The Pantone Color Institute finally unveiled its Color of the Year for 2020 yesterday: Classic Blue. Laurie Pressman, vice president of the Pantone Color Institute, calls the deep blue shade “reassuring and relatable” for good reason. This color family has been a favorite of interior designers precisely because of its comforting connotations. Blue is also the world’s favorite color because of its positive associations with clear skies and calm seas.

Leslie Harrington, co-founder of color intelligence company, HUEGroup says that “Color is a universal, non-verbal language, and we all intuitively know how to speak it.” She elaborates that the proper use of color in a design strategy is a great way to influence emotions and behavior. Color psychology is not far behind this statement; many studies have come out analyzing the effects of color in relation to mood. Even healthcare professionals use color and decor in rooms as parts of treatments for patients with mental conditions like dementia or anorexia.

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If you’re planning to redecorate your home to celebrate the start of a new decade, here are some health benefits that will make you consider Classic Blue.

Blue increases productivity and imagination

Researchers from the University of Columbia conducted a test in which participants were tested on their ability to perform tasks while in a blue or red room. Participants who stayed in blue rooms performed better on tests requiring imagination like thinking of new uses for bricks or assembling figures from blocks.

Marian Figueiro, a professor at the Lighting Research Center in New York, also studied the effect of blue light in workspaces. She found that brain activity, reaction times, and alertness improved in people working night shifts when exposed to light blue colors as it reflects light that simulates the daytime sky.

Studies have also found that monotonous and highly intellectual work like research or programming are more likely to be more efficiently executed in environments whose prominent colors are blue.

A home office would benefit from blue walls, however dark blues in a work area can create a sense of detachment or even feelings of sadness. It would be best to paint walls lighter blues, like sky blue or aquamarine. For small-scale renovations, curtains or artworks in light blue shades work just as fine.

Blue can help improve the quality of sleep

The “Human Factors Design Handbook,” a book about ergonomic design, says that blue is a comforting and protective color. It’s also naturally soothing so it’s one of the best colors to paint bedrooms with. Travelodge Hotels Limited, a company specializing in budget hotels across the UK, conducted a survey in Britain that analyzed sleep patterns in relation to bedroom colors. It revealed that people who slept in blue bedrooms got an average of seven hours of deep sleep, and 58 percent of the people who slept in blue rooms woke up refreshed and energized.

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Darker blues can create cozy spaces that can make you feel snug and cushy, but it’s better to balance this color with softer shades as well, which can bring a more complete sense of calmness and help you relax easier after a long day. You can utilize darker blues with room accents like shelves, bedsheets, or lamps while lighter blues can stay on the walls or on the ceiling.

Blue can affect thermal comfort

In a tropical country where the sun and heat are ever-present, using warm tones as main color themes for interiors would be redundant. Blue’s cool tones can help balance out heat in a room. Pastel and icy blues are great for sunlit spaces like porches or rooms with wide windows. A blue-green color palette is also a great option for exercise spaces inside the home because blue evokes refreshing feelings while green is another color for concentration.

Blue is the most relaxing color

Taubmans, a paint company based in Australia, partnered with psychologists, neuroscientists, and virtual reality company Liminal VR, to carry out a study that looks at the correlation of a room and a person’s emotions. Using Google Daydream virtual reality headsets, participants were shown five colors from Taubman’s paint roster and were then asked to describe how they felt by selecting from eight emotional responses like “cheerful,” “excited,” and “tense.” Data from that study concluded that blue was one of the colors that made participants feel the most calm.

Blue is highly recommended for bathrooms, too, because of this sense of serenity. Bathrooms are personal spaces to individuals and that space can become respites from the outside world and a haven of rest and relaxation.

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Redesigning and renovating your home space can be a great start to the year ahead. Keep color psychology in mind when picking out your new decor and furnishings. While it’s perfectly okay to keep in touch with and adhere to design trends, consider health benefits as well and the feelings attached to certain color and design schemes. Keep Classic Blue in mind if you’re looking to create a year that’s cool, calm, and comfortable.

Header photo courtesy of Silas Baisch on Unsplash

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