Choosing the right nursery colour for your baby can be a tricky decision. You suddenly have all these questions flying around your head:
Will it be too bright?
Will there be enough stimulation?
Is there ever such a thing as too much colour?
At this point many people choose to pick the easy option and go for either pink or blue, or even yellow if going for the more neutral look.
Others, well they dive straight in with fingers crossed and more colour tester pots than you count.
But does it really matter what colour you choose? Well it seems the simple answer is yes. In fact, marketing executives have spent millions researching the impact of colours on all of us over many years.
The evidence highlights that colours can have a real psychological impact and can influence your mood and behaviour, stimulate your brain and body and can even affect your health as certain colours can improve sleep habits, increase memory power and even enhance learning and academic performance - all of which we want for our children.
So, here's a quick breakdown of the potential benefits and drawbacks of each colour:
Red: associated with high emotions, passion and excitement. Best used as an accent colour as it can energise the body too much, increasing heart rate, blood pressure and respiration.
Can lead to negative personality traits such as increased aggression, headaches and an inability to focus if too much red is used.
Orange: considered warm, friendly, welcoming, comforting and cosy. Viewed as social in nature as it inspires communication and makes people feel at ease.
Be careful as too much orange can be over-stimulating.
Yellow: bright yellow is associated with happiness and can be motivating, stimulate the memory and increases metabolism. Softer more subtle yellows promote concentration.
However, too much yellow can bring about feelings of anger and frustration.
Blue: blue is seen as cooling and calming and increases productivity and decreases feelings of anxiety and aggression.
Be careful with the shade of blue as grey-blues can lean towards sadness.
Green: green symbolises nature, nurturing, healing, calming and refreshing and promotes a serene and calming environment and helps reduce anxiety and promotes concentration.
Purple: purple is often associated with mystery and luxury although purples that are more pastel in shade, such as lavender and lilac, can be more calming.
White: white is viewed as clean and pure.
Pink: feminine and romantic pink is calming as well, particularly with children who are prone to throwing fits or tantrums.
However, despite an initial calming effect, pink can become irritating over time, leading to agitation and anxiety.
Grey: grey promotes thought and emotion and inspires you to contemplate.
Be careful though as this can lead to feelings of sadness and loneliness.
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