Everything You Need To Know About Colour Psychology

Tell us more about how individual colours affect us…

Red affects us on a physical level. It has the longest wavelength, so we tend to see this colour first. It triggers physical responses; it's stimulating and related to masculinity and our flight or fight instinct. But it’s a bit of a myth that red raises the heart rate: a study at Leeds University suggested the increase in heart rate when exposed to red is actually only about 0.3%. Dark red tones are physically stimulating but light red tones (pink) are physically soothing.

Blue affects the mind and mental responses. It stimulates thought and intellect. Light blue tones are mentally soothing while darker blue tones are mentally stimulating.

Yellow affects our emotions and impacts our nervous system. It can boost self-esteem and confidence, and encourage optimism, positivity and uplifting thoughts.

Green is the colour of balance and harmony between the physical of red, the intellect of blue and the emotions of yellow. Green is the balance between mind, body and emotional self.

What about when you change the saturation of a colour?

To change a colour you either add black, white or both. For example, pink is a derivative of red – it’s red plus white – but whereas red is physically stimulating, pink is physically soothing. If cuddles were a colour, they’d be pink. While red exudes warmth, energy, excitement, passion and even rebellion, and works well in a dining room, reception room, living room or as an accent colour, pink is nurturing, caring, feminine and warm. It really suits a nursery, bedroom, kitchen, hallway, living room or creative home office. Orange – also a derivative of red – is physically and emotionally stimulating. It’s warm, fun and playful, and it works well in spaces with high social interaction, such as a kitchen, workplace, hallway or dining room. That’s why you may have noticed terracotta having a resurgence recently.

Yellow is emotionally stimulating and we love it in breakfast areas, kitchens, bathrooms, a nursery and as an accent colour – especially on the ceiling. Whereas yellow with a touch of black can be emotionally stimulating, with a touch of white it can be emotionally soothing.

Because green is the colour of life, it is the one colour that requires almost no adjustment for the eye to see it, indicating it as a colour of balance and harmony. It’s reassuring and safe, suggesting new life and growth, and even universal peace. It’s very popular in kitchens at the moment, and works well in a bedroom, home office, study and living room. Depending on the tone, it can be balancing and soothing, or balancing and stimulating.

Blue is the UK's favourite colour and it can be mentally stimulating or mentally soothing depending on the hue. It encourages logic, communication, clarity of thought, calm, reflection and serenity. In a home office, go for light blue to encourage creativity and dark blue for better concentration. Also, consider using it in bathrooms, children’s playrooms, hallways and bedrooms – in fact, if you want to get a good night’s sleep, a pale blue ceiling will calm your mind.

Beige and brown represent the earth and offer an assured, safe, dependable, cosy, warm and comfortable space, which is why it works well in a living room, study, bedroom and bathroom. 

White is pure, simple and clear, conveying a sense of perfection, but it can be sterile, cold and isolating. Black absorbs all the light and reflects nothing back, but can convey a sense of glamour and elegance, sophistication and gravitas, but it can also feel oppressive, menacing and heavy. Interestingly, despite its presence in many homes in the last decade, grey is virtually absent of colour. In general colour psychology terms, there are no positive qualities to grey. To make it work, look for grey hues that contain undertones of other colours you are drawn to.