{ COLOR “Residential Housing and Interiors” (Good-Heart Wilcox)

 A space absent of color would not give any interest to the person occupying the space  Color creates a mood within a room, and can communicate excitement, romance or solitude  Many color perceptions affect the way people feel about a room, space or object  People make associations with colors based on past experiences  Each color has its own characteristics and common psychological impact The Psychology of Color

 Careful color consideration should be used in each area of the home  The social area of a home should be decorated in colors that will make all members feel comfortable  Bedrooms should be decorated in colors that make the occupants feel relaxed  Dressing areas should be free of harsh colors that may contrast with choosing clothing The Psychology of Color

 List each color on a piece of paper. Next to the color, list the first word that comes to mind when you hear the color. Do not think for too long. Activity Black Orange Brown Yellow White Green Pink Blue Red Purple

RED  Associated with danger, power, love, passion, anger, fire and strength  Bold, exciting, and warm  Stimulates the nervous system and increases blood pressure, respiration rate and heartbeat  It should be used with care in design  Can be lightened or darkened to create other colors

ORANGE  Cheerful, warm, less aggressive than red  Expresses friendliness, courage, hospitality, energy and hope  Mixes well with cool colors

YELLOW  Cheerful, friendly, warm  Associated with happiness, sunlight, sympathy, prosperity, cowardice, and wisdom  Yellow rooms are light and airy  Should be used with care because they demand attention  Gold provides a luxurious touch and usually used in accents and accessories  Yellows take on the tones of other colors and add flattering highlights

GREEN  Refreshing, the color of nature, cool, peaceful and friendly  Associated with hope, envy, and good luck  Mixes well with other colors and looks good with white

BLUE  Has the opposite effect of red  Cool, calm and reserved  Communicates serenity, tranquility, and formality  Too much blue can be depressing

VIOLET  Color of royalty, dignity, and mystery  Dramatic and works well with other colors  Often used in small amounts as an accent

BLACK  Mysterious, severe and dramatic  Symbolizes wisdom, evil, and death  Small amounts help other colors appear more vivid  Makes other colors appear more crisp and clear  Use large amounts sparingly, as it can appear oppressive and claustrophobic

WHITE  The symbol of youth, freshness, innocence, purity, faith and peace  Makes other colors appear cleaner and livelier

BROWN  Serious, down-to-earth, and approachable  Signifies warmth, stability, reliability, structure, and support  Good in rooms that get a lot of use such as family rooms ee-dry-leaf-texture-designs/

 The full range of all existing colors  The color wheel is the most commonly used tool for understanding color relationships in design  The middle ring consists of three types of colors:  Primary  Secondary  Intermediate The Color Spectrum

The Color Wheel

Color Characteristics  Hue is the name of the color  Value is the lightness or darkness of a hue  A tint is when white is added to make it lighter  A shade is when black is added to make it darker  Intensity is the brightness or dullness of a hue  The complement of a hue is the color directly opposite of it on the color wheel and can be used to dull each other

 Some colors may make a room seem warmer or cooler even though the temperature of a house is the same  Warm colors are orange, red, and yellow  Called advancing colors, make objects appear larger or closer, but a room appears smaller  Associated with warm objects such as the sun and fire  Cool colors are blue, green and violet  Called receding colors, make objects seem smaller and further away, but a room looks larger  Associated with grass, water and trees Warm and Cool Colors

Neutral Colors  Black, white and gray  White is totally absent of color, black is a mixture of all colors and gray is a combination of black and white  Brown, tan and beige are considered near- neutrals  These are usually based on red, orange and yellow hues

 Natural light is energy supplied by the sun in wavelengths which range in size from short (ultraviolet) and long (infrared)  There is a very small band of light that is visible and its colors are seen in a color band  Natural light changes throughout the day causing colors to have different tints at different times of the day  Always choose colors under the light that will be used in the room  Cool colors need warm light and vice versa THE EFFECT OF LIGHT ON COLOR

OTHER COLOR EFFECTS  Effect of adjacent colors  Colors change when placed next to others  Some can intensify and others dull  Effect of texture on color  Flat, shiny surfaces reflect light and can enhance color  Dull, soft or textured surfaces make color seem less intense and darker  Effect of color on space  Colors gain intensity when they cover large areas

The Brewster System  The standard color wheel  Best known and simplest of all the color wheels  Is also called the Prang system  Based on the primary hues  Includes primary, secondary and intermediate colors for a total of 12 colors

The Ostwald System  Uses yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, turquoise, sea green and leaf green  Mixing these hues with black or white will create 24 hues

The Munsell System  A system of color notation that scientifically describes and analyzes color in terms of hue, value and chroma (the Greek word for color)  Has a total of 100 different colors

Color Schemes  Certain colors used together in design  There are seven basic color harmonies

MONOCHROMATIC  Based on a single hue and is the simplest color harmony  Variation is achieved by changing the value and intensity of a hue and by adding neutral accents  Makes a room appear larger and unified

ANALOGOUS  Combines three to five adjacent related hues on the color wheel  Looks best when one color is dominant  Examples:  Yellow, yellow-orange, and orange  Green, blue-green, and blue

COMPLEMENTARY  Combining two hues that are directly opposite each other on the standard color wheel  Makes the colors appear more intense  Examples  Red/green, yellow/purple, orange/blue

SPLIT COMPLEMENTARY  Combining one hue and the two hues on each side of its complement  Examples  Red-orange, green, and blue  Yellow, blue-violet, and red-violet

TRIADIC  Combination of any three colors that are of equal distance from each other  The most common is the three primaries: red, blue and yellow  This can be tricky because of the sharp contrast

DOUBLE COMPLEMENT  Combines two sets of color complements  Examples:  Red/green and blue/orange 05/list/choosing-hues-roll-with-the- color-wheel

NEUTRALS  Made by using combinations of black, white and gray  Shades of cream, brown, tan and beige may also be used  If only one of any of these colors is used in a space, it is still considered a neutral color scheme droom/picture/relaxed-neutral- bedroom

 Consider color harmonies that happen in nature  Ex: earth tones  Think about the fabric you want to use or a painting you want to hang in the room  Pull colors from these samples  Some places are able to match paint colors directly to samples  Always choose a dominant color  Sometimes an equal amount of colors is overwhelming Color Decisions