Color
by the
Size
|
Color
Impacts Moods
By
Pamela Granata
Color
does so much more than please the eye. Colors can affect moods
and the productivity of people. While blue is thought to lower
blood pressure and provoke a sense of calmness and peace, too
much blue in the environment can cause depression. Red can raise
the pulse rate or boil the blood. It can also bring on cheerfulness
and creates hunger and a little restlessness. White spurs images
of purity, delicacy, refinement, and sophistication. White has
little emotional appeal though. Yellow brings on happiness and
health and is best used in darker areas such as stairways and
corridors. Green is an excellent color for people who are homesick.
It creates the best environment of meditation and actually inspires
creativity when used in the kitchen.
The
feeling of a room can be created by using different combinations
of color. For a calm, quiet room select a neutral color and
apply different shades of that color. For a relaxing effect
select related colors: green and blues are examples of this.
Use a color wheel to help select colors that are similar.
Color
is so much more than paint on the your walls. |
By Paulette Rossi
Color is the least
expensive way to remodel a room to fit any lifestyle. Before beginning
any interior painting project, size up the room — don’t
just measure the area to be painted — but decide if the space
should feel expansive or cozy.
Color is a subtle,
yet fundamental, design element. When used properly it changes the
room from a space to an experience. Color and harmony enhance the
aesthetics of the home and provide cohesion of design. Color schemes
can be generalized in a few categories: geographic location, area
of the house, room style, mood, and light.
Color choices
can alter a room’s proportions.
COOL
COLORS
Blues
and greens recede, because walls painted in cool colors appear more
distant than they really are. Cool colors can make a small room seem
larger.
WARM
COLORS
Reds
and yellows advance a room. Walls covered in warm colors seem to move
inward making a large room appear smaller.
LIGHT
COLORS
The
lighter palette reflects more light and makes a room feel more expansive.
DARK
COLORS
The
darker hues can make the same room intimate.
To create the
illusion of raising a low ceiling, select a paint color that is lighter
than the walls. Conversely, a high ceiling can be lowered by not only
selecting a tone that is darker than the walls, but painting it down
to either picture or plate rail height.
To make a large
floor surface seem smaller, paint or select a floor covering that
is darker than the room’s walls. The floor color will define
the boundaries of the room moving the eye downward.
If you need to
shorten a narrow room or a long hallway, paint the end walls in a
warmer or darker color than the side walls. The distance between the
end walls will appear to decrease. To widen a room or hallway, use
light colors on the walls, ceiling, and floor.
To make a square
room seem more interesting, paint one wall a focal or accent color.
A single dark wall will create the illusion of moving into the room;
a single light-colored wall will push outward. Window walls will appear
darker because they receive only reflected light.
A paint’s
finish will also influence the proportions of a room. A matte or flat
finish will reflect the least amount of light making a room seem slightly
smaller. While high gloss paint is the most durable and reflects the
most light, it is seldom used to make a room look larger because it
also highlights surface imperfections. In a small room, eggshell and
satin finishes are often selected. Consider the paint color in the
context of the room’s lighting. Incandescent light emphasizes
the yellow and red spectrum making those colors more intense. Fluorescent
lights that are not color corrected to mimic daylight will have a
cold, blue effect on color. Daylight will influence color depending
on the time of day.
A room with southern
exposure will feel cooler and larger when painted in re-freshing blues
and greens. A room with southern exposure painted in warm colors will
appear warmer and smaller. A space with northern exposure will appear
warmer and smaller painted in yellows and reds.
Finally, keep
in mind that the color on a paint chip will seem less intense or lighter
than the color applied to a whole wall.
Paulette Rossi
is a Certified Master Recycler promoting the use of Metro Recycled
Paint available in a rainbow of colors. She can be reached at:
rossip@metro.dst.or.us or 503-797-1827. |
