Color Psychology: How to Make Your Home Feel Good 
 
 Ready to paint? A little color psychology may be just what you need to create soothing and productive moods. 
 
 By David Freeman 
 
 WebMD Feature 
 
 WebMD Feature Archive 
 
 Home decor is often viewed as simply a matter of aesthetics -- what looks attractive. But proponents of color psychology believe that the colors you use to decorate your home can have a profound effect on the emotional well-being of you and your family. 
 
 "Color is a universal, nonverbal language, and we all intuitively know how to speak it," says Leslie Harrington, a color consultant in Old Greenwich, Conn. and a noted expert on the use of color in residential and industrial decor. "What color you paint your walls isn't just a matter of aesthetics. It's a tool that can be leveraged to affect emotions and behavior." 
 
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 If you like the idea of using color to create an emotionally healthy home, color consultants say you should first consider the primary function of each room. Next, pick a predominant color. Although it can't be proven scientifically, color consultants say some hues work better than others at encouraging certain activities. Need ideas? Here's a room-by-room rundown of the colors believed to work best in each of the most important rooms of your home, and the moods they create. 
 
 Living room and foyer paint colors. Warm tones like reds, yellows, and oranges, and earth tones like brown and beige often work well in both the living room and foyer, because they're though to stimulate conversation. "These are colors that encourage people to sit around and talk," says Kate Smith, a color consultant in Lorton, Va. "You feel the warmth, the connection with other people." 
 
 Kitchen paint colors. Color consultants say that if you have fond memories of spending time in the kitchen when you were a kid, it might make sense to recreate the color scheme in your grown-up kitchen. "If you grew up in a blue-and-white kitchen and have great memories, blue and white may be the best colors for you and your family," says Smith. 
 
 If there's no particular paint scheme you remember fondly, reds and yellows can be great colors in the kitchen as well as in the living room and foyer. But watch out if you're watching your weight: in addition to stimulating conversation, color consultants say that red may prompt you to eat more, if only subtly. "If you're on a diet, you might want to keep red out of the kitchen," Harrington says, adding that the restaurant industry has long recognized the appetite-stimulating power of red decor. ||||| Studies have shown that vivid reds and yellows are better for study than blues and greens. Credit: iStock Struggling with that last minute exam-prep? Curtin researchers are here to save you, finding that brightly colored rooms can boost your concentration levels. 
 
 While students say they prefer to study in environments with pale colors—which they feel are most relaxing—their level of concentration is actually higher when surrounded by vivid reds and yellows, according to recent research. 
 
 Student participants were asked to read a passage and answer multiple-choice questions adopted from the American SAT university entrance test in rooms with six different color schemes—pale and vivid blue, red and yellow. 
 
 Their reading comprehension scores were significantly higher in the vivid red and yellow rooms. 
 
 "Bright colors can support students' learning performance by positively affecting psychological and physiological states," says lead author PhD candidate Aseel Al-Ayash. 
 
 Several past studies have indicated the colors red and yellow are more stimulating than blue and green. 
 
 For example, student pulse rates increased in red and yellow conditions, but decreased in blue. 
 
 "If the reading tasks are difficult, the vivid color conditions may increase arousal to optimal levels" she says. 
 
 This is consistent with the Yerkes-Dodson Law, which proposes that arousal improves performance up to an optimal level, with additional arousal causing a drop off in performance. 
 
 Research suggests blue study environments are better for creative work. Credit: iStock 
 
 What about those calming blues? 
 
 Ironically, two-thirds of participants believed vivid red wasn't a suitable color for a study room, associating the color with depression, discomfort, annoyance and elements such as danger. 
 
 But given their improved learning outcomes, perhaps a bit of discomfort (aside from last minute cramming) is what they need. 
 
 "In general, most participants believed that pale colors with high whiteness would be appropriate color schemes in learning environments, because they are considered calm and relaxing," Ms Al-Ayash says. 
 
 "However, the calmness and relaxation aspects may not help students to be alert and active. 
 
 "They performed better in the vivid color conditions, because these colors have arousing properties that stimulate neural activity." 
 
 "If the task is boring, a red condition may stimulate individuals and enhance their performance," Ms Al-Ayash says. 
 
 It seems red and yellow may be the future of study areas, with Curtin and other WA universities expressing a keenness for the work. 
 
 "I found they are interested to make improvements in their learning spaces design particularly in study areas in their libraries to create a suitable atmosphere for studying," Ms Al-Ayash says. 
 
 Explore further: Feeling blue and seeing blue: Sadness may impair color perception
– Is your kid having a hard time concentrating on her homework? It might be time to repaint her room, according to a new study out of Australia. Science Network WA reports researchers found that brightly colored rooms—specifically ones that are red or yellow—help students study better. “The vivid color conditions may increase arousal to optimal levels,” study author Aseel Al-Ayash says. Researchers put participants into six differently colored rooms, had them read a passage, then asked them questions about it. The subjects in the bright red and yellow rooms got significantly more correct answers. This despite two-thirds of them thinking red would be a bad color for a study room. They believed pale rooms would be better for concentration because they were calmer. "However, the calmness and relaxation aspects may not help students to be alert and active," Al-Ayash says. Instead, the brighter rooms "stimulated neural activity." The study could have an impact on the way schools and universities paint their facilities. But if you may want to keep red out of the kitchen if you're trying to lose weight: WebMD notes it may have a stimulating effect on appetite. (Another study found concentrating makes you go deaf.)