SPECIAL SECTION: FOR YOUR HOME
ON THE BRIGHT SIDE
Did you know colour can affect your mood – and even your overall wellbeing? Here’ s how to harness its power at home.
BY ALEXANDRA GRZESIK
For decades, researchers and medical professionals have explored the relationship between our emotions and the different colours we perceive. And the results become even more interesting when we look at using colour around the home. For many years neutral tones reigned supreme in the world of interior decorating, but now that colour is making a comeback, it’ s essential to understand how different tones can contribute to atmosphere, mood and even overall wellbeing. The Connection spoke to experts in the field to discover the myriad benefits of incorporating colour into your decor.
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See your mind
According to psychologist and therapist Leanne Hall, colour can have a significant impact on our frame of mind.“ Universally, there are certain colours that can trigger certain emotions, but it’ s a deeply personal thing,” she explains.“ What one colour means to one person is often quite different to what it means to the other.” This can depend on a range of things, including personal experience and culture, and is affected by texture and movement, too.
Hall notes that emotions can also impact how we see colour.“ When you feel really good, you tend to see colours more brightly and often that’ s because of an increase in dopamine,” she says. On the other hand, our perception can be relatively universal as well.“ Things in those blue-hue, cooler tones tend to make us feel calmer and sometimes a bit sad … things on a red spectrum tend to make us feel quite heightened – passionate, angry, sometimes even hostile,” she adds. >
COSTCO CONNECTION SEP / OCT 2023 | 27