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Sophie Robinson
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27 Feb 18

Colour Psychology and why it’s such a powerful interior design tool

This week see’s the launch of a very exciting collaboration between me and one of my all time favourite high street brands habitat. I’ll do everything humanly possible to spread my love of colour and passion for original and authentic interior design, so I almost fell over myself when their PR team reached out and said they’d like to work with me on a Colour campaign.

Interior designer Sophie Robinson shares her ideas about colour schemeing for nterior design and how to use colour psychology

Their interest had been peeked by the Colour Psychology courses they’d seen me blog about that I host with expert Fiona Humberstone. We run courses a couple of times a year for professional interior designers that uses Fiona’s clever framework, based on Colour psychology, as a tool to help interpret a design brief and yet more than that- create powerful schemes that will resonate with a client on a deeper more emotional level. Habitat were intrigued to see my take on it as a way to help people pull together design schemes for themselves. And of course I said yes, as #banthebeige is my mission in life!

 

But time to share what my take is on Colour Psychology and why I’m so excited to share it with you. It’s such a powerful way to help you pull colour schemes together confidently and with ease. In a visual world full of Pinterest and Instagram it’s a way to find a piece of clarity and design direction and stop the push and pull of lusting over other peoples pads.

Colour psychology is the brain-child of colour psychologist Angela Wright and I still to this day find her book, (published in 1995 so the pictures are rather dated!) A beginners guide to Colour Psychology deeply enthralling. Angela, studied psychology, and was fascinated by the psychological effects colour has on us. It’s so emotive, and not just based in science. For example science would have us believe colour is merely light waves. But close your eyes, and what do you see? Colour is all around us, effecting our mood, even when we sleep!

Angela recognised that colours have a positive psychological effect when in harmony with one another, and conversely really quite negative when they don’t. People think that it takes a special knack, some magical creative flair, putting colours together, but she devised a framework to make it almost fool proof  (putting me out of a job!). Next by studying people she saw that they actually fell into four distinct groups and these groups reacted to colours in different ways. For example if you asked 4 people their favourite colour and they all said is blue- you might note that they could be talking about very different types; baby blue, teal, navy, electric blue. Actually the nuances of just one hue is multiple, you only have to look at a Dulux fan deck to see that. Angela divided people and indeed colours into four colour families Type 1, Type 2, Type 3 and Type 4. But as her understanding of the Colour personalities deepened she chose to call them Spring Summer, Autumn and Winter. Genius really because the colour preferences and energetic personality traits of each group mirrored the patterns in nature perfectly. It’s a great analogy and really helps to communicate  quite a complex theory.

I’d had the privilege of working directly with Angela back in my magazine days, in the early noughties, when I styled four room sets for the magazine I was editor on, in the style of these four seasonal personalities. The idea being that once you have decided what Seasonal personality you are, then it makes sense to design and decorate your home in those colours and seasonal styles. What I LOVE about this is it’s giving you a deeper sense of your own individual design tastes and colour preferences, rather than just copying the trends or magazine pages. It’s giving you an individual sense of what colours make you feel most at home.

An Auymn personality mood board using colour psychology by interior designer Sophie Robinson

But it wasn’t until over 10 years later that I got reacquainted with Colour Psychology again, when I picked up Fiona Humberstones, must-read book, Style your Brand. In it she cleverly uses Angela’s Colour Psychology to create a powerful frame work for helping companies create knock out brand identities. Colour psychology is a great way to communicate ideas and feelings- which is what any successful brand needs to do in order to resonate with their customers. After attending her Colour Psychology for Creatives workshop (you can sign up for the online version here) I saw the perfect opportunity for Interior Design. Fiona’s framework, used to empower interior designers to interpret a design brief along with the theory of colour psychology to create design schemes that really resonate with a client, has resulted in our sell out Colour Psychology events that we now host twice a year.

A mood board showing the colour schemes for a winter personality using the theory of colour psychology

So back to how Colour Psychology can help you. For the Habitat project we’ve kept it really simple yet really effective. First up they invited me to design and style four looks, or Colour tribes, as I like to call them, inspired by the Seasonal personalities, just like I did for the magazine I worked on all those years ago. I wish I still had an old copy, I’d love to compare the results! It was a great experience to be given the opportunity to create our very different looks using product from just one retailer which goes to show you how easily you can create your own sense of style. And better still this isn’t about interpreting the new Spring Summer trends and product launches. This is about creating your own timeless sense of style that you can then to go on and easily update.

 

The full reveal can be seen over on Habitats website here. So please do check it out and let me know what you think. Over the next couple of weeks I’ll be sharing more about this collaboration and how you can pick the right Seasonal personality for your interior in the next four posts, so stay tuned!

 

 

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Are you a Spring personality? I’m Hiring!

comments

Iris MacLachlan on 28.02.18

Thanks for this inspiration Sophie, I do forget about Habitat because they don’t appear to be talked about as much they were in the 90’s. However, I love how you are showing us if we tend to steer in a certain direction then it can help to pull our whole look together! I love your autumn & winter shades, textures, the richness but I’ve not gone dark on the walls yet, just bringing in those fabulous colours with dare I say a neutral stone colour on the walls. I have put a gorgeous turquoise wall paper on 1 wall though and using touches of black tends to ground it all I think? Love all your chats on colour & interiors, they’re fun to read & motivating! Really thrilling to find others who love COLOUR!

Reply
Sophie Robinson on 28.02.18

Hi Iris- pleasure always to meet a fellow colour lover and you sound like you’re deft had at pulling together mouthwatering schemes! Thanks so much for your lovely comments

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According to some recent research 24% of us look t According to some recent research 24% of us look to friends and family for design Inspiration, 21% to makeover tv shows and 18% to instagram. But while it’s great gathering ideas and opinions, ultimately creating a stylish home has to come from you if you are going to love the home you live in. The extraordinary Colour Psychology framework helps you unlock the colour palette that is perfect for you and gives you the superpower to create rooms that feel as good as they look. Suddenly other peoples opinions, trends, and influencers no longer hold sway. Creating a home is deeply personal, an exploration of what makes YOU happy. For me it’s all about the pattern, texture and plenty of intense colour. Tasteful grey interiors leave me feeling flat, I love the energy of a colour clash! If you want to understand your relationship with colour and how to design schemes that affect your emotions in a positive way, this is the last weekend to enrol in my online course, Colour Psychology for interiors. You can find the link to learn more up in my bio. It’s my most popular course to date and has transformed the way thousands of people feel about their interior spaces. 
Let me know what your happy colours are down in the comments below. 

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📷 @aluncallenderphoto styling @katemcphee #colourpsychology #colourpsychologyforinteriors #banthebeige #ihavethisthingwithcolour #myeclectichome #patternclash #maximalistdecor #colourcourse #mycolourfulinterior #punchyhome #cosyhome #countryliving #bedroom
Did you know 50% of people use social media to fin Did you know 50% of people use social media to find inspiration on how to decorate their living rooms? I’m definitely one of them! That’s according to a study by Sky Glass, the streaming TV from @sky_uk . I’ve been investigating the latest interior trends we are lusting after, and how our living rooms are changing- as we say goodbye to three piece suites, and hello to sustainable vintage furniture, statement rugs, wall prints and cosy-ing up the sofa with throws and cushions. As you can see I’m all over the trends! If you head over to the @sky_uk channel today, I’ll also be answering some interior design questions all about styling your TV. Would love to hear what you think are the living room trends to watch. 
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#banthebeige #colourlover #livingroomdecor #livingroom #maximalistinteriors #livingroomdecore #livingroomdecorideas #homestyle #instahomedecor #chintz #colourmyhome #colourmehappy #cushionlove #styleithappy #florals #gallerywall #berberrugs #ihavethisthingwithpatterns #ihavethisthingwithcolour
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This is the first room we decorated after our reno This is the first room we decorated after our renovations. The entrance to your home creates the first impression. It’s also the room you walk into first thing in the morning and when you return home at the end of a long day. It needs to create the right welcome and what that feels like is hugely personal. For me I chose my favourite colours, this powerful cobalt  blue has always been a colour I’m drawn to. My wardrobe is full of it. And the bright pink is another one that always makes me instantly happy. Together they are a striking combination and I think anyone who walks through my front door, immediately gets a sense of what I’m about. I’m passionate about creating interiors that authentically  reflect the people who live there. Studying the psychology of colour made it so much easier for me, giving me a deeper understanding on the affects of colour and streamlining my process. If you’d like to know how to unlock your colour super power, join me for a free webinar this Wednesday evening (available to up for 48 hours after). It an introduction into colour psychology for interiors and my hope is it inspires you to have the courage and conviction to know what’s right for you.  And for a deeper dive my online course Colour Psychology for interiors has opened for enrolment. All links to sign up are in my bio on my profile @sophierobinsoninteriors 
What does your hallway say about you? 
📷 @aluncallenderphoto 
CREDITS walls in lazuli by @zoffanyfw stair runner @roger_oates floor tiles @claybrookstudio door painted in rose ash @sanderson1860 

#colourpsychology #colourpsychologyforinteriors #banthebiege #punchyhome #hallway #boldcolourinteriors #colourlover
My kitchen, the heart of my home. The smallest, da My kitchen, the heart of my home. The smallest, darkest room in the house with no view, but that’s old houses for you! You’ll often find the kitchen in the worst place. So to amp up the joy I chose a forest green (hunters green by @zoffanyfw) for the cabinets to mirror the woodland outside. We sourced reclaimed school science lab work tops and I wrapped the room in one of my favourite papers, Rubarber by @borastapeter. Tom put in retro fit underfloor heating and we used reclaimed terracotta tiles from @ca_pietra_  so the floor looks as old as the house but feels so warm! . For the ugliest darkest room in the house it’s become our favourite because of the colours, patterns and rustic textures.that’s the power of great interior design! 
Next up in my series of posts about the psychology of colour is the Autumn personality. You’ll have a love of rich deep warm Colours, natural finishes, nature inspired patterns and period features. The autumn palette is warm, earthy abs rich and perfect for making spaces feel cosy and inviting. 
To learn more about the autumn personality, hop on up to my bio and click the link to be taken to the blog. And you can sign up to my FREE webinar I’m hosting next Wednesday if you’d like to learn more about this powerful framework. 
Meanwhile have a gorgeous weekend! 
📷 @aluncallenderphoto Styling @katemcphee 

#colourpsychology #banthebeige #autumnpersonality #colourpsychologyforinteriors #kitchen #greenkitchen #countryhomesandinteriors #countrykitchen #ihavethisthingwithcolor #myeclectichome #maximalistdecor
Come and join my FREE webinar on Colour Psychology Come and join my FREE webinar on Colour Psychology next Wednesday 25th at 7pm GMT 🤩 hop on up to the link in my bio @sophierobinsoninteriors to register.
My brilliant online course, Colour Psychology for Interiors, is open for enrolment this month, so if you fancy finding out a bit more about this utterly game changing framework I’d love to have you join. It’s SO MUCH more than ‘ red is energising’, ‘blue is calming’ stuff you’ve all heard before. This is a deep dive into discovering how colours work, how to harmonise them and discovering your own unique and authentic style. Only then can you create a home you live and one that supports you emotionally. I LOVE teaching this stuff because the feedback I get from students is mind blowing! Don’t take my word for it, sign up for the free webinar today! 😍 and if you’ve already done my course, please share in the comments below what you loved about it. 

#colourfulhome #colourpsychology #colourpsychologyforinteriors #banthebeige #colourlover #confidentcolour #confidentcolourscheming
Have you found your design mojo? Do you gravitate Have you found your design mojo? Do you gravitate towards a style of interiors that just feels so ‘you’. Making a home is so much more than creating beautiful squares for Instagram. It has to FEEL right and this is where the psychology of colour comes in. Colour is light, it has an energy which directly impacts your brain and emotions. And we all have a unique relationship to it. So rather than follow the crowd, be swayed by trends it’s so important to understand your own authentic relationship with colour. Over on the blog today I’m starting a series of posts all about the seasonal colour personalities. First up is spring which is all the joy, uplift and energy. My bathroom, pictured above, is very ‘spring’ with light reflecting walls, energetic patterns and bright colours. The mood  is uplifting, fresh and feel-good. Hop on up to my link in my profile to read the blog post in full and discover if you are a Spring personality and how to create rooms that reflect this joyful mood. 
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#colourpsychology #colourpsychologyforinteriors #banthebeige #colourfulhome #colourlover #ihavethisthingwithcolor #spring #springbpersonality #colourfuldecorchallenge #homedecor #myeclecticmix #bathroom #bathroominspo
So proud of mr best mate @sophieabbottartist who o So proud of mr best mate @sophieabbottartist who opens her house this weekend to showcase her artwork in her home as part of Brightons artists open houses. She’s always been a creative whirlwind and keeps the joy of colour alive in her paintings inspired by the sea, and the local woodlands that surround her home in Brighton. For Sophie, colour gives her life, she’s the ultimate joy monger and I’m so blessed to have her as my side kick in life. If you get a chance today, pop round to heed for a bolt if the feel good vibes

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