Feeling Blue? How Colour Affects Your Mood

You’ve heard the terms “seeing red”, “feeling blue” and “green with envy”, well it turns out that colour really can affect your mood, your creativity and even your attention span, in fact colour is so effective it’s even being used in psychology as a form of therapy! Read on to find which colours will influence your mood and how...

Red

Stimulates the body and mind. Increases heart rate and breathing. Bright and warm, red evokes strong emotion, love, warmth and comfort and creates feelings of excitement and intensity; red has even been proved to be an appetite stimulant, and so if you’re serving up a romantic dinner, why not use red table settings and a little red lighting to set the tone?

Yellow

Stimulates the nerves and purifies the body. Yellow enhances concentration and whilst it is often perceived as the cheeriest of all the colours, yellow takes the most out of your eyes due to the high amount of light that’s reflected, this can contribute to feelings or frustration and anger; you’re more likely to lose it in a yellow room and babies tend to cry more in a yellow room. Yellow is also known to raise metabolism and so exposure to small blocks of yellow such as yellow flowers are great for stimulation, just don’t overdo it!

Orange

Increases energy levels and promotes feelings of excitement, enthusiasm and warmth and so if you want to create a warm and energetic atmosphere, try using orange lighting.

Blue

Soothing, tranquil and peaceful, blue promotes calm and serenity and people are proven to be more productive in a blue room. Blue lowers the pulse rate and body temperature. So relax in a blue room or use blue light to help unwind, but don’t overdue it or you may become blue, as certain blue tones can bring on sadness. Blue is also considered the least appetizing colour and so if you’re overeating, try eating from a blue plate!

Green

Symbolises nature and represents tranquillity, good luck, health and jealousy. Green has a calming effect and is used to relieve stress and help heal which is why it’s often used in hospitals. Green can improve reading ability; some students have found that laying a transparent sheet of green paper over reading material increases reading speed and comprehension. Create calm, relaxing areas with green light or read a book in the garden to unwind.

Pink

Has a calming effect and is even used in some prisons to help calm inmates! It’s said that some sports teams have been known to paint the opposing team’s dressing rooms pink to soothe them and sap their energy!

White

Pure and innocent, white can create a sense of space and is great for highlighting. Hospitals use white to create a sense of sterility.

Purple

Symbolises royalty and wealth and so if you’re looking to create a luxurious environment, purple is the way to go!