By Heather McCallum

When it comes to your home, taking the effects of colour into consideration can result in more functional and happy spaces. Understanding which colours arouse appetite and which ones lower blood pressure can be strategically implemented into every room.

There are seven true colours, called hues: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet and indigo. Red has the longest wavelength; violet has the shortest. These colour wavelengths are absorbed into the body through our skin and eyes. We respond to the various hues through our energy and emotions.

Psychological and Physiological Effects of Colour

RED – Stimulating

Enhances metabolism, rouses appetite, increases blood pressure and respiration rates.

ORANGE – Invigorating

Stimulates appetite and mental activity. Increases oxygen to the brain and produces an exhilarating/rejuvenating effect.

YELLOW – Arousing

Stimulates mental activity and promotes memory. Generates muscle energy and can arouse cheerfulness.

GREEN – Restful

This hue is most restful for the eye.

BLUE – Calming

Reduces blood pressure and slows heart and respiration rates, suppresses appetite and counters anxiousness.

VIOLET – Soothing

Stimulates mental activity, promotes memory, generates muscle energy and can arouse cheerfulness.

GREY – Emotionless

Grey is the easiest colour for the human eye to see, making it the perfect neutral background. It is the only colour with NO psychological properties.

We Are Also Affected by Synesthesia

This is where one sense is simultaneously perceived from another sense. Through memory and experiences, we draw upon these senses, even though we are not physically using them. Consider this photo I took in Viet Nam at Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park.

Looking at this photo may evoke the sight of a vacation, the taste of fresh air, the smell of salt water, and the touch of lush nature.

Colour has the incredible ability to affect our emotions and behaviour and even influence how our body functions. It is indeed a very powerful tool.

Use the POWER of colour in your life for the GOOD!