unsettled with nothing peaceful to relax within. She was thrilled to see the room actually put more focus on her items as the focus and the neutral atmosphere made her reframe her personality like a gallery showing of neutrality to make her things "pop."
Sometimes, the easiest way to deal with clashing in personalities is allow a special room with the colors of that partner's choice or find a way to utilize accent colors and themes that make one partner happy when the other partner likes neutrals.
TIME PERIOD OF HOUSE
It goes without saying there's nothing weirder than seeing a beach house with Colonial furniture or a Victorian home with modern metal and glass furnishings.
The colors used in modern home are often neutrals; white, black, gray, grayish tan ("greige"). Primary colors as accents are often utilized. Do not be discouraged if, like me, you prefer a modern aesthetic but don't like neutrals.
I am a colorful person, so by utilizing Ikea-type furnishings, I get the modern look but the light maple and birch wood that will add warmth to my sea and citrus color palette. You can also soften the hard edges of modern and make it more inviting by adding curved shapes. I also add tons of textures to soften the brightness utilizing things like macrame, faux fur, embroidery, and burlap.
The colors used in traditional homes are from nature; greens, golds, browns, and sometimes bold gemstone colors like cobalt, red, bright yellow.
You can satisfy an aesthetic with accessories. The beachy homeowner can utilize the colors of the ocean in blues and greens of the Mediterranean and the person who has a traditional colonial home might choose to use lots of plants to bring nature in instead of using golds and oranges.
Remember your elements that go into a room -
texture
color
light
wood
glass
stone
metal
furnishings
accessories
When you don't want a clown house, consider taking a favorite color and making it monochromatic. If it's the only color in the room, use it in clear tones to dusty muted colors, light to dark, or soften it with textures.
For example, if the room is orange, find orange-toned wood, find textured pillows in various shades of pumpkin orange, use peach on the walls, use bold orange on the upholstery, just keep everything within the orange range. The effect of going monochromatic is soothing, comforting, and timeless. It also helps a color "make sense."
When I was deciding on my home's renovation, I knew I wanted turquoise (sky and water, upbeat, surfer vibe). I wanted an accent color, but I battled between orange and yellow and then decided to look at photos of rooms people did with those colors -
I readily chose yellow. When I looked at the orange, it was too aggressive against aggressive turquoise. And, it also looked like a football fan's room.
Sometimes, things sound good and then when you see them in action - ugh! Go online and do some photo searches or go to Pinterest and look at these color combos in a room and see how you feel about walls that are papaya and upholstery that is grass green. Once you see them together, you can shuffle out either the wall color or the accent color to find things that put across the mood or status you want.
Another factor you might enjoy considering is chromotherapy - the use of colors to heal or enhance emotions.
RED: Activates the circulatory and nervous systems.
STRONG PINK: Acts as a cleanser, strengthening the veins and arteries.
PINK: Activates and eliminates impurities from the blood stream.
ORANGE: Energizes and eliminates localized fat. Helps address asthma and bronchitis.
STRONG YELLOW: Strengthens the body and acts on internal.
YELLOW: Reactivates and purifies the skin. Helps with indigestion and bodily stress.
GREEN: Acts as a relaxant.
STRONG GREEN: Provides anti-infections, antiseptic, and regenerative stimulation.
STRONG BLUE: Lubricates the joints. Helps address infections, stress, and nervous tension.
BLUE: Stimulates muscle and skin cells, nerves, and circulatory system.
INDIGO: Helps address eye inflammation, cataracts, glaucoma, and ocular fatigue.
VIOLET: Relaxes the nerves and lymphatic system. Addresses inflammation and urinary illness.
Happy planning! Remember, color is the mood of your life.
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