What Color Can Do For Your Life

     I think many people are aware of the effects that décor and surroundings can have on our well being both mentally and physically. Feng Shui is well known today and used by interior decorators quite frequently. How many people know, however, that color alone has a deeper meaning to our lives than whether it compliments the drapes or the new sofa we just bought ? As a matter of fact you can make a profound effect on your home just by the colors you choose in any particular area- whether it’s the dining area, bathing or for sleeping.

 

                                                                  

     Some years ago when I was in London for the second time I met a man who had read the book The Luescher Color Test. It was translated into English from the German text book written by Dr. Max Luescher who set up an eight basic color choice test to reveal hidden aspects of your character through your color preferences. With special cards provided with the book you actually take the test first before you read the book. In this way, you don’t prejudice your color selections before going on to read the rather deep psychological information supplied in the book. I recommend this book for everyone who really feels the need to self-examine their honest feelings toward specific colors before they start filling their houses with them or making serious and expensive choices. You may think this is an odd bit of advice before telling you what comes next but I think it bears some real pondering to find out how you actually feel about a color before you choose it. Max Luescher’s test put to rest, once and for all, how individual we really are, how to use a tangible source to understand our inner selves, why we react to our environment color and how color choice can effect us. 

                                             

     Now, I told you all that to tell you how you can make color actually work with you instead of against you. Most people want their homes to be sanctuaries away from the hustle and bustle of the world around them. In that case you would be best choosing various shades of aqua, pale shades of yellow and various hues of pink (baby pink to mauve to salmon, for example) for your bedroom and kitchen. These are areas of your house in which you relax the most and these colors are very beneficial for that reason. The aqua shades provide the most relaxing effect and has a calming effect on the mind. The warmer yellow and orange shades will keep your focus energized and the warmness in them gives you positive balance. There should be less of the latter shades in the bedroom with aqua dominate so it will be more conducive to sleep. This also works in the bathroom where you can add woodland shades in paler hues. Think of the shades of a forest in autumn.

           

     In your living room you would want various shades of green- but not chartreuse- which will make the visual impact too unsettling. Forest greens along with aqua or complimentary blues will work best especially if you do any type of home work or some extension of busy work you are used to doing during the day. Blue in any shade produces an effect of efficiency on your mind whether you are doing simple or more complicated tasks. It helps you make decisions and the green has a healing, nourishing effect helping you to produce in a stable environment. Even if you are only watching the T.V. it will rejuvenate your being.

        

     A home office should have lots of pastel shades such as pinks, baby blues and light lilac or lavender. These shades are easy to mix and the effects are spiritual, calming and make you more open to ideas, creativity and writing. Putting pink light bulbs in this room will also help reduce glare and create a coolness for the shades to blend better. Warmer shades which go into various yellow and orange can help with concentration but keep in mind they also may make you hungry. This has been proven with restaurants, particularly the fast food variety, who use colors in their decor consistently because of that very effect ! Adding in pastels in green will be better if you use the office for doing books, balancing your checkbook and paying bills primarily. It not only helps you to stay calm but has the added benefit of producing feelings of prosperity and wealth. It can also help you focus since added dark green gives the impression of the great outdoors and feeling close to nature. That effect will be wonderful if you are doing creative writing or art projects in your office. 

     Colors you would want to avoid in your home are various shades of red and black should not be used at all.  Whether reds are clear, bright or deep the effect could be over stimulating. These are only effective shades for certain personality types which need the boost. In my next entry on this series I am going to address that and two other entries will address a few other personality types and what they should use for color as an effect in their home. Black is especially dramatic~ more so than red~ and more intense jewel tones of basic colors are highly emotionally affecting. These can be used as accents for very dramatic types but will not produce the kind of atmosphere for those who need the home to be a basically calm and relaxing environment.

Until next time, feng shui kisses from

  

The Castle Lady 

      

 I’ll finish Shropshire in the next couple of days. In the duration, please have a look at the new Shropshire photos !