There’s a reason why we call someone a ‘colourful character’ or we say ‘live life in colour’, and frankly it all comes down to one of the reasons I love what I do and why we’re able to bring so much joy to our clients.
Because colour has an incredible power, like no other, to impact how we feel and behave; influence our perception of space in interiors; and create joyful surprises every day.
People do worry about which colours to use for their curtains, and so understanding the psychology of colour is a really good foundation for confidence. And giving people the confidence to make bold decisions is what we’re all about so let’s get into the psychology of colour.
I consider four things whether I’m designing a small blind for a utility room or creating the window dressing scheme for an entire country home.
The first consideration is how different colours affect our mood and their suitability for various rooms in the home. Below are some general guidelines, but don’t forget when it comes to colour, much of the fun is in the rule-breaking!
Red curtains are a great way to introduce a bold statement of power and energy into your living space. This passionate colour is said to stimulate the senses, increase heart rate, and create a warm, welcoming atmosphere. In living and dining rooms, red curtains can make these spaces feel much more intimate and engaging.
Katherine’s Key Takeaway: I love using red for entrance halls – think red velvet door curtains or a red staircase carpet. It is also great for dining rooms and even living rooms – why? Because it is such a welcoming colour and creates the best ambience for social interaction and conversation. Theatres, cinemas and restaurants still use this element of colour psychology for this very reason. There is an argument to say that there is a place for a pop of red in every home.
The sun-kissed brilliance of yellow curtains infuses rooms with optimism and vitality. Like a jubilant burst of sunshine, yellow introduces a luminous aura that uplifts the spirit and energises the mind. Such lively and vibrant curtains are particularly effective in home offices or creative spaces where inspiration and positive energy are essential.
Katherine’s Key Takeaway: Yellow and orange curtains can look stunning in new build apartments as block colours – bringing a stylish modernity to the clean, simple lines of a modern flat.
They’re also great for kids’ bedrooms – where pink and blue are just too obvious, yellow or orange maintain a young, fresh and playful vibe.
Yellow and Orange are wonderful colours to use as accents – a whole wall of yellow may well be overpowering but as an accent they often work perfectly.
Blue curtains bring the calming influence of water and sky into your home. This serene hue has been shown to lower blood pressure and heart rate, creating a peaceful and stable atmosphere. In bedrooms or meditation spaces, blue curtains can help create a relaxing and restful atmosphere, enveloping the room in tranquil elegance.
Katherine’s Key Takeaway: [Full disclosure: Blue is my favourite colour!] Unlike red, blue can bring drama and strength in a much more calming way. Blue is versatile enough to be used in living rooms, dining rooms, bedrooms, and bathrooms.
I often feel I use blue with as much ease as if it were a neutral, as it is so easy to work with – just think of it as you would your favourite pair of denim jeans.
Green curtains can help connect your interior to the natural world, evoking feelings of growth, balance, and renewal. This versatile colour creates a refreshing atmosphere that soothes the eye and calms the mind. Perfect for reading nooks or bedrooms, green drapery establishes a harmonious backdrop for both relaxation and contemplation.
Katherine’s Key Takeaway: Green is the perfect colour for bedroom curtains – soothing, calming and easy to live with. In bedrooms, we try not to have any jarring colour changes, so you get an incredible feeling of being wrapped in a seamless colour cocoon.
White curtains embody simplicity and purity, creating an impression of spaciousness and light. These ethereal drapes filter sunlight into gentle, diffused illumination that transforms throughout the day. In minimalist or modern interiors, white curtains provide a canvas of elegant restraint, allowing other design elements to shine.
Katherine’s Key Takeaway: We don’t tend to create many purely white curtains these days unless they are sheer unlined voiles – these can bring a wonderful ‘safari lodge’ feeling of floaty peacefulness to your living space.
Otherwise, white curtains tend to be in warmer off white hues, which can be wonderful if they are pure in simplicity and elegance.
Black curtains introduce a note of sophistication and dramatic contrast to your living space. These bold drapes create a sense of boundary and definition, particularly effective in formal dining rooms or home theatres where a sense of enclosure enhances the experience. When paired with thoughtful lighting, black curtains can transform an ordinary room into an extraordinary statement of refined taste.
Katherine’s Key Takeaway: Black is such a brilliant accent colour! Solid black curtains are a rarity, but putting a black border or trim on a pair of curtains or a blind can create pure magic by providing a well-needed grounding for your scheme.
The colour you choose for your curtains will not only influence mood but also affect how you perceive the dimensions of your space. Darker colours tend to absorb light, creating an illusion of cosiness that makes expansive areas feel more intimate. Conversely, lighter curtains reflect light, visually expanding smaller spaces and creating an airy, open atmosphere.
This interplay between colour and spatial perception allows you to enhance your interior architecture through thoughtful and strategic curtain colour choices. By understanding these principles, you can use curtain colours to balance proportions and create harmonious environments that feel perfectly scaled to their purpose.
Katherine’s Key Takeaway: If you’re looking for some guidance or at least a starting point for deciding on colour for a room, then ask yourself how you want to feel in that space.
Do you want to create a cosy snug? Then opt for dark colours.
If you want to create the feeling of a big, airy, light-filled space, then you’ll probably go for lighter, more neutral colours.
Combining colours is a sure fire way to surprise and delight in interior design and below we share the most common approaches used by interior designers.
Here you use colours opposite each other on the colour wheel – this is all about balance. For example, blue and yellow work well together, and red and green look great when juxtaposed.
Here you would use colours next to each other on the colour wheel – e.g. pink and purple, orange and yellow. This creates cohesiveness and unity.
You may be feeling hemmed in by rules and, of course, there are some useful guidelines but as with all things creative, breaking the rules can be incredibly rewarding and fun! Combining unexpected colours can produce wonderful, dramatic and surprising results.
Colour can be used to direct our eyes and help us understand or make sense of a space – this is especially important in a big space. For example: if you have an amazing view, a simple black border on your curtains can make an incredible difference by framing the view. In other situations, you may want the curtains to recede.
A client recently told me they hated their hall Victorian floor tiles – one of the colours was jarring for them. So we picked out the colours they loved from the tiles and made a bold velver door curtain and complementary stair runner, and suddenly everything fell into place and the tiles were perfect. They couldn’t change the original floor tiles – so we used our colour tool kit to make them more appealing.
At Katherine Brown Curtains and Blinds, we believe that designing the perfect curtains involves more than just colour psychology—it’s about bringing your unique vision to life with our expert guidance and flawless execution.
