The influence of color

People are unaware of the power that colors exert on us, how they are able to influence our mood and comfort, thus affecting our daily lives. Colors have the ability to provoke different reactions from person to person; sometimes this is due to personal preferences and sometimes to cultural background.

It is the most versatile tool a designer can use. It is the easiest way to improve a space and an effective way to alter it. It creates moods, dramatizing or emphasizing a room, creating harmony or altering it. Something as simple as changing its exact pitch or saturation can evoke a completely different feeling.

That is why it is really important when selecting the color for our habitats to know their meaning, to know what they transmit and how they will subtly influence our daily life.

Perhaps because of my Mediterranean origins I am a fierce advocate of the use of the color white, light in its pure state; and normally my main recommendation to my clients. It represents sophistication, purity, cleanliness and, while the other colors absorb light, white acts as a reflector, making it the most appropriate color to illuminate dark or dim spaces.
Regardless of my devotion to it, I recognize that sometimes we must resort to break the harmony it generates, with strong or light touches of color depending on the needs of the project or the room, to get that personal and characteristic touch we are looking for. Or simply as a mechanism to attract the user’s attention.

Once I know the use of the space to be designed, I resort to my color meaning guide to find the one that will contribute to improve that space. And although I try to adhere to the customer’s tastes, I feel obliged to convey the importance of making the right choice.

When I set out to decorate my daughter’s room, for example, the first step was to think about how I wanted her to feel in her bedroom: relaxed, comfortable and above all that she would like to be in it; but at the same time a reflection of her, since it is her room. In a few words, to contribute to make him feel good, happy and content. That’s why I knew right away that the color I was looking for was yellow, associated with joy and happiness. Since it is a baby’s bedroom, I opted for what we know as a “pastel” tone, which means that it has a high saturation of white, which gives it luminosity but lowers its intensity or brightness. Giving rise to a soft yellow, or according to the palette “cream” colors. In order not to overload the room, I chose to paint only one wall and kept the rest white.

Another case is for example the physiotherapy clinic I designed last year. The owner had a predilection for green and it was a color that was a perfect fit as it conveys tranquility and comfort. It has a sedative and carefree effect, making it ideal for a clinic where patients need to feel calm and relaxed to be treated. In this case we opted for a more intense green, to transmit energy to the patient.

In short, color theory is a science in itself. The complexity of how colors affect different people, either individually or in groups, is something that some professionals develop their careers in. For this reason, it is important to reflect a little and do some research or get advice from professionals to achieve the most appropriate atmosphere for each room.

And you, what is your favorite color? Mine is quite obvious