Photo: edgeofthewoodsnursery.com

I love color. Maybe that is why I love spring; nature is vibrating with color, enlivening everything, including us. Bright green leaves radiate against dark wet bark, flowers sparkle with dew, the sun seems brighter and the blue sky bluer, everything is waking up and vibrant. The whole world seems happy and is inviting us to join in. So just think, if nature can use color to lift our spirits, what could it do for us when we bring it indoors?

Even though our spirits feel renewed when spring wakes up from its winter’s nap, many people tell me they don’t trust themselves to use a lot of color in their home or to select paint colors. They understand that color can wake up a room and they like the idea that our rooms should make us feel the way spring makes us feel, but yet they are hesitant. I totally understand the hesitancy. It only takes a few unexpected results to make one question one’s self.

It has been proven that we all respond to color. In fact, it creates a wide range of responses in us and it can influence us without us realizing it. It is a powerful communication tool and our modern world uses it every day to influence us. How intriguing. Since we respond to it, our senses crave it and it influences us on many levels. But for now, let’s just ease into enlivening and uplifting our homes and our inner self.

Color should invite us in and then embrace us, filling us with joy and beauty. After all, joy and beauty are two of the biggest reasons we bring decorative items into our home. Color plays a major role in our décor and our color choices influence our happiness, emotions, perceptions, mindset, attitude and more. It can uplift us or drain us. It can energize us or relax us. It can distract us or keep us on task. It can stress us or heal us. The real goal is to let it enliven and inspire us and it doesn’t need to be complicated to reach that goal.

It just takes a few touches of strategically placed color to give our home some splashes of pizzazz. It’s that easy to help your spirit soar. It’s not about overwhelming our senses; it’s about tickling our eyes. As I always say, “less is more”; using less in key locations creates more pizzazz.

Color affects our vitality, so when people say they are tired of neutrals and need more color in their home, it’s their intuition telling them they need to recharge. Color is amazing because it affects all of our senses, mental clarity, emotions, and overall health. For instance, if a home has too many neutrals, over time it can cause a feeling of being stuck or blasé, or of being tired or drained. It can cause boredom and depression. Too much color can cause the opposite reaction by over stimulating our eyes and mind, promoting hypertension and stress, creating distracted and scattered thoughts, and even creating agitation and heated conversations.

What makes color sing is using it in a way that energizes a room while also bringing balance and harmony to it; that little touch of zest will feed our energy as we move throughout our day. For instance, add some lively vibrant colors to your bathroom to help you wake up first thing in the morning and cheerfully inspire you to step into the new day with vigor; then at night let color help you to relax and ease your thoughts. There are many ways color can shift our mindset, attitudes, family dynamics, and health, and it can all start very effortlessly. The easiest way to start is to let color create visual rhythms and focal points. Since our eyes are drawn to color and light let’s let it work for us. Here are some quick and easy tips to help you get started …….

  • Add color to the outside entry of your front door. This is the first impression visitors will have of you and is a perfect place to make a welcoming and positive impression. Since our eyes are drawn to color, your guests will be instinctively drawn to your front door and will find themselves smiling as they approach your home. That smile will still be there as you answer the door. It sets a friendly tone for those at your door as well as every passerby on the street. It will even give you a personal welcome home, making your home a place you love to come home to.It’s fun to add a splash of color to the front door since that is the main focal point of your home. To start, stand at the curb and look at your home with an open mind. Visualize the colors you love. Do they compliment your house’s exterior paint color? The idea is to add vibrancy that enhances your house’s architecture and color theme. Select a simple palette of 2-3 vibrant colors then add a softer color for filler; possibility the lighter color of the house color. Use these colors in flowers or plants placed in containers, or in the gardens, or both. Remember to water and fertilizer container plants frequently and always replace dead or dying plants with healthy vibrant plants. If live plants are not for you, use splashes of these colors on a bench or chair, on door wreaths that are switched out seasonally, or on the door mat. It will “feel really good” if the color reflects your personality and enhances your home’s façade. If it doesn’t meet your expectations after it’s done, don’t stress, simply change it next year; or if some of the plants die, change the color theme mid-season. Mark it as a learning curve and get creative and play with new colors.
  • Carry the hospitality inside by having enough space for 2-3 people to easily enter your home. This may involve rearranging the interior entry or rethinking ways to keep it open and clutter-free yet functional. Once space has been created to receive guests, decide the path you want your guests to take as they move into the rest of the house. Remember, people are attracted to color, and your guests will instinctively be led to the area you want them to go if you guide them by thoughtfully placing splashes of color. You will not have to tell them, they will already be moving in that direction. This can easily be done with a thoughtfully placed vase of flowers, a beautiful picture, or a side chair with a colorful pillow. Be inspired. To keep the ambiance unified, consider repeating the colors you selected for the exterior front door on the inside; this not only makes a lovely transition from the outside to the inside, it creates a sense of harmony.
  • Continue using splashes of color in other rooms by first deciding where the room’s focal point should be and place color in that focal area, that will naturally invite people into that space. The color adds visual interest and vibrant beauty which will instantly captivate people’s gaze, subconsciously drawing them in. For instance, centering a coffee table on a fireplace creates a perfect focal point for a living room, and then when a colorful accent is added to the coffee table it provides a visual foundation for the fireplace. Then continue to build the interest by carrying those same colors to the mantle. Presto! The room takes on a whole new vibe. It becomes lively, inviting, and enchanting because the colors tickle our eyes while also creating unity and balance. Try not to scatter the bold colors hither and yon, which will create visual distractions and busyness, instead keep the vibrant color localized for stunning interest and use more subtle colors in surrounding areas as visual support. This also works for the dining room by placing a beautiful center piece on the dining table, creating an inviting visual anchor for the chandelier and a hub for people to gather and enjoy conversation and camaraderie. This is also true for the kitchen, by adding a colorful bowl of fruit to a spacious island or open counter makes the room delicious and inviting.

It’s always fascinating to see how in-tune we are to the colors around us. We may not be consciously aware of their affects on our actions and attitudes, but our subconscious is 100% aware. It may take our conscious mind some time to tell us something is not right in a specific room, but eventually it gets our attention. Sometimes we can feel there is something off, but still can’t pinpoint the issue. This is when you may need to bring in another person, such as a friend, or me, someone with design savvy and a neutral viewpoint. Once the brainstorming begins the “off” feeling starts surfacing. Then when the solution has been found and has been implemented creating just the right amount of color, space, order, and balance, you will feel it every time you pass through the area. You’ll see the lively energy and be uplifted. It’s an amazing feeling that’s difficult to put into words when things come together, but our spirit soars!

Don’t hesitate to color your world. It can quickly and easily wake up a room as well as ignite a spark inside your spirit. And to think it doesn’t have to cost a lot to get amazing results. Have fun adding some pizzazz in your home and then share what happened!