Accent colors in a room can add a touch of interest to your home as well as evoke different emotions.
Adding color inside your home can be an emotional endeavor — literally — said Jackie Gill of G2 Design Team in Marble Falls. Color can affect moods, so know what you want out of a room before you choose, she warned.
“Decide whether you want to be energized and uplifted by reds and yellows or to feel stronger with a dependable green,” Gill said. “Or maybe you want to be calmed by blues or happy and nurturing with purples and pinks.”
Following is a list of colors and the feelings they evoke, according to Pantone Color Institute, a consulting firm that forecasts color trends and advises companies on color and brand identity.
- Yellow brightens the spirit with a sunshine-like effect of happiness.
- Red is a vitalizing color that perks up the mood.
- Orange evokes feelings of security, and in smaller doses, strength.
- Green establishes a sense of confidence with natural references.
- Blue calms and quiets tempers.
- Purple promotes calmness, happiness, and regality, depending on its intensity.
- Pink conveys a sense of nurturing and compassion.
Gill also takes into consideration color relativity, which is how the appearance of colors can change when next to other colors. She visits her client’s home to assess furniture and decor as part of her color research.
“I make suggestions considering what my client has in the home and make a recommendation based on things they tell me,” Gill said.
To begin, she usually offers three color swatches but can also provide a larger color board that clients can move around to judge how the light changes it at different times of the day.
Accent walls are a way to go bold without committing an entire room to something like brilliant periwinkle, which might not suit everyone in the family.
Go deep first, Gill said, like to the back wall of a pantry with a peekaboo of color that will surprise guests and can be changed on a whim. Paint windowsills a bright color or coat a bookshelf with a soft shade that contrasts with darker sides and back. Closets cry out for a vivid splash of color in their dark interiors, she said. These areas also are a great testing ground for unusual color schemes.
“I like to help my clients think outside of the box,” said Gill when suggesting ways to brighten up the boxed-in spaces in our homes.
However, making a recommendation for a particular color can be delicate.
“Everyone has feelings (about color),” she said.
alecia@thepicayune.com
