Decorating Tips: The Meaning of Colors

Colors have many different meanings. Have you ever been in a blue room, feeling calm and relaxed, and then walked into a red room and you began to feel chatty and excited? The change in your mood wasn't just coincidence - it was an actual psychological and physiological response to the colors of the rooms. When you are planning to decorate your home, the colors of your rooms should be one of your first considerations. You want to choose colors that you're not only comfortable with, but also colors that will create the right types of moods for both you and your guests in each room.

Let's start with some of the more common colors: Blue is a calming, relaxing color. The color is good for bedrooms but can destroy the mood in a dining room as it serves as an appetite represent. Combined with green, blue exudes a natural atmosphere in a room. For centuries, green has been representative of life and birth, but on the flip side, it has been known for jealousy and inexperience. Like blue, green is a relaxing color. The color symbolizes a certain harmony both in the world and in life.

Red on the other hand, is an appetite and conversation stimulant. Red is a fiery color that at times represents both hatred and passion. Red also represents power; thus the use of it for celebrities on the red carpet and red ties for powerful executives. Yellow is also a powerful color. Since yellow is the color of sunshine, it has a happy, uplifting aura. However, yellow can also be the color of melancholy and cowardice. Carefully pick the hue of your paint and decorations, noting the feelings you get in the presence of those colors.

Pink is a soft color often used in the decorations and room decor for little girls. Psychological studies have actually shown that this color causes physical weakness in people. Orange is a mixture of red and yellow, so it has all the warmth and comfort of those colors. Some oranges - such as the color of pumpkins and fall leaves - is a stimulant and good for use in the dining room. Purple has always been a special color, representing royalty and spirituality. Purple is known for stimulating creativity in small doses, but large amounts of purple can cause depression and moodiness.

Considering the meanings of the different colors is an important part of decorating your room. You should consider both the way the colors make you feel - for example, if you fell in a vat of yellow paint when you were little, yellow is probably not a cheerful color for you - but you should also take into account the way that it will make your guests feel. Using blue in your dining area will likely suppress your visitors' appetites, and despite how much you may love the color for your dining area, you should consider their needs and desires as well.

For more home decorating and decor tips, ideas, articles, and gorgeous decor accents and accessories for your home - visit The Do It Yourself Home Decorating Network @DIYHomeDecorating.com.

© 2005, Kathy Burns-Millyard. This article may be freely published on any website, as long as the author, copyright, website address and link, and this notice are left intact.

Rockford Valley College to host interior decorating course Rockford Register Star By Leigh Hunziker Rockford Valley College Community and Continuing Education will hold an eight-week interior decorating course from 6:15-8:15 pm March 21 to May 9 in Classroom Building II on RVC's main campus, 3301 N. Mulford Road.

Business Insider

Gingrich's 'Modest' 5000 Square Foot House Has Issues According To Interior ... Business Insider AP Newt Gingrich lives in McLean, VA, in a house that can only be described as modest, considering real estate values in the Washington DC Beltway suburb. But it's pretty clear that the former House Speaker wants to trade up. Campaign website photos of ... and more »

Christina's on Magee offers upholstery, home interior services Danbury News Times Christina Spano Manowitz poses for a photo at her upholstery and custom interior decorating business, Christina's on Magee, on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. Photo: Lindsay Niegelberg / Stamford Advocate | Buy This Photo Christina Spano Manowitz poses ... and more »

Talking Business: Carpet One closes Longview shop Longview Daily News Columbia River Carpet One Floor and Home shut down its Longview interior decorating store last month and consolidated its merchandise and services at its original Rainier location. "The economy won't support two of them. The builders aren't building ...

Airport manager search panel, timeline set Brainerd Daily Dispatch The commission identified two entities it wants to work with as it considers interior decorating ideas for the terminal in the future. The two are Danae Blanck Anderson of ID Your World and a partnership including Millie Engisch Morris and Dyan Westman ... and more »

Astrology Dining: How To Pick A Restaurant For Every Sign Huffington Post They use not just food, but things like interior decorating, location and service style to create a certain effect, which may or may not resonate with any given person. Of course, many people don't believe that astrology is "real.

Divorce Claims Man's Star Trek Apartment Seattle Post Intelligencer By Joyce Eng, TV GUIDE One man boldly went where interior decorating had never gone before - until divorce snatched it all away from him. After separating from his wife, Georgina, in 1994, British DJ/die-hard Trekkie Tony Alleyne spent 10 years and ... and more »

Mission in Milot U-T San Diego MILOT, Haiti — The first lesson that 10 students from the University of San Diego's Hahn School of Nursing learned on their weeklong immersion into community health care in Haiti was interior decorating with mosquito netting. The exercise, which took ... and more »

Boston.com

Standout symbols of a program on the rise Boston.com But he did find time to do a little interior decorating. Hang a left when you walk through the doors, and there on the wall are super-sized photographs of Patriots defensive back James Ihedigbo and Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz. and more »

Shirley A. Permar Tiffin Advertiser Tribune She enjoyed interior decorating, reading novels, needlepoint, holiday baking, playing cards and golfing. She will be remembered as a lady who loved animals, especially her dogs, her strong political views, a great sense of humor and a loving mother and ...