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as covid-19 public health measures begin to relax, reflecting on routines and their value is useful when moving toward a ‘new normal.’
asking for a friend: can the colour of my walls pump up my productivity?
benjamin moore & co. colour and design manager sharon grech says paint colour can help you find inspiration, tranquility and peace.
sharon grech, colour and design manager at benjamin moore, has her office painted in picnic basket csp-730. source: benjamin moore
dear asking for a friend,
i am looking for a colour to paint the walls of my office. is it true that colours can affect energy? what are best for a space that i hope to be calm and focused in?
signed, home office reboot
dear home office reboot,
choosing an appropriate colour for your office walls can mean the difference between the frantic rush to meet project deadlines and well-paced productivity that keeps you on top of your to-do list. after all, caffeine can’t solve everything!
factor in the worries of the pandemic and ever-changing work protocols, and the need for a calm and orderly space at home is critical.
on that note, colour has a significant role to play, researchers agree. while colour is a perceptual stimulus that is often considered in terms of aesthetics like home decor, it can also carry important meaning, and influence people’s cognition and behaviour.
sharon grech, colour and design manager at benjamin moore & co., has focused on the nuances of colours in the paint industry for more than 20 years, helping to develop shades that appeal to interior designers, retailers and their customers. creating a certain mood is part of the process.
colour is an easy way to bring tranquility to our lives
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“we want to bring more joy into our lives as well as tranquility, and colour is a fairly simple way to do that,” grech says. “we were already talking about the power of colour before the pandemic, but i think now we are even more cognizant of everything and the experience that we surround ourselves with. we expect a lot more out of our homes and every space in it, and we think more about how we want to feel in every room.”
while there’s still the usual interest in white, grey and beige neutrals, there’s also a growing trend toward blues, blue-greens and clays, which grech suggests for a welcoming home office environment.
“it sounds cliché, but colours and textures that are inspired by mother nature really do have a calming effect. blues and greens instinctively feel calming,” she says. “they visually bring us outside to the peace of nature, the sky, water, grass. this can set the right tone for calming our minds to allow us to focus and be productive.”
and when we’re spending so much time on our digital devices, including laptops for work, the bright saturated digital colours can be over-stimulating for our eyes. so calming wall colours give us a place to rest our eyes throughout the day and provide that mindful balance.
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her own home office style? “i have had the same paint colour for seven years now and i still love it — [benjamin moore] picnic basket csp-730,” she says. “it’s a lovely mix of blue, green and grey.”
grech also says the emotions associated with colours can be subjective, depending on our past experiences and culture, so someone could find red energizing, while someone else could feel overwhelmed by its intensity.
ninja turtle green works for some
it really comes down to personal preferences. she remembers helping a friend’s husband choose a paint colour for his home office years ago and he wanted a ninja turtle green to set off the white furniture.
“as you’re walking the stairs to the office, it literally glowed,” she says. “he absolutely loved it, and i would’ve never in a million years picked that for anyone. it was green, yellow, very bright, very vibrant, which is what he needed. he was a high energy guy.”
in general, though, grech’s top five colours that affect emotion are a helpful guideline to have handy when you’re paint-shopping: red is exciting and dynamic; yellow is enthusiastic, uplifting; pale blue for tranquility; muted greens are reassuring and relaxed, and peachy pinks are considered cozy and nurturing.
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best tip? “it is really important to have something in that space that you love, whether it’s art, wallpaper or a painted stripe on your wall in the colour that really makes you smile,” she says. “if everything’s too calming and neutral, you’re going to need some stimulation.”
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