Color Your Home, Change Your Mood

“Color is the spice of life,” says interior designer Mario Buatta. “It’s a mood-changer. You change the color from room to room to create a new mood.”

This statement epitomizes the impact color has on our emotional wellbeing and points to the importance of surrounding ourselves with home décor that encourages positivity.

Many people view their homes as sanctuaries. What do you consider your home? Does your interior design reflect the mood you want to set when in this unique environment?

If you want your home to be a sanctuary, it begins with incorporating colors that can influence your mood and the moods of others.

In a recent AOL.com article, top designers offer advice on color schemes that enhance mood. Here is what some experts are saying:

BUNNY WILLIAMS – DEFY TRENDS

“It’s important to choose colors that are easy to live with, which means ignoring trends. What’s timeless is to invent your own color schemes.”

MILES REDD – BE BOLD

“I love disparate rich colors paired next to each other—like taxicab and indigo. The tension that they make on the color wheel is dazzling. Each color makes the other more vibrant than when they stand alone.”

KELLY WEARSTLER – GENDER EQUALITY

“Pink-and-black is confident and chic. I always love to play up the sexy tension between masculine and feminine elements in design.”

STEVEN GAMBLER – ALL EYES ON THE KITCHEN

“Kitchens now act as a part of a house’s public space… It’s important that the kitchen feel as warm and friendly as a sitting room.”

TIMOTHY CORRIGAN – GREEN HARMONY

“I find it important to create homes that serve as our places of sanctuary from the outside world, so I often use green in a prominent role. It’s a color that represents harmony and balance, and you can’t help but feel a little bit calmer after spending time in a room surrounded by green.

Do you view your home as a sanctuary? If so, what colors do you use to highlight the essence of this matchless location?

After reviewing the philosophies of famous designers, it clear to see that beautiful homes come in all sorts of color schemes. As a personal oasis, your home ought to reflect your character and surround you with colors that encourage you and lift your mood.

Color is a powerful tool that can influence mood. When it is applied to the right location, it can have a positive influence on you.

 

Read more Segmation blog posts about color theory:

What Color Should You Paint Your Home?

Decorate Your Home Office to Inspire Creativity

Make Your House a Home with Color Blocking

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Make Your House a Home with Color Blocking

One artist’s faux pas is another person’s masterpiece.

Adding bold color to a home seems like a mistake to some. But to others, it is a creative challenge. Lots of people love to build up their home décor with vibrant blocks of color.

If you enjoy bright rich turquoise, feel happy in the presence of mustard yellow, and want the freedom to change your design in a flash, you may want to make your house a home with color blocking.

A Brief History of Color Blocking

The art of color blocking began when Piet Mondrain, a Dutch painter, started to create wall work in the 1920s. His trademark painting was made of oil on canvas and included geometric squares and rectangles. Some of the shapes were filled with colors (usually red, blue and yellow), while others were left blank.

After introducing this technique to French and American markets, color blocking, the art of putting contrasting colors together in patchwork, fashion, and interior design, became a hot trend.

Barbara Schirmeister is a modern day color expert who consults for companies like Hunter Douglas, a company that specializes in window treatments. She raves about color blocking, saying it “…adds movement, drama and the opportunity to surround yourself with more of the colors you enjoy. It lets you give a room not just personality, but your personality. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself in your home.”

Tips for Color Blocking Your Home

In a recent Marin News article, Schirmeister explains how to successfully incorporate color blocking into your home.

Choose a color theme – Before purchasing furniture, paint, and throw pillows, create a list of your favorite colors. Try not to consider what the shades will look like in your home. Simply identify which hues compliment your tastes and lifestyle. From there, choose three hues that go well together, even if they don’t flatter each other. As Schirmeister likes to say, “The colors have to get along ‘and be happy together.’”

Keep walls neutral – It is trendy to have accent walls inside your home. These walls have been painted vibrant colors that stand out from the other walls, which are kept neutral. Accent walls are perfectly acceptable and encouraged in color blocking schemes. But be sure to selectively choose which walls to paint. In rooms where you plan to use large colorful furniture, like a pink couch, it is wise to keep wall color neutral.

Stop while you’re ahead – Less is more when it comes to color blocking. To ensure you achieve the right balance, step back and take a good look at your masterpiece once and a while. Can you picture it featured in an edition of Real Simple magazine? Or does it seem a bit busy? One benefit of color blocking is that it is easy to move the colorful articles around so you can recreate your space in a flash.

Are you looking to liven up your home with a splash of color? Have you been thinking about what you can do to redecorate? Color blocking is good for projects of all sizes. Read the entire interview with Barbara Schirmeister to discover if this art trend is right for you.

Read more Segmation blog posts about designing a colorful home.

Office Paint Colors and Effective Employees

What Color Should You Paint Your Home?

Prison Pink

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Is a Career in Art for you?

 

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What do you want to be when you grow up? Many kids are asked this question. At the start of a school year, when optimism is fresh and hopes are high, children set goals and claim their dream jobs. This doesn’t pertain exclusively to children though; many adults reflect on their childhood dreams as well. Like young souls, adults can also be found wondering and exploring what it takes to pursue a career in art.

• Did you dream about becoming an artist?
• Do you support your child’s dreams of having a career in art?

When a child’s artwork decorates a refrigerator, it is hard to imagine how carefree creativity will earn him or her a comfortable living. All too often, many parents believe artistic endeavors only lead to poor career paths. However, there are plenty of stable, high earning jobs– like architecture, interior design, and graphic design – that require creativity and artistic talent.

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Architecture

Curious children love to build and create. They are fascinated by how items work and fit together. If a child is inclined to building creative pieces of artwork, architecture may be a great career to pursue. Support this natural talent by giving him or her toys like Legos, clay, and miniature models.

Interior Design

Interior design may be a future career for a child who has a knack for arranging colors, is fascinated by textures, and comes up with unique art combinations. It requires these interests and is necessary in many different forms. There are competitive careers in home décor, office design, bathroom remodeling, and more.

Graphic Designer

Growing up in a technological world may raise a generation of children who use visual designs to communicate. Graphic design is used to sell products, inform the public, and inspire viewers. Many fields require artistic talent for graphic design. This is a great career because there are many ways to make money.

It is never too early to prepare for the future. Supporting a child’s artistic dreams may encourage the little one to thrive in academic studies and extracurricular activities. It may also infuse a parent’s life with revived passion. For anyone feeling this urge, know that it is never too late (or too early) to pursue a career in art.

Read more Segmation blog posts about Fresh Art:

Welcome Spring with a Freshly Painted Front Door

The Color Green: Many Shades, Many Meanings

Office Paint Colors and Effective Employees

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Creative Bathroom Décor

A bathroom takes up a few square feet of home space but can consume a good portion of the decorating budget. Designing a bathroom involves more than choosing paint colors, tile patterns and fragrant accents. Some homeowners believe this is the best space to exercise creativity and add pieces of outrageous artistic flair.

Many artists create pieces that are intended to dress up the bathroom. Explore how some add aquamarine life to the splish-splash nature of the room while also infusing it with organic flowers and natural lighting sources. Take a look at art that is breathing new life into these common, small spaces.

Aquarium Vanity

Fish tanks are often seen in office spaces and living rooms. They are said to bring a sense of tranquility to the environment. What can they bring to bathrooms? One artistic bathroom vanity is livening up the bathroom with the movement of an aquarium. The Moody Aquarium Sink brings a tropical look to the bathroom. Although, lifting the sink top and rearranging the aquamarine environment can change the look instantly. This particular vanity includes backlights to ensure a nightlight is always available and the fish are always on display.

Artistic Urinals

Clark Sorensen is a sculptor who creates bathroom pieces that are on the dryer side of nature. He creates artistic urinals. Sorensen has cornered a niche art market that is, he says, “Inspired by nature (and the call of it).” He believes that couples reach out to him because the man wants a urinal but the woman thinks they are “ugly or dirty.” By creating urinals in the shapes of flowers, like daffodil and hibiscus, he creates a product that bridges the bathroom divide. The artist says, “My works echo the classic conflicts between masculine and feminine, good and evil, soiled and chaste.”

Bathtub Chandelier

Much of the art that makes its way into bathrooms is inspired by nature. Natural light is one of the most important features of a bathroom. A beautiful approach to illuminating this space is to use a non-electric chandelier. By hanging a multi-candle chandelier over the bathtub, a unique elegance is brought into the room.

People relish in the idea of decorating their homes, but how much energy do they put into decorating their bathrooms? These small but useful spaces are brought to life when artistic flare is added. Artists are producing bathroom décor that is fully functional and inspired by nature. By embracing this trend, the smallest room in a home can cause the biggest splash.

Read more Segmation blog posts about artistic home décor:

Decorate Your Home Office to Inspire Creativity

Use Color to Bring Your Home to Life

Welcome Spring with a Freshly Painted Front Door

Be an Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

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Pursuing a Career in Art

What do you want to be when you grow up? Many kids are asked this question. At the start of a school year, when optimism is fresh and hopes are high, children set goals and claim their dream jobs. This doesn’t pertain exclusively to children though; many adults reflect on their childhood dreams as well. Like young souls, adults can also be found wondering and exploring what it takes to pursue a career in art.

• Did you dream about becoming an artist?
• Do you support your child’s dreams of having a career in art?

When a child’s artwork decorates a refrigerator, it is hard to imagine how carefree creativity will earn him or her a comfortable living. All too often, many parents believe artistic endeavors only lead to poor career paths. However, there are plenty of stable, high earning jobs– like architecture, interior design, and graphic design – that require creativity and artistic talent.

Architecture

Curious children love to build and create. They are fascinated by how items work and fit together. If a child is inclined to building creative pieces of artwork, architecture may be a great career to pursue. Support this natural talent by giving him or her toys like Legos, clay, and miniature models.

Interior Design

Interior design may be a future career for a child who has a knack for arranging colors, is fascinated by textures, and comes up with unique art combinations. It requires these interests and is necessary in many different forms. There are competitive careers in home décor, office design, bathroom remodeling, and more.

Graphic Designer

Growing up in a technological world may raise a generation of children who use visual designs to communicate. Graphic design is used to sell products, inform the public, and inspire viewers. Many fields require artistic talent for graphic design. This is a great career because there are many ways to make money.

It is never too early to prepare for the future. Supporting a child’s artistic dreams may encourage the little one to thrive in academic studies and extracurricular activities. It may also infuse a parent’s life with revived passion. For anyone feeling this urge, know that it is never too late (or too early) to pursue a career in art.

Read more Segmation blog posts about Careers in Art:

Use Color to Change Employees’ Job Performance

Selling Your Art in a Strained Economy

Office Paint Colors and Effective Employees

Be a Artist in 2 minutes with Segmation SegPlay® PC (see more details here)

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Bauhaus Art School

Are you impressed to learn about the invention of Op-Art?

The modern art style, best associated with the art and theory of Josef Albers, influenced an artistic evolution throughout the 20th century, and continues to impact the 21st century as well.

But did you know that this trendy new art form started in Germany in the early 1900’s? Even more, it was created and taught at a school that was also a forerunner for architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography.

The famous school of art, called Bauhaus, existed in three different parts of Germany between the years of 1919 and 1933. This seems like a short period of time to have such a strong influence on the world. However, the principal thoughts and practices that encouraged artists at Bauhaus traveled with them and spread throughout the world when many of the practicing students and teachers had to emigrate during Nazi control.

The Bauhaus art school was known as a “House of Construction” or a “School of Building.” Even though studies in architecture were not implemented until later, the school built its values on the idea that creating a “total” work of art incorporates multiple elements of art.

A good example of this is optical art’s use of three types of elements: optical illusions, canvas painting, and color. Perhaps it was this concept of completeness that catapulted the Bauhaus style into success, becoming one of the most influential styles in modern art, design and architecture.

Another thought that contributed to the success of Bauhaus was the founding philosophical principle of constructivism. This term originated in Russia and commonly associated with the idea that art could contribute to a better society. With major political and economic shifts happening all over the world, especially in Europe, people learned they could express themselves and propel a positive message with art. Even though there was a negative atmosphere in the world during the time of World War I and leading up to World War II, individual artists knew that art had the power to carry the significant message of peace.

In a war-torn society, Bauhaus school had much to teach. Here are some common art forms that excelled and were mastered by artists at the school between 1919 and 1933:

• Woodworking
• Cabinetmaking
• Work with Metal
• Ceramics
• Weaving
• Printing and typography
• Theater
• Drawing
• Painting
• Photography
• Architecture

Bauhaus art school existed at a poignant time in history. It’s location in the world and foundational European thought are two of the many reasons why it is still a reputable resource for art history today. The other reasons are artists, styles and creations that were consistently produced by the school. These are the pieces that influence modern art today, and will continue to do so evermore.