Colors & Meanings in Interior Designing

Active Colors

• The active colors group includes red, yellow and orange. Red is a passionate color that stimulates the nervous system. Due to its intensity, designers use it as an accent color, such as one red wall in a room or red frames on wall hangings. Yellow enhances happiness in small amounts, but decorators do not commonly use it, according to the Atlanta Interior Design website. Orange increases assurance and appetite when not overused.

Passive Colors

• Green, blue and violet are passive colors. They have a calming effect on the nervous system. Green makes a small room seem larger and is the dominant color in nature. While blue enhances the apparent size of a room and has a calming effect in most instances, overusing it will cause a cold emotional feeling. Violet stimulates imagination while calming the disposition. As with green and blue, it helps a small room to appear larger.

Neutral Colors

• Black, white and earth tones are neutral colors. Black is elegant when not overused; otherwise, it is depressing, according to the Home Decorating Made Easy website. White signifies purity. Decorators use white as an accent to contrast other colors. Brown promotes a feeling of tranquility, but may appear boring without an active or passive color accompanying it.

Pairing Colors

• Interior designers pair a color with its opposite to evoke emotion and create interest in a room. The active and passive opposites are red and green; yellow and violet; and orange and blue. The opposite of brown is mint green. Black and white oppose each other on the color wheel.