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Color Your World

A guide to picking the perfect colors for your mood

Photo by Greg Page

To tour Stephanie Prudden’s color-splashed home is to know her. Stories are mixed into nearly every hue she’s selected, revealing her life experiences and the things she loves most—oceans and the outdoors, sunshine and warmth, the Southwest and Italy. ¶ The walls of her Wayzata living room are a cool shade of Laguna Beach green sprinkled with a sandy tan that reminds Prudden of the Caribbean, where her family has vacationed often. With walls dressed in a warm sandy hue with a terra cotta glaze, the bright kitchen evokes the Southwest. Tiles in shades of sapphire, boysenberry, and sea green form the backsplash, and a dusky sunrise stretches across the ceiling. In the owner’s bedroom, leopard print carpet from Spain greets your feet, Chinese red molding outlines the room, and vibrant paisley print fabric dances across the walls. ¶ “I put my personal stamp on everything,” Prudden says. “The colors make me feel happy. It’s self-expression to create a warm, happy environment to come home to.” ¶ Our reaction to colors are indeed personal, design and color experts agree. That’s why it’s important to do some internal investigation to determine which colors make you feel best and then use them to create a true sanctuary in your home. Using color randomly can muddle its impact and even make you feel uneasy. Likewise, lack of lack of color can leave you feeling cold or flat.
 

Uncover your hue

“People have different emotions associated with color, so it can really impact your mood and should be used carefully in a home,” says Susan Hayes Hoover, a Twin Cities color and design consultant. Colors can conjure up good and bad memories and experiences, she says, and just altering the value or hue can change an individual’s response.

To discover colors that do the most for your mood, tap into your best memories, experiences, and trips. Think about what colors or scenes you were surrounded by during those times. But don’t throw universal color truths to the wind, Hayes Hoover cautions. Remember that there are scientifically documented reactions to certain colors. Green, for example, is generally calming, while red is energizing. Consider the desired mood and use of a space before scattering your favorite Pantones across the house.

Reaction to color is often influenced by childhood, explains Seattle-based color consultant and author Leatrice Eiseman. Alex and Ted Christianson’s Edina home, for instance, is bright and colorful because Alex grew up with a lot of color. “I always had bright things, and I wore bright clothing,” she says. “My bedroom had Laura Ashley wallpaper on the walls with a different pattern on the ceiling.” Thus, when TreHus Architects + Interior Designers + Builders of Minneapolis recently remodeled her kitchen, they helped her create a space vibrant with royal blue, clay red, and sunglow yellow. The Christianson’s dining room is painted an indulgent shade of morning glory purple; and the living room is doused in rave red.

Finding colors that resonate with you can be as easy as following your gaze in the paint store, Eiseman says. If your eyes float immediately toward blues, that may be a sign that you’re emotionally attracted to water or another “blue” element. For most people, though, this takes time and reflection. “Nobody else can climb inside your head,” Eiseman says.

To start, look for color repetition around your home and in your wardrobe. “If it’s repeated in your home, you already have a predisposition to like it,” she says. “You can feel fairly confident that it does resonate with you.”
Notice how you feel when you walk into rooms or flip through catalogs and magazines. Think about what certain color schemes remind you of. Products aimed at helping you choose colors may be nothing more than gimmicks, Eiseman says. However, you may find designers, color classes, and books to be helpful guides.
 

Comforting color

Photo by Susan Gilmore

Taking the time to create a space that makes you feel good is worth it, says Mary Jo Kreitzer, the director of the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota who also teaches courses on creating optimal healing environments.

“Neuroscientists are looking at how space is constructed, and we know it can have an effect on people’s well-being and their bodies,” she says, pointing to studies showing that patients who look at nature instead of a blank wall recover faster and require less pain medication. Kreitzer says she would likewise expect physical, mental, or emotional improvements for people whose homes are consciously designed and decorated.

Edina residents Cindy and Jeff Holker knew they wanted their home have an inviting, comfortable feel, so they encouraged interior designer Linda Engler, principal of Engler Skogmo Interior Design in Edina, to use rich colors. Engler complied with deep olive gray walls in the living room, a kitchen splashed with Granny Smith apple greens, and office walls in amber gold. “I gave them color, and they kept saying, ‘Add more,’” Engler says. “This house is not for the faint of heart, color-wise. It’s got a lot of intensity to it.”

“I like to go to restaurants that serve comfort food—mac and cheese or turkey with mashed potatoes,” Jeff Holker says. “I almost feel what we’ve done here is created a house of comfort colors.

“I wanted that sense of calm I get with rich colors. I kind of hark back to my younger days at my grandparents house—they had a lot of similar colors in their home,” he says. “I remember going over to watch the ‘Wide World of Disney’ on Sunday nights on the black and white TV, with a fire going, and the maroons, browns, and greens all around.”

“Learning color and how it feels to you is worth it,” says Sandy LaMendola, principal at Twist Interior Design in Minneapolis. “It’ll capture your spirit and nurture you, it’ll feed you when you’re at home resting, enjoying yourself, and making memories.”

Colors That Tell Your Story

LOOK for color repetition already in your home.

OPEN your closet and note the tones you wear most.

WOMEN, look at the hues in your makeup.

GO TO the paint store and see what color families attract you immediately.

BUY yourself a bouquet of flowers that you adore. What colors are you holding?

THINK about your favorite memories, experiences, and vacations—the times you felt most happy and peaceful. What colors surrounded you? Do the North Woods of Minnesota speak to you, or is does the vibrancy of Miami get your heart beating fast? Look through photo albums to trigger memories.

FLIP through magazines and catalogs or check out websites to see what spaces are most appealing
to you.

PAY close attention to how you feel when you walk into different spaces.

Sarah Moran is a Minneapolis freelance writer.

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