The right choice and combination of color plays a central role in improving the quality of life in retirement and nursing homes. We have compiled a few basic rules that can be used as a guide for choosing the color for the room design.
Cold colors
The common feature of cold colors is that they have a low amount of yellow, or none. Typical cold colors include: purple, indigo, violet and turquoise as well as pink and magenta. This color choice conveys a rather rational and objective ambiance. Furthermore, a room in which cold colors are predominantly used gives the appearance of being larger.
Warm colors
On the other hand, warm colors have a large amount of yellow. These colors include bright red, orange, yellow, amber, yellow green, olive, brown and beige. They give convey a feeling of warmth and are therefore used in rooms where a homely atmosphere is important.
Calming colors
Predominantly calm blue and dark green tones have a calming effect on the eye. This is why we often use these colors in residents' rooms. Dark green is the dominant color in the dementia-adapted memoriana resident’s room concept, for example. When planning, it is absolutely essential to take the intensity and the saturation level of the colors used into account, according to the principle: the stronger the color tone, the more attractive and stimulating the room seems to be.
Stimulating colors
For communal rooms, colors such as bright yellow and grass green are most suitable, because they give a sense of freshness and vitality. Bright red can also have a stimulating effect, but beware that this color choice can have a counterproductive effect and is perceived as rather exhausting and stressful by many residents.
Did you know? Strange facts about color choice
Blue or yellow?
The term comes from the Old High German word blao, which can mean either blue or yellow. At first sight, this appears to be a contradiction. However, it has been proved that children under the age of two are unable to differentiate between these two colors. The distiction of blue and yellow as separate color concepts was first made between 800 and 100 AD.
Not true!
For a long time, the accepted knowledge was that dogs can only see in black and white. Now we know that this is not in fact true. Dogs are actually able to distinguish between individual colors, but suffer from a distinct red-green deficiency.
Red is warming!
During the winter, sales of red socks increases in Finland, not only because the wool keeps your feet warm, but also because of the color! Just try it for yourself!
What exactly does CMYK mean?
The abbreviation stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and key plate, which is the black printing plate. These four basic colors are used in printing. This color model is an internationally recognized standard. RGB Red, green, blue – the division into three basic colors as the basis for the color model is primarily used to define colors displayed on computer screens.
