Whether you struggle to wake from your slumber in the morning or have trouble settling at night, certain colours and their properties can help relax or even energise you whilst giving your bedroom a refreshing new look. Luckily we have put together some research helping you identify what colours can work best for you and how they affect you whilst in the room.
Interior designers and other forms of artists have always known the importance of colour and how to complement them with contrasting colours. We’ve looked into the anatomy of the colour wheel and how to read and understand it, in order to fully utilise its potential.
The Colour Wheel
The colour wheel is basically a visual aid that allows you to see which colours compliment each other. Since then creatives have continued to study and understand it. The wheel could essentially be made up of an infinite number of shades but is based around primary, secondary and tertiary colours.
The primary colours consist of red, yellow, and blue these colours cannot be achieved by mixing any other colours together.
The secondary colours are achieved by mixing the primary colours together giving you green, orange, and purple. Finally, the tertiary colours are again achieved by mixing primary and secondary colours together.
When choosing colours, the colour wheel offers a few different options for you to select from. For complimentary colours, you would select two colours opposite each other on the wheel such as the colours yellow and purple. These are often bold contrasting colours that compliment each other nicely.
Alternatively for a more subtle selection of colours you can select multiple colours sat next to each other on the colour wheel this is called analogous.
Similarly to complimentary, there is split complimentary. Selecting three in a triangular-like shape.
What Colours Can Do for You
Knowing how to pick the right complementing colours is a great start, but what do these colours do for you and your room? People have often talked about colours and the properties, meanings and effects they have on us.
Warm colours such as oranges, yellows and reds can be interpreted as bold, passionate or even lively, creating emotions from optimism to a sense of intimacy. Alternatively, colours such as blues, purples, and most greens, can give the impression of calmness with relaxing properties. These cool colours can create a larger room which feels spacious or even stark, whilst the warmer colours could make a smaller room feel cosy or even a bit closed in. These colour temperatures and effects are worth noting when choosing a colour for your room depending on the natural light source and size of the room.
Bed Room Colours
Blues
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So what are the most beneficial colours for you to choose for your bedroom? If you struggle in the evenings to disconnect and relax to the point of sleep, then maybe the cooler colours such as blue are for you.
Blue can create a calming peaceful bedroom, helping you wind down and drift off at night. The colour is associated with the cloudless sky, and the sea, which is possibly the reason for its calming effects on us. According to ‘Lifestyle’ the colour blue can also help prevent nightmares and encourages intellectual thoughts, whilst also lowering blood pressure. But choose your colours wisely; pale blues can make some rooms feel cold and sparse. To counteract this, try pairing the colour with some warmer natural tones in furnishings and flooring.
Purples
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Soft purples have similar characteristics to blues, such as the calming effect and lowering of blood pressure, minus the cold feel that can sometimes occur with the paler shades of blue. On the other hand, a richer shade of purple is associated with luxury, creativity and sophistication.
Yellows
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Perhaps you struggle to wake up in the morning, feeling groggy and unmotivated? It is said that yellow can be helpful in this matter. By placing a pop of yellow somewhere you will see that as soon as you wake up, you will instantly feel motivated and energised. This also works well if your room doesn’t receive a lot of natural light in the morning, Yellow can assist in waking you up.
Greens
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Green represents a natural surrounding, giving the feeling of calmness and can helping with stress; it also promotes freshness and fertility. This can be seen as a good colour for the bedroom to help you relax and unwind whilst giving the room cool and refreshing look.
Reds
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Red, on the other hand, can represent passion, love, and energy. This colour can also be easily overpowering. For a bedroom, it won’t help you relax, or naturally energise you like yellow, but it can get your heart pumping, raise your blood pressure and create a romantic mood in the bedroom when used within moderation.