living in colour
Different hues impact on our psyche and well-being, and have been used by architects and designers since the shaping of our environments began
“THE wrong paint colour can ruin your life,” Roberta Freymann said. “Colour affects the way you feel when you’re at home.”
Freymann, the woman behind the lifestyle brand Roberta Roller Rabbit, prefers bright paint colours – which she believes can boost productivity, creativity and positivity – over traditional neutrals and earth tones. She painted her threebedroom condo accordingly, using a fiery red-orange in the library to promote productivity, a soothing deep indigo in the guest bedroom and a Tiffany-blue in the dining room, which she says helps stimulate conversation at dinner parties.
“Colour is uplifting,” Freymann said. “It improves your mood and, in turn, your quality of life at home.”
Chromo therapy, also known as colour therapy, is the practice of using certain colours to stimulate various emotions and to improve health, and it is something that many architects and designers have long recognised as having psychological benefits.
“Architects, artists and designers have treated the ills of human societies with colour since the shaping of environments began,” said Donald Kaufman, who owns the paint company Donald Kaufman Colour with his wife, Taffy Dahl.
For the past 30 years, Kaufman and Dahl have made mixing such paint colours their business. Together they develop custom shades for their clients based not only on the architectural details of a space but also on their clients personalities.
“Wall paint influences us by its pigment composition, the colours and finishes with which it’s combined and the light it carries to our eye,” Kaufman said. “Balancing those parts in relation to the whole is a key to our quality of life.”
Certain colours – and, more specifically, their pigments and finishes – can absorb light or illuminate a space. So not only should you take your personal tastes and colour associations into account when choosing paint, you also should pay attention to how a specific shade might affect a room’s lighting (or lack thereof).
A fresh coat of mossy yellow paint in an octagonal foyer, brightened up the windowless space and helped reflect the sunlight streaming in from other rooms;
In a dining room, a burnt red was employed to draw attention to the intricate ironwork and millwork and along with strategically placed skylights, the rich hue helped enhance the interplay of light throughout the room.
“Humans evolved under the sun, and radiant energy is the primary source of nourishment for human life,” Kaufman said. “Colour creates visual impressions and shapes the way we see and receive light.”
While the aesthetic value of colour is hardly up for debate, researchers are still looking into its scientific significance.
In their 2015 study, “Chromo Therapy: An Effective Treatment Option or Just a Myth? Critical Analysis on the Effectiveness of Chromo Therapy,” Somia Gul, Rabia Khalid Nadeem and Anum Aslam, from the school of pharmacy at Jinnah University for Women in Pakistan, looked at the physiological and emotional effects of colour therapy on 200 people ages 15 to 36.
They found that red, for example, can enhance alertness; yellow can improve focus; and blue can reduce the onset of stress-related tension headaches.