What Color is Your Emotional Base?

Another possible title: What color is your eye sugar?

I'm in the midst of redefining the space in our former theater turned production area. We'll miss our movie nights downstairs as this was the area where Bacchus & the Ball of Yarn was born.

I've decided that I really want to make this space work hard. The things I'd like to accomplish in this space is storage, shipping, sewing, and painting. Real painting, like on canvases and stuff! I've got such the itch to clean pigment from under my fingernails.

Additionally, I'd like to take advantage of the technology we have (video camera & Apple equipment) and begin creating video blogs; I'd like to show my enthusiasts just what it is I do on a regular basis and dispelling any myths about us, "creativetypes." Andrew believes I'm just going to reinforce them, but we'll let you be the judge.

I photographed the progress of the renovation today that reveals a bit of madness, but no fear, a bit of method to all of this. I love looking thru the camera lens because I'm able to eliminate the clutter of life and focus on what is to become important: the space. The particular area is this angular wall Andrew built back in 2001 because he wanted to block off an area for his office. I'm proud that we worked out the plans in my journal on the way back from our first trip to London between repeat showings of Shrek. He actually took my advice and has never looked back -that's one indicator of how well we manage to shelve our egos when necessary.

Knowing that I want to do some videoblogging downstairs, we need to repaint -at least of portion of it because it's current color state is dark blue. Andrew insisted that the color be dark in the theater because if we're watching movies, he wanted the wall to recede when watching epic pictures. After taking a few photos, I realized that I want to repaint with a color that is light and a satin base (to reflect light easily) and with a red base so that my complexion is complemented.

PSYCHOLOGY COLOR TIPs: Depending on what room you're painting in your house, you'll want to be thoughtful about your choices and this is what you can remember:

Red induces hunger & energy. For me, red is sugar for the eyes. Yum! If you're an eat-to-live person, red is a good color choice for a kitchen; however, if you've got an eating disorder, green is better. I wanted red in our kitchen, but Andrew chose a dark billiard green instead and I'm fine with that -I don't think he was aware about the emotional statement he was making, but I'm no judge. We've also got a sage in our dining room to promote a healthy, calm eating lifestyle. Plus, it's just plain pretty.

Blue can induce depression, banality. When you're painting your bathroom, don't make it blue. Studies have shown that more people call in sick because when they get up in the morning, their eyes haven't adjusted and with the influence of blue on their complexion, they suddenly become influenced by the 'blahs' and then it just snowballs. Your bathroom should have some kind of red base, at the very least.

Yellow is like liver: It can provide a very positive response or anger. If you're painting your baby's room, rethink the yellow choice. A buttercup is nice, but the sunshine banana yellow can keep your baby upset. If this is your predicament, you can hang pretty sheers over the walls in any color to calm baby. Personally, I don't like the banana color; I get so angst-ridden I have to leave the room. Although, I do love gold -love love love that old world hue.

Green induces tranquility and serenity. We love green and have used shades of it liberally thru-out the house. It works well with the peanut butter we've chosen for the living room -very Earthy.

Purple induces affection and passion. I prefer periwinkle over gray because it's got just a hint of color. The perfect periwinkle has equal parts of both blue & red and this is the color of our bedroom. All colors and materials support the versatile hue extremely well: from rich, dark winter fabrics to fresh Spring colors -it's just a dynamic color.

Orange induces a similar energy that red stimulates. It's also very youthful & hip. We don't use much of it, if at all. We like to think of ourselves as hip, but it might be a throwback from our pre-pubescent years we spent in the 70s.

So, with this knowledge, I'm using a red-base color for the wall color -perhaps something within the terracotta family: dry or wet. Currently, I've got a wet terracotta color in my office and I never grow tired of it. It has just enough red to keep me engaged in my activities and I never want to leave.

While looking thru the lens, another 'a-ha' moment hit: chalkboard paint!! Yea mahn! Chalkboard paint. When I simultaneously create my art and videoblog, I can talk and write notes on the board -how cool is that? When I ran upstairs to tell Andrew, he also suggested that we take the cork squares we bought many years ago and install them so that I can post my ideas -fabulous! I'm thinking we'll do long sections, column form, and also put them on a board then install the board so that we can preserve them for other spaces if necessary. We'll make the chalkboard paint magnetic, too!

Ohhhhh, I can't wait!!

Now that I've revealed how I love to live in color and my emotional base, what's yours?