Home Improvement Information

Color Help: Color Imagery for Happy Homes


Color researchers have estimated that up to 70% of our subconscious reactions to people and environments are based solely on our reactions to color. With that in mind, it's important that you give special attention to the effects you want to create when choosing the color schemes for the interior spaces in your home.

Color is a visual experience that influences our psychological reality. The way the mind perceives the colors our eyes see is called color imagery, and that mental image profoundly affects our emotions and physical comfort. Colors call out to our feelings and create the emotional atmosphere within a room.

So always begin your color deliberations by asking yourself what feelings you want to evoke in a particular room. Give thought to the purpose of the room. For instance, bathrooms should be retreats for cleansing rituals. In that light, what colors come to mind? Refreshing, blues, greens, creamy white, or your childhood bathroom color? Envision a Florida spring, tropical lagoon, or mountain waterfall. Expand on your joyful memories by adding colors that work for you.

In contrast to bathrooms, a dining room's purpose is to gather the family together to share meals. Psychologists have proven that food actually tastes better when served in rooms decorated in "food" colors, such as reds, greens, browns, yellows, and pinks.

In our 1878 Victorian dining room, we painted the walls hot pink and then created a transparent overcoat glaze, using an amber tint and polyurethane. The result is a soft peach color. (The amber tint was the paint color from a neighboring room.) After finishing the dining room, we wallpapered the ceiling and painted it dark green with a rouge red border.

Each room in your home serves a different purpose and will require some thought as to which color you will need to add to the walls in order to elicit a particular emotional and physiological response from the people who will be using that room for a specific activity. If 70% of our subconscious reactions to people and situations have to do with color response, that means creating meaningful backdrops for every room in the house isn't something that should be approached lightly.

(c) Copyright 2004, Jeanette J. Fisher. All rights reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm


MORE RESOURCES:

Home design depression
Boston Globe, United States - 5 hours ago
The sad truth is, if I had an IV drip of Diet Pepsi I could spend all weekend watching HGTV, or any of the home improvement shows on the DIY Network, ...


European shares down for second straight session
MarketWatch - 3 hours ago
Mineral extractors will continue its decline along with home improvement retailers. Remember the stay-cation theme where bets were on home improvement ...


BobVila.com

How to save money on your home improvement project
YourHub.com, CO - Jan 5, 2009
Workshop for Women can help you get the home improvement skills you need in an inviting and fun environment. Taking a class will . ...
New Year's Home Improvement Resolutions BobVila.com
all 2 news articles


Do thorough research before signing a home improvement contract
Detroit Free Press, United States - Jan 4, 2009
... the economy on shaky ground, it's more important than ever for homeowners to carefully screen the contractors they hire for home improvement projects. ...


9 home-improvement projects for 2009
Seattle Times, United States - Jan 3, 2009
A look at what home projects will allow folks to live better now and make the house more saleable later. By Karen Klages A bathroom remodel may make your ...


Home Improvement Expert Don Zeman Dies
Los Angeles Chronicle,  USA - Jan 3, 2009
SAVANNAH, GA - Don Zeman, known to millions of radio listeners and television viewers across the country as "America´s Home Improvement Expert" died ...
News From The Homefront KEYC
all 3 news articles


What’s Up? Students go back to school and hectic lives
Reno Gazette Journal, NV - 18 hours ago
It never is easy to focus on finals when you've spent the last two weeks watching reruns of Home Improvement, hanging out with friends and sleeping in until ...


What's your home improvement resolution for 2009?
MLive.com, MI - Jan 3, 2009
"What are your home improvement resolutions for the new year?" Post your response under "Post a comment," and it could be included in next Sunday's ...


Conventional loans for construction and remodeling
CBS 42, TX - Jan 7, 2009
One way to protect or increase its value in the future is through home improvement, whether it's building a patio or installing new carpeting. ...


Plan ahead to save money on energy, home improvement
Staunton News Leader, VA - Jan 3, 2009
And, thanks to a number of plastic storm window kits available at area hardware and home improvement stores, putting plastic over your windows is easier ...

Home-Improvement - Google News

home | site map
© 2006