How to choose interior decorating colors to brighten your life
Choosing the right colors for your interior decorating project may be just the thing to brighten up not only a room, but also your mood. Color is a very interesting thing. The colors you like say something about your personality. Colors can affect your feelings and emotional health. They can increase a feeling of happiness or decrease a feeling of despair. So when you're about to embark on a renovation of a room in your home, you want to be sure that you're choosing colors that will brighten your life. Colors that will have a positive affect on you and your family. And here is an explanation of exactly what to look for in order to accomplish that goal.
Feng shui decorating is based on this principle of using color to "brighten your life," so to speak. It says that in order to balance your Chi, or your energy, you should surround yourself with many different colors. The trick is to do this without going overboard. Use small, brightly colored items to integrate the moods you want to achieve. Try red candles or pink flowers to decorate the "love" segment of your home (i.e. the bedroom). In the money area of your home you may want to add some blue. Flowers are always a good way to incorporate bright colors. Another way is to add an intricate wall hanging, painting or frame. Area rugs are another way to add color without making major renovations.
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Now in order to choose colors that emphasize a certain aspect of one's mood, you need to know what each color usually represents. Different cultures and countries may approach color differently, but most westerners associate the following colors with these feelings:
Red- anger or love
Orange- enthusiasm
Yellow- joy and happiness
Green- jealousy or good luck
Blue- peace
Purple- creativity and passion
White- cleanliness
Black- sadness
Let's look at an example. You want to remodel your kitchen. But what color should you paint it? You're not a big dieter but you also don't want to encourage overeating. You've definitely decided that you do not want a purple or green kitchen. So what about red? First think about the colors most fast food restaurants use as their signature colors. You've probably come up with red, orange, black and brown. This is not a coincidence. There are numerous studies that have shown that those colors are the ones people most positively associated with food. So if you want to avoid consistent snacking in the kitchen, try painting it a cool blue or a sunny yellow. Blue and yellow are calming, happy colors that will soothe your emotions and help prevent eating out of stress or anxiety.
If you're not yet ready to paint your entire room one bold color, try painting just one wall the bold color as an accent, while leaving the others more subtle. Another option that adds color to a wall without being too bold is to paint stripes onto the wall-with one stripe color being the bold color (like red, orange or bright green), and the other stripe color being a more subtle color (like tan, white, or a pale yellow).
Always beware of adding too much color to one room. You don't want to overload your senses. If you have a small home, you may want to coordinate your colors from room to room. This is not to say that the colors should be the same, or should exactly match, but that they should be complimentary. Also, you may not want to paint the walls of one room with several different colors.
Remember that there are many ways to liven up your rooms besides just painting. And have fun choosing colors to brighten up your life!
