Find Some Pizzazz with Color
I love color. Maybe that is why I love spring; nature is vibrating with color, enlivening everything, including us. Bright green leaves radiate against dark wet bark, flowers sparkle with dew, the sun seems brighter and the blue sky bluer, everything is waking up and vibrant. The whole world seems happy and is inviting us to join in. So just think, if nature can use color to lift our spirits, what could it do for us when we bring it indoors?
I love using color to wake up rooms. A room should make you feel the way spring makes you feel. It should invite you in and then embrace you, filling you with happiness and renewing you. After all that is the whole point of décor. It’s the décor that makes you smile every time you stop in, and color plays a major role in the décor and your happiness.
Color affects our vitality, so when people say they are tired of neutrals and need more color in their life, it’s their intuition telling them to recharge. Color is amazing and affects our senses, mental clarity, emotions, and overall health. For instance, if a home has too many neutrals, overtime it can cause a feeling of being stuck or blasé, or of being tired or drained. It can cause boredom and depression. Too much color can cause the opposite reaction by stimulating over activity, promoting hypertension and stress, creating distracted or scattered thoughts, and even causing heated conversations.
So it’s all about balance and having your home’s décor be the best for you. One way to easily do this is to let color create visual rhythms and focal points. Our eyes are drawn to color first, so using it thoughtfully will enliven any space. Here are a few simple ways to create some pizzazz ….
- Add color to the outside entry of your front door. This is the first impression of you and is a perfect place to make an impressive impression. Since our eyes are drawn to color, use it to greet and welcome your visitors; it will make them smile. Select a palette of 2-3 vibrant colors, then add a softer color for filler; consider using the lighter color of your house’s color motif. Use these colors in flowers or plants placed in containers, or in the gardens, or both. (Always replace dead or dying plants with healthy vibrant plants.) Or use splashes of these colors on a bench or chair, a door wreath, or door mat.
- Carry the hospitality inside by having enough space for 2-3 people to easily enter your home. Next decide the path your guests should take once they enter, then lead your guests to these areas with splashes of the same colors used outside. This creates a lovely transition from the two areas and can be as simple as a vase of flowers, a beautiful picture, or a chair with a colorful pillow. Be inspired.
- Continue using splashes of color in other rooms by first deciding where the room’s focal point should be and then use color to invite people in. The color adds visual interest and vibrant beauty. For instance, centering a coffee table on a fireplace creates a perfect focal point; add a colorful accent to the coffee table to provide a visual foundation and then carry that same color to the fireplace mantle for unity and balance. This also works for the dining room by placing a beautiful center piece on the dining table, creating an inviting visual anchor for the chandelier; and again in the kitchen, by adding a colorful bowl of fruit to a spacious island or open counter, making the room delicious.
As you can see, color can quickly and easily wake up a room and it does not have to cost a lot to get amazing results. So have fun putting some pizzazz in your home!
