“Colour! What a deep and mysterious language, the language of dreams.”
Paul Gauguin 1848 – 1903
Colour is a mysterious thing and, as the influential French artist Gauguin once famously pointed out, colour has such power and influence on us it almost communicates in its own language.
Yet, in spite of this significance, we can often be quite slapdash in how and where we use colour in our homes being inspired by fluctuating trends or making lasting colour choices on a whim.
Chosen well, colour can have a calming and soothing effect on us and, yes, it can even make us feel a bit happier too. Colour psychology is an actual thing and there’s research to back up how colour affects our mood and behaviour and can even produce different physiological responses in us as well.
Advertisers leverage colour as a way of communicating unspoken messages about their brand. Blue for instance is often used to convey strength, trust and safety, hence why you’ll find blue associated with banking and financial services. Red communicates vibrancy, youthfulness and activity, hence why it’s a no-brainer choice for iconic logos such as Coca-Cola, Virgin and Lego among many others.
It’s a trope that’s also well used in the design retail and leisure complexes to influence our mood and shopping behaviour. Technology retailers will steer towards bright white interiors as white is suggestive of innovation and modernity, whereas a lingerie shop would be more likely to use more black as it’s a sexier colour with associations of risk.
So, if colour is important enough for retailers to consider in designer their shopping experiences, how much more important should it be in our homes?
Join us in part II of our blog later this week where we’ll be thinking more about how we use colours in our homes and, crucially, in our bedrooms.