Decorating With Tranquil Colors
create a tranquil environment
Different colors have different meanings, and people will react to various shades and hues in vastly different ways. Some tones are more soothing, while others are energetic, and almost frenetic. By understanding the nature of color in relation to energy, you can decorate spaces that are soothing and comforting in some situations, or invigorating and exciting in others.
The first thing you should be aware of is the tone of the colors you use. Darker colors will tend to make a space feel more relaxed and subdued, while lighter colors will inevitably make the space seem more active and vigorous.
Lamps and other lighting sources are especially powerful in these situations, as the color tinted glow they cast will spread out like a blanket of hue across the room.
The exception to this rule comes in the form of contrast. When you have very dark colors paired up with very light ones, you end up with a kind of dynamic tension that causes the space to seem more energetic than it otherwise would. However if you use colors that match one another in shade, with only a slight difference in gradient, you can make even bright colors seem more relaxed and low key.
To some extent, the symbolic power of colors comes from the natural manifestations that they may represent. For instance, a deep blue might remind you of the depths of the ocean. That color represents a spirit of tranquility that will surround the room in a feeling of waves slowly washing across the endless surface of the depths, casting a quiet, relaxed ambiance across the setting.
Green tones are also generally considered to be soothing, with many shades simulating the look of the deep woods, or the serene heart of a teaming rainforest. However you have to be careful with green, as lighter hues can also give off a sickly, nauseating energy that can make an environment seem uncomfortably active, defeating the whole purpose of your color strategies.
By contrast, red tends to be an energetic color that evokes images of crimson warfare, fire and flames rising into the sky, and lava eruptions spewing forth from the peaks of mighty volcanoes. If you are trying to create a tranquil environment, red tones should generally be avoided as much as possible.
The one exception to this is in a slightly graded earth tone design. Earth tones consist of browns, reds, gold’s, and amber colors, which simulate the look of falling leaves in autumn. Here the gentle gradient allows you to use certain red colors in soothing settings, despite the dramatic overtones that they often have. The generally warm and comforting nature of the brown and tan colors in such a pattern will also tend to relax the nature of the design tempering the violent overtones of their red and golden counterparts.
Creating a tranquil environment will require you to understand the meaning and symbolism of various colors, as well as the nature of contrasting and complimentary tones. In order to do this you can look to the way colors manifest themselves in the most serene places in the natural world, and use this as a guide to using shades and tones within the home.
