The Colors of Healing
by Candace Liccione
Being at home during the lockdown forced me to look at things that I didn’t have time to do before. I really enjoy the sunrise each morning. There is a shifting picture of colors that moves by my window each morning. I seem to naturally rise each day as the sun is coming up and I stand in awe of the parade of colors that each sunrise brings.
Color has been on my mind since we started sheltering at home. I planned to paint some shelves in my guest room and after seeing a piece of furniture on a website that I loved the color scheme they used, I painted the shelves using paint I had leftover from projects at my studio so I basically had no choice of colors.
Luckily the colors were deep lavender, bright chartreuse, pale blue, and fuchsia. I was amazed when I finished painting and put the shelves back into the room that the room literally filled up with beautiful energy. I forgot about color having such energy! I love going into that room now and started looking at the rest of my house with an eye to color.
I hadn’t realized that after 19 years in this house, I basically hadn’t changed anything in that time period. With life being busy and not really looking at my décor, I didn’t realize how bland my décor was. I love home shows on HGTV and love how they style houses to sell them. So, I decided to style my house and put color back into the décor. I love my furniture and don’t wish to purchase anything new so that left me with the idea not to purchase anything but to just move my accessories around in my house. I have had such fun looking at all my accessories with a new eye for color and function. I ran around the house for two days switching accessories from room to room.
Color is so important in life and I had forgotten how much color brings into a room with power and energy. You can enhance every part of your house with colors. With help from a book entitled “Color Power” by Philippa Merivale, I re-educated myself on how color affects our body, our mood, and our life.
I don’t care for bold reds, oranges, or yellows for my home décor. I love jewel tones of teal, purples, turquoises, cerise, and greens. But your home should represent you and your family and the colors you love.
Red is a dynamic color and is a very physical color. Pink which combines red and white is quieter and softer and radiates well-being and denotes love. Orange is shades of coral, terracotta, and peach. Orange brings a feeling of summer, power, and sunshine. Yellow can represent spring, laughter, and happiness. Greens are the color of harmony and balance, the color of nature, soothing and comforting. Blue in all its hues is soothing, or bold, peaceful, and relaxing. The purples come in many tints and hues and are so calming, healing, and enlightening.
Since I am in the arts and crafts business, color is a huge component of what I do but I had forgotten how I love color and how much more color I can bring into my daily life. This time at home reminded me to take more time to enjoy the sunrise colors, the sunset colors, the nature colors, and all the colors that make up our world.
What colors will you notice in your life today?
Photo credit(s): Photo by Felix Dubois-Robert on Unsplash and Photo by Chris Lawton on Unsplash