Wall Color Selection #3: Special Effects of Orange & Yellow
If you’re in the mood for a laid-back relaxing color scheme, don’t include a lot of yellow or orange.
The first person to coin the phrase “wake up and smell the coffee” must have been standing in a yellow room.
Yellow says sunshine, energy, warmth and creativity. Yellow is a natural “wake-up call” because it’s said to be invigorating to the nervous system. As you make your way to your morning stimulant of choice, you will find that a yellow kitchen is a big help in jump starting your day. Dining rooms also benefit from a good dose of yellow because it encourages conversation too. Other attributes include mental spark-up and enhanced memory. Kind of like visual gingko biloba, if you will. Rooms with a northern exposure have a naturally “cooler” light, which you can counteract effectively with a sunny yellow.
This is not a restful color. In fact, the stronger shades can even enhance feelings of emotional distress. Think twice about a yellow bedroom unless it’s a multi-purpose room and/or you really love the color.
A social color, orange encourages conversation and could even lead to dancing.
Orange says stability, reassurance, warmth, and energy. Clearly this is a great color for living rooms. It’s said to be good for digestion too, so it rules as a dining room color. The term “seeing red” is a colorful euphemism for being very pissed off, yet studies show that the color orange elicits even stronger emotions. You love it or you hate it. The opposite of “shrinking violet” (curiously, it’s also opposite purple on a color wheel), orange fairly shouts “flamboyant”. That said, different shades of orange like rust, peach or terra cotta have universal appeal.
In the “believe it or not” category, orange can make a room look smaller because it “pops” out and forward. Though it may seem counter-intuitive, dark colors recede and bright and light colors come forward. I’ll discuss the weirdness of color perception later on. If you want to be “safe” use this color in a room with a lot of natural light. But then, if you want to be “safe”, you probably wouldn’t select orange to begin with. Enjoy!
Next time: Wall Color Selection #4: Special Effects of Classic Neutrals
Related Posts
Wall Color Selection #1: Special Effects 0f Blue & Green
Wall Color Selection #2: Special Effects of Red & Purple & The Shades Between
Wall Color Selection #4: Special Effects of Classic Neutrals
Wall Color Selection #5: Special Effects of White
Wall Color Selection #6: Ten Thousand Whites
Wall Color Selection #7: White Room Service
Photo – Yellow Room – http://www.marthastewart.com
Photo – Orange Room – http://Desiretoinspire.blogspot.com
