Color has power and influence. It plays with our emotions. Color has been proven to cause physical reactions in the body. It can influence our behavior. Color holds a world of opportunity to dictate the mood and atmosphere in an office. Restaurants, hospitals, and other industries use color psychology in determining color selection for a space, maybe you should too.
On a basic level, reds, oranges, and yellows are considered warm colors. They are associated with sun, hot, fire. On the opposite side, blues, greens, and purples feel cool. Water and cold come to mind with cool colors.
Many theories have been asserted about colors in offices. While some theories vary in agreement, it is really up to you to decide what ultimately works best. Red may stimulate and energize you, but it does not mean you have to paint the office red if you have a personal dislike of the color. Also consider that every color has many, many shades and tones. The suggested colors are not limited to a box of 8 color crayons. It is probably best to stay away from primary colors in general unless your office employs school aged children. A rich warm and creamy burnt orange will still support the same feeling as street cone orange, just in a calmer and quieter way.
If you would like to follow Feng Shui color suggestions, you first must decide what will be accomplished in the area. For a sales area, red is a great color to stimulate and energize, but according to the Feng Shui theory, this will not work in Accounting. Detail-orientated departments will work well surrounded by yellow for clear-thinking or blue-green for a calming effect.
Here are the Feng Shui color meanings:
- Red: aggressiveness, stimulating, energizing. Red works well in sales area. It can also work well in break rooms and other shared areas to unconsciously revitalize workers as they pass through an area.
- Orange: cooperation and collaboration. Paint conference rooms and teaming areas in this shade. Orangein your reception area will make a first impression of teamwork to clients.
- Yellow: clear-thinking. Areas for this shade could include accounting and finance, along with any sore of analysis jobs.
- Blue-green: reflection, calming. Blue is an alternative to any other these suggestions. Everyone can use calm and reflection. Be careful not to go too drab in your color choices, calming can quickly shift to depressing.
- Purple: stimulates creativity. Art department, advertising, marketing, will all welcome purple.
Another theory gaining popularity is the eidetic perception. It states that every personality, emotion, action, and reaction has a corresponding color. Instead of looking at what the area will be used for, as in Feng Shui, the eidetic perception looks at the specific individual. The color of an office is determined by the personality of its occupants. If it is energetic, the office should be painted red, if the workers tend to be cool and observant, paint blue. While this may be hard to do on an individual basis, it may be a thought to translate into a department’s area. Individual departments tend to have personalities, which are dictated by people that tend to be drawn to the specific professions.
Painting a room has a powerful effect on people. It can transform behaviors and moods. No matter what you decide to paint, make sure you will enjoy it. If you don’t like the color on a personal level, you will never receive the true influence of the color. Let the color work for you, not against you.