Interesting question! I'll be reading this one carefully. I am generally always cold, but I don't seem more so in this house with mostly cool colors. I think I felt colder in our previous home that was done in all warm russets, sages and golds. Odd.
Gatherings are much less cozy and chatty than our previous home, and we haven't figured out if that's because there's more room for people to spread out into, or what...

I think the most interesting rooms are a combination between warm and cool tones. If I do a gray room, then I will warm it up with incandescent, soft lighting and upholstery as well as using materials like wood.
Of course, considerations like climate, sun exposure etc have an impact where I would think about a cool and warm. I think a cool based room is much more successful in a place like Arizona where it's hot than a place like Minnesota.

Personally, though, I don't prefer rooms that lean one way or another (warm or cold) because I think a room must physically comfortable in all seasons.

That's interesting... my bedroom is decorated in various blues with white trim and little punches of yellow and hot pink. It's actually a warm idea executed with cool colors because it all stemmed from a painting of an ocean landscape in southern Italy, and I also used photos I took in Hawaii and a Hawaiian sarong. But anyway, I don't think it feels cold at all, it's calming. Someone should do a study on the phenomenon you are talking about!

Interesting...I never really thought about socializing in warm vs cool rooms.

I do have pale blue & white in family room and warmer colors in most of the other rooms. (pale yellows, creams etc...still light colors, but warmer)

Although cool colors in the family room, I don't find it too cold in the winter as we have the fireplace at the other end. I also try to 'warm it up' with some fur pillows and a chunky knit throw.

I also usually have a warm, furry Chocolate Lab at my feet...my favorite part:)

Without the FP and some warmer accessories, yeah, I might find it a little cold in the winter.At the end of the day though, it's my favorite place to hang out. Note that we don't really entertain in this room...usually just DH and our doggie.

I could see though that having a warmer decorated room could lend itself to more mingling. Maybe people feel more comfortable...
For me though, just love having friends/fam over and usually end up in the kitchen or the backyard in the summer. Good food, good friends, some candlelight and music...rest doesn't really matter.

i don't think it's the colors as much as the minimalism of cooler rooms. we have a huge family room done in revere pewter w/a grey & ivory rug and dark brown sectional. the area of the room that has beautiful artwork on the wall looks so inviting and the area of the room that still has a blank wall looks bare & cold.

Torsade, I think color may play a key role in your gatherings not being as chatty.

Htnspz, you're right about climate. I would slit my wrists in a gray room - lol. Seattle weather is gray 9 months of the year. It's the last color we need indoors.

Sashasmommy, your bedroom sounds pretty. Got pic? I doubt you throw big parties in your bedroom, though I could be wrong? hehe Heaven knows what goes on at your house when little Sasha goes to bed? JK!!!

Lisa, I'm surprised more people don't think about this, really. But I'm pretty sensitive to color. Maybe some folks aren't, but that's not been my experience.

Srg, I think that minimalism versus more decked out definitely plays a part in it.

~~

It was really a surprise to me to see the difference in my own home, with the same people. I mean seriously, that first year in all the white people were drifting home around 10:00 PM. When I warmed up the decor, I had to collect up their drinks and hand them their coats at 3:00 AM! I felt so rude doing it but please, at 3:00 AM didn't they have the sense to go home?

One more color experience to relay. I painted three walls of the bedroom red (the 4th was in black/brown grasscloth, to tone it all down) hoping for a little more passion in there. Instead of loving passion, I got angry passion from my not so D ex-H. Needless to say, I turned the room baby blue in self defense, and yes he did tend to stop screaming and go to sleep. I would advise never to paint walls red around grouchy H's!

This is a fascinating subject to me, because I just don't get it. At all. I understand hue and value (mostly) and the whole color spectrum and all of that, but I've never experienced an actual feeling of coldness or hotness based on a color. Maybe I'm wired differently, but I just don't get it.

I gravitate towards the cool colors, pastels, whites, because to me, they read as happy, calm, soothing colors. Most of my clothing is in that color range, because it's flattering to my skin tones, and it makes me comfortable. I do have darker, richer rooms in my house, but they're in that color scheme for much more practical reasons than the "feel" of them.

We had a very cold family room, mostly because there was no insulation in the walls, but when we remodeled, we added insulation, plus I used a warm color spectrum for the decor. Not only is the room warmer as far as temperature, but it also looks cozier. We like it.

I prefer cooler paint colors, but like to be able to change the accents.

I have cool blue walls in my bedroom. I painted it in the summer. Initially, I had a blue and white shabby chic type quilt, white gauzy curtains, white pitcher and bowl, and blue white floral art work. I loved it! Then when winter came, it seemed so wrong. So I switched it up for the winter. I have gauzy brownish curtains, animal print bedding and area rug, gold lamp shades, and brown toned artwork. We love it both ways and it seems like a whole new room with the change of seasons.

Oh there is ooodles of info about our physio-psychological response to "warm" and "cool" colors.

On conscious, subconscious, and unconscious levels.

My favorite lil tidbit of info about color actually has to do with warm and cool.

"Color Psychology" can include lots of different nooks and crannies. Two most basic nooks are individual responses to color and universal response. Individual involves stuff like culture, geographic locations, memories and associations.

This is where it gets good. There are a few core universal psychological responses to color. Meaning there are instances where we all respond the same, feel the same or react the same when it comes to specific colors.

In the #1 spot for universal psychological color response is color temperature. Agreement on what is a cool color or what is a warm color is easily reached. In general terms of hue, yellow, orange and red are warm. Blue, green and purple are cool.

Franksmom, they have done some studies on this and you can look up "color psychology" on the web and read articles on how colors make people feel. But those are generalizations and there are exceptions to the rules.

Suero, it's interesting about the actual temperature versus the color temperature. I would love to read studies where they let people (one at a time) into a white room or a red room then ask them which one was the warmer temperature. I believe psychology says they will say the red one, even though the temp was the same in both rooms. Glad you love your current family room.

Kristine, I totally agree with you that we should color our homes inside with the colors we look good wearing. We want to look pretty in our own homes!

I really do think parents should give an eye to color psychology and how their babies/kids behave around certain colors. Some little ones just can't handle the reds and yellow and cry and won't sleep, and do much better in the cool tones. But there are those exceptions who do the opposite. There is no question some babies are VERY sensitive to color. Ideally, we want relaxed sleepy colors in the bedroom and more energetic colors in play rooms. But hyper kids can benefit from calmer (to them) colors all the time.

How many of you who love the white and cool colors live in snow country?

How many of you color your decor in colors that you look best wearing?

Alot depends on your location, 48 yrs. ago when I became a home maker, we lived in the cold, damp, dreary (much of the yr.)NE and my colors were deep,heavy fabrics warm even hot, ruby red carpet, or deep emerald green etc.fireplace roaring Now living in SW. FL for 30 yrs. My colors and many of my friends are cool, pastels, my walls are all white, carpet white, furnishings pastels, and 85% of our homes are tile floors but our climate is tropical and hot/very warm most of the yr. And we love it! besides good AC, coming in from outside, (where you sweat in 5 mins often) at anytime, cool colors feel inviting and wonderful! as far as conversations, we party harty here in the south, the parties flow from inside to outside, to lanai's with big doors wide open, unless AC is on of course.We often hear a party on the next street.

Maybe I should rephrase that. I understand the studied resposes to different colors and values, but I don't usually have the same responses, so I just can't relate. Like I said, I've never walked into a room painted a specific color and had an actual physical reaction of feeling cool or warm.

I do have a clear preference for colors, and find some colors particularly offensive. I was recently in a house that had a number of wall colors that just made me very uncomfortable. That, and the general disorder that was throughout the house, and the whole experience made me very uncomfortable. I also have a physiologic reaction to what's IN the room and how it's arranged.

This is such a good question! For whatever reason, I kept thinking that our livingroom needed to be decorated with warm colors (probably for the reasons you mentioned in your first post) but I kept not really liking it--something always seemed off.

Then I painted the walls a blue-green gray...painted the trim crisp white and hung white curtains and suddenly it started to feel more interesting to me. Now I'm in the process of slipcovering our furniture in white lol. But on the other hand, our woodwork is a very dark, rich brown (and our fixtures are ORB) so I feel like it balances out.

To me, it doesn't feel cold but maybe to others it does? And maybe since I grew up in MN where everyone decorated with rich warm colors I got sick of it.

Basically, I think cool colors invigorate and keep me interested, especially since I'm the type who can get bored easily with my surroundings if they are too mundane/predictable/"comfortable"...

Plus you can always use red as an accent with cool colors if it starts to feel too stark.

It may also have had to do that the second party found guests that knew each other better and felt more familiar with the house and its layout.
Were your materials and surfaces less delicate looking the 2nd time? I know I get cautious in a room with a pale rug or light sofa as I worry about spills. Did you serve different food because of the color change and less worry about spills?
How was the lighting? In brighter lighting, people may have felt more tired sooner. Softer light could be easier on the eyes. (picture how it is at closing time when a bar turns its lights on, lol....)
Was the music the same?
I think colors definitely play a role, but not one so obvious as to keep people partying 5 hours later than before.

Here's an example. I had dinner last night at a trendy 4.5 star restaurant. The walls, ceiling, and furniture were all black, the carpet was a dark geometric, and the lighting above was I think canned recessed lights. The tables had small oil candles. There was just enough light to look around the room and recognize faces, but that's about it.

Walking through the glass doors in the blackness of it all was so startling, it was almost disorienting to me. I actually felt like I was going to fall down! When my food came, I was annoyed that I couldn't *really* see it. Part of enjoying a meal, for me, is seeing all of the colors and textures on the plate, but in the dark, it was all a bit muddy.

Walking to the lady's room was an experience...again, it was almost disorienting, and I was afraid I was going to trip and fall. I was wearing black shoes, and almost couldn't see my own feet moving on the floor. I kept wanting to reach out to hold onto something. Isn't that weird? The actual bathroom was equally dark and stark, fully outfitted with the vanity top sink bowl and free standing faucet. VERY unflattering lighting in there...how on earth did they expect women to check their makeup?

Back to the food...the salad was a massive bowl of greens with a teeny tiny sprinkle of goat cheese, one grape tomato sliced in two, and a drizzle of some tasty, but rather bland dressing. The steak was cooked perfectly, but was dreadfully lacking salt and pepper. A sprinkle of Kosher salt and a few grinds from the pepper mill would have made it sublime. The souffle was overly sweet and eggy, and had kind of a weak chocolate flavor.

If the lighting and colors had been different, would I have enjoyed the food more? I kept thinking through dinner, what is all of that blackness covering up, and how am I going to get out of here without falling down and making a fool of myself? I'm sure it wasn't the experience the chef had designed, but that's what it was for me.

I'd love to hear what the color experts have to say about all of that.

I live in the Rocky Mtns -- it gets cold here! About three years ago we redid our north-facing no direct sunlight any time of year kitchen and I wanted it to feel icy. It's white (cabs, marble, wainscoting) with the sheerest pale grey/blue (BM Pearl River) walls & ceiling. The floors are wood, however, and they're stained ebony. It is the ONLY space in our house with white -- none of our trim in the rest of the house is even white. (well, we do have white toilets and sinks)

But I love it for the kitchen. And our kitchen / breakfast nook are hot spots for the chit-chat and fun! Maybe because it's the kitchen but of course we always gravitate there -- people come over and we make our way into the kitchen and rarely leave. It is not the most comfortable seating (the chairs are fine but our family room furniture is simply comfier) but I have had many lovely, fun, substantial, silly chats there, and the children always seem to plop down at the table (which is glass with a stainless base) for long spells.

Every evening my partner settles in at the breakfast table for reading the paper, playing around on his computer and watching tv. He has the run of the whole downstairs (the children are asleep upstairs and I tend to go up earlier than he) with a big tv in the family room, another tv in the den with a comfy loveseat, but he prefers hanging out in the kitchen. Go figure!

Anyway, so for us I don't see the colors making a difference in terms of the chattiness. We rarely have big parties (maybe once a year, not including the children's birthday parties, of course), usually our entertaining is just one or two other families, but everyone seems comfortable wherever they are in the house. (I hope they are, at least!)

And by the way, oceanna, I appreciate so much all your terrific photo threads!

A couple opportunities for more discussion/thought:

Another 'color thing' experts count on is that everyone has a *set* preference about warm and cool. Meaning we all have a natural affinity for either warm or cool colors.

If we are asked to state our preference most of us, especially women, don't miss a beat. We know which temperature appeals to us. If you don't know right off the bat, it's usually a matter of just a little introspection to figure it out.

franksmom, what you're describing is inexcusable. From a professional color consultant's perspective, the most important factor of good color design is wayfinding.

Color design is about using color so it is humanly supportive in the built environment. It's about using color to make things better.

Proper color specification in conjunction with strategic lighting makes for pleasant, user supportive built environs.

Obviously the designers of the restaurant you speak of are lacking in the color expertise department. Wayfinding and managing contrasts are top priorities for a color consultant. Aesthetics matter, but it's about color engineering as much as color designing.

And, yes, I agree with you about tasting the food. There are few true synesthetes among us. But we all have synesthetic tendancies - our world is color coded and food is the #1 category where we depend on that learned code. The color of our food sends a message before we taste it - we do indeed eat with our eyes! Synesthetically speaking, the low lighting probably did deny your tastebuds.

Fundamentally you couldn't see your food. And that is not natural. Not natural and also distracting. No wonder you didn't find the experience enjoyable.

> The color of our food sends a message before we taste it - we do indeed eat with our eyes!

Yes! We also have observed that red seems to have a very strong tendency to excite. Red is, of course, the color of blood, a signal of danger, a fight or flight signal.

Birds have four types of color receptors, cones, and the 4th cone which humans lack allows birds to see into the ultraviolet range. Humans have three cones, and dogs have two cones.

Birds not only see in the ultraviolet range, but we believe they see in a whole other dimension, about which we know nothing. We suspect it because of structures we see in their eyes under the microscope which we cannot explain.

Our vision, and our reaction to the things we see, is the very definition of the word 'primal.' Our identifying colors was necessary to our survival. Those who failed did not survive to reproduce.

Rmkitchen, thank you so much.

Kitchens, of course, are a huge primal draw. You don't eat, you don't live. Everyone loves kitchens.

Besides that, would you say your kitchen is the prettiest room in the house? That has some draw, no doubt.

Oceanna, no big parties in the bedroom (usually :-) but Sasha is a dog so she really doesn't care what goes on in there as long as there is room on the bed for her.

Here are some pics... forgive the fan and air conditioner, they are necessary components of the decor in the summertime. I also just noticed the cordless drill box stashed behind the plant stand, LOL. I never was happy with the swag on the window, but it's been there for years because I couldn't come up with anything else. The bedspread has since been changed out to a lighter shade of blue that's more in line with the walls. The original one was a handmade duvet and it was falling apart, so I found a different one at the store. The pillows are those no-sew pillow forms with slits in them and you just tuck fabric around them. Not my best work, LOL. You can see Sasha on her window shelf, she likes to keep an eye on the neighborhood.

My LR & foyer were painted in sage & soft blue that were wonderful in summer but made the house feel dismal & chilly in winter. Because we spend more time in cold, often gray weather here, I changed the colors to warm autumnals. While those colors are a little stifling in August (remedy = bring in cooling cobalt blue accessories) , they're great the rest of the year. I haven't had winter downers since painting my LR orange. It's so cheery & welcoming. It also helped to put in larger windows. The abundant winter light makes the new room colors glow. We kind of miss our summery house, but to have a home that makes fall, winter, & early spring enjoyable is worth it.

My #1 DS is mildly autistic and has hypersensitivities, primarily smell & touch. But evidently color affects him strongly too. When we moved to the northeast, I was worried about his adjustment (disastrous --another story). I gave him the bedroom with cross lighting, and let him pick out a room color, hoping to mitigate any adolescent depressions. He asked for bright yellow walls. I made a nice room for him: happy face yellow walls, a sophisticated oriental rug with navy & deep red, cherry furniture & off-white matelasse bedding. It was colorful and upbeat without being childish. Well, he hardly was ever in that room. "It's too 'sharp', " he said & moved into our bland basement: light brown "pecan" paneling and oatmeal Berber carpet, blah muddy colored furniture, fluorescent light (it's consistent!). And that's the way he likes it. It's soothing to him. I have since repainted his bedroom a soft gray blue, and he's been using the room a bit, now that it's no longer "sharp".

I went from cool (blue, green) with a lot of white to a warm palette (rust, gold)and as much as I say I like it...I only like it from September to March. I really don't like how my house looks in the spring & summer. Too autumn-y. I never felt this way about the blue & green in the winter.

Awm, that's so interesting that your son had that reaction. While I don't understand the cool/warm reaction to color, I do understand the "sharp" reaction.

Regarding the restaurant, I looked up some reviews last night, and a number of people also commented about how dark the place was. And a few comments about the bland food. The majority of comments were positive, but it's good to know it wasn't just me. Maybe it's better in the day, but I wouldn't go back, and I certainly wouldn't take my elderly Mom there. I've been in dark restaurants, nightclubs, etc. my whole adult life, but have never had such a reaction to a place like that. Maybe it's my aging eyesight? The irony is that I think their target demographic is older, so you'd think someone would have thought to address the lighting issue.

The tone of colors affects me more than the color itself, e.g., I really don't like so I avoid cool whites but feel perfectly comfortable with warmer ones. While I tend to use blue sparingly, there are some blues which I find depressing and others not. I think of yellow as generally a happy color but would not want it to be the dominant color, even a "good" (to my eye) yellow. Most yellows, not all, are warm, but some are too saturated, garish and unpleasant to me regardless of the tone. It is all so subjective. Same with reds; some evoke aggression but not all. I once used a beautiful muted red ribbed wallpaper in a powder room and it always got compliments that the person felt and looked good in the room.

The same color is quite different in other regions as light values change quite a bit. As far as conviviality, color has an impact on me, but so do other factors. We entertain frequently and I've found the mix of people, current events, aural and oral cues, sensitivity to phases of the moon and weather seems to vary in people, even types of flower arrangements can subtly influence reactions. I've been in a variety of beautifully decorated spaces here and abroad, but it seems the key factor has been the whether hosts' are relaxed and genuinely warm and welcoming more than the physical cues. Even in museums or public spaces of palaces, the energy in the room seems to derive from more than just one factor. I'm fascinated by our variances in reactions to things whether due in part to the way we are wired and/or to our experiences.

I'm so glad you're back, oceana!

I've never had cool colors, only warm, especially in the jewel tones. Those colors make people gather together and talk quite a bit, just like they would in a great kitchen.

The one compliment I always get from both men and women is, "Your house is so homey." People want homey IMO, especially as they get older. I was born old. :)

All that white, including the "Pottery Barn" look comes across as cold to me.

It is funny how wall colors can set a "mood". I get a depressed feeling when I walk into a room with blue walls...any color blue. I use dark blue in accessories but not walls or carpeting...never. Now my DIL says blue walls make her feel clean and serene.