The paint colours we choose for our homes often carry more weight than we realize. Selecting a shade for a room is more than an aesthetic choice; it’s a choice about communication. What do you want this room to say to its inhabitants? Its guests? The colours that comprise your home tell a story about your personality, your lifestyle, and the message you want to send to your guests. Of course, we all experience colour in our own subjective way with unique emotional responses to match, but generally, basic truths can be extracted from colour families about the impression they leave on their surroundings.
With its pervasiveness throughout the natural world, green has been declared the colour of growth. We associate greenish hues with renewal, health, wellness, cleanliness, and vitality. These associations are amplified by the health and wellness industry’s persistent use of the colour in their corporate logos and symbols, both capitalizing on and reinforcing the connection of green with the idea of wellbeing. Also implicit in the colour is the concept of fertility: back in the 1500s, this association was so strong, green was actually the preferred colour of wedding gowns. Colour Psychology also tells us green promotes balance, efficiency, and relaxation where it is deployed, making it the perfect tone for an office or studio. Interestingly, guests waiting to appear on television or on stage often wait in a “green room” to help ease any pre-show jitters.
There is an intensity to the shade that brings about clarity and promotes focus and energy. Its simplicity and the degree to which our eye is accustomed to the colour due to its persistent presence in nature brings about an organic harmony and allows the eye to relax. Information overload is the condition of the twenty-first century; we are constantly navigating through vast networks of news, emails, conversations, and decisions, putting any evocation of harmony at a premium. It seems we all could use a little more of green’s calming and revitalizing powers in our lives.
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