Crackpot Color Theories & their meanings

Roses are red, the sky is blue, today I am exuding pure color to you.  Many people believe that certain colors evoke certain emotions.  "Studies" say that people who over a long period of time are exposed to the color red are "easily excitable", while others who are exposed to green and blue feel "serenity and calmness".  I'm here to squash that theory.  Whose to tell us how a certain color makes us feel?  Isn't that why so many of our favorite colors vary?

They say never paint a room red because you will always be excited, well not excited but angry and brooding.  How many people brood on a daily basis?  I know sometimes I do, but it has nothing to do with the colors that surround me, other things , YES, absolutely, color, definitely NOT!

I once did a school report on this designer, David Hicks.  $1000 an hour was his fee, $1000!  After his father passed his mother moved their estate (the city escapes me, somewhere in London, yes he's a Brit), David remodeled their estate, had a friend over from House and Garden who had to photograph the estate known as South Eaton Place.  The article made a name for him and the fact that he married Lady Pamela Mountbatten helped to secure his spot as a high society designer.  But enough about him, this is in fact about color.....Look at it, just look at IT!  Bold and red and exuberant and sexy.  An eclectic mix of colors and display lighting, you CAN NOT tell me that you feel anger when you see this room.  

Okay so I take it back....yellow is supposed to be the excitable, make kids hyper, it's supposed to increase their adrenaline level, make them jump off of the furniture while making adults restless.  I thought that was sugar, no?  Yellow done right, done well, done appropriately.  That is how I feel about this room.

Blue makes me think of the ocean, the waves crashing down making that whooshing sound that I love.  The ocean, for some odd reason we stare at its vast span when at the beach and that evokes emotion.  Is that why they say blue has calming properties? Is it because the beach always seems to put everyone in a better mood?  Who knows why really?  I just think plain and simple it's pretty...it's tasteful, it's done elegantly and with class.  That's my opinion, you form your own.

Yellow+Blue=Green, it's simple addition and that is what we have here.  Now in my opinion green is one of those colors that is hard to get right.  It is so easy to mess it up, too many pastels, too many apples, too dark, too light, too blah, blah, blah.  Do you feel any emotions when you see this room?  What do you pick up on?  How does it make you feel?  If this is the type of "studies" that color theorists do then of course they are going to say certain colors evoke certain emotions.  Those are the ones they are looking for, it is a biased study within itself.  I say who cares?  I say it a lot.  If you absolutely love a color, do it, no one has to like it but you, and that is exactly why it is called yours and not theirs!

A final note, do what you want to do.  Feel the way about a color you want to feel.  Design what you want to design, how you want to design, there's no apologies in design, just beautifully created mishaps.  That is how some beautiful work is created.  Enjoy your Sunday and the beginning of your week everyone!

~xo~Michelle~xo~