This is an experiement in color psychology.  While taking an introduction to interior design class, I heard a little about color psychology.  The colors you use in your home- on the walls, your furniture, the carpets, accents- can have an effect on your overall mental health.  Darker colors can subdue your emotions and aren't that great for a depressed person or someone who is prone to periods of feeling "blue".  Brighter colors can uplift and cheer a person, but too bright and you can be overwhelmed.  Okay, so that is an oversimplified explaination of color psychology.  It is actually really involved and includes hues, values, and intensities of each color.

When I was hearing and reading about color psychology, I couldn't help but think about my family and what we were going through.  My husband has been working from home for the past ten years, my oldest son is Type 1 Diabetic which is a difficult thing to deal with especially when you feel all alone, we are all without energy most of the time and have a hard time being motivated.  Then, about 6 months ago, my sister and her entire family were killed in a plane crash.  There's no need to say how devastating this is and has been for my family to deal with.  My husband and I knew we needed to do something for our family, but what was the question.

While learning about color psychology in class, I thought about the colors of my home and how they might be contributing to our home's sad mood.  The family room is blue!  And it has a darker blue border near the ceiling!  Wow!  We were perpetuating our depression with our very environment!  In my mind I went on a virtual tour of our home and realized that the "white" walls of the hallways are tinted blue, some of the kids' bedrooms were painted when they were little and the colors of the walls didn't match their personalities anymore.  The game room had last been painted when the kids were little and there was still a cartoonistic mural of hills and clouds and blue sky- great when the kids were toddlers, but way outdated now.  I have never been really good at decorating my home and I was seeing that my lack of caring or even knowing how to care about my family's environment could possibly be taking a toll on my family.

I approached my teacher and explained a little about what my family has been going through, and she so graciously agreed to help me and my family in our journey to redecorate our home to help promote peace and happiness.  She came into our home a few weeks ago, gave us suggestions and tools, to help us get started, and has taken on an advisory role to continue to help us in our journey.

Currently, we have already nearly finished with one room, but I will go back and retell the experiences we've had while deciding on the priority and ideas we came up with and how we got to where we are now.  Come along with us as we travel on our family journey of rediscovering life and the colors that we take along with us!