Color Guide: Interior and Exterior Painting

Everyone has different tastes in colors, especially when it comes to their homes. When it comes to redecorating one’s home, most would like to choose colors and ideas that reflect the homeowner’s personality. United Painting can not determine what color is best for each customer because each customer’s color preference varies. However, we can give you information regarding color, to assist you in choosing the color that best suits you and your home. The following links allow you to view different color schemes together.

Psychology of color:

Psychologists, Physiologists, Decorators, and Architects have been studying the use of color and how it can affects people’s biological chemistry and moods. By knowing how colors affect moods you can determine what kind of atmosphere you would like to create in each room of your home.

White

White is symbolic of purity and innocence. It creates feeling of cleanliness, comfort, and freedom. Its neutrality makes it popular in decorating. White can also make smaller rooms have a larger open feeling; however, too much white can make a room feel cold and isolated.

Black

The effect of the color black is contradictory. Black can give the feeling of power and authority or a feeling of submission and silence. Black can appear aloof and evil (hence why villains wear black) or can appear protective and comforting like being enveloped in a blanket. It can make a room feel vast like the night sky or closed in.

Red

The color of love, red actually stimulates stamina and vitality. Red also can increase heartbeat, blood pressure, appetite and breathing. Red draws the eye and gets attention. Typically it is used as an accent color in decorating to add a touch of excitement and liveliness to a room.

Blue

Blue creates the opposite reaction of red. Blue has shown to decrease blood pressure and aid in relaxation. Due to the tranquil affect of the color blue, it is often used in bedrooms and has even proven to help people with insomnia. Blue also has been shown to increase productivity and aid in thought processing which makes it a great color for an office or kitchen where people want to remain relaxed but productive.

Green

Green with its connection to nature creates feelings of relaxation and laziness. Waiting rooms & hospitals often use the color green because it relaxes people. The color green has shown to aid in muscle relaxation and to slow breathing. Currently, it is the most popular color in decorating

Yellow

Like red, yellow is also an attention getter. Thought of as a cheerful and optimistic color, yellow has proven to stimulate the brain, enhance concentration, and speed metabolism. It is associated with better decision-making, memory, self-esteem and clear thinking. The color yellow can make a room look cheerful and welcoming; however, yellow is the hardest color for the eye to perceive, so without soothing colors to off-set the stimulation, it can be overpowering and create tension. Babies have been shown to cry more in yellow rooms, and people lose their tempers more in yellow rooms.

Purple

The color purple is associated with luxury, wealth, romance, creativity & sensitivity to beauty. It has a peaceful and soothing effect on emotions. Purples are sometimes used to aid nervous disorders by creating peace and balance in the mind. The color purple appears to ease obsessions and fears. One caution is that purple may appear fake or artificial due to its infrequency in nature.

Pink

Even though pink is a lighter shade of red, it has the opposite effect. Pink aids in muscle relaxation. It creates feelings of tranquility, protection, and nurturing. Children’s hospitals often paint the walls bubble-gum pink due to its comforting effect on children. Locker rooms of the opposing team are often painted pink so their opponents will lose stamina.

Orange

The color orange is an antidepressant. It enhances self esteem by relieving feelings of self pity and lack of self worth. This color has shown to aid the digestive and immune systems. The combination of pink and orange excites people and places them on edge, which is why pink and orange are often used in the fast food industry. The feelings of excitement and being on edge allows for faster eating and higher customer turnover.

Brown

Brown, the color of earth, creates feelings of security & reliability but can also be associated with sadness and retreating from the world. Brown is often favored by men more so than women.

Gray

Gray is usually thought of in a negative light, since it is neither black nor white, it can seem noncommittal, unrevealing, and isolated. However, gray is also the color of independence and self-reliance and has become more popular in modern decorating.