Free Guide: Color Psychology for Interior Design

Want to brighten up your home in the new year, but don’t know where to start? Try this free guide to color psychology

Whether you’ve just moved into a new home, or want to refresh an existing space, choosing the right color makes a big difference. And this doesn’t have to mean your walls and flooring—cushions, curtains, and furniture can all update the look and feel of your room through new colors.

Eva Sonaike (@evasonaike_01) is the creative director and founder of her self-named interior design company, and strongly believes that your home can become an extension of your personality. Her brand specializes in luxury African-inspired interiors and soft furnishings and sold the products she designs in Liberty, Fenwick, and Selfridges, among others.

In her course, Eva recognizes that many people feel shy when it comes to injecting color into their home—it’s why many of us use chalk tones like white, cream, and brown. There is nothing wrong with natural colors like these, but to truly reflect your life and your stories, it may help to get experimenting too!

In the free guide below, Eva shares her approach to color psychology for interior spaces. So, what is color psychology? Let’s dive in…

What is color psychology?

Color psychology considers how specific hues, and their different tints and shades, can affect human feelings and behavior. This runs deeper than you might think — color can affect your emotions, your stress levels, and even how food tastes!

Decorating your ideal space, therefore, means taking into account how you want to feel when you’re in it. Energized, or relaxed? Focused, or playful? Each room can be tailored to your specific needs. For example, in the download below Eva notes that red can boost appetite and create conversation, making it a great potential choice for your kitchen. And while every room has its own functionality, you may also want to think about the overall story that is told when someone walks through the whole home.

What’s included?

In this download, Eva goes through seven color groups, mostly primary and secondary colors. She explains the effect of each on the inhabitants’ energy and mood, quoting other notable interior designers and color experts with their thoughts. After describing the main hue in the group, she discusses different tints (added white) and shades (added black), and talks about which colors are most suited to which room.

Download the free guide to color psychology

After clicking on the button below, you’ll find a PDF file in your Downloads folder titled, Free Guide to Color Psychology for Interior Design by Eva Sonaike. You may need to use a free program, such as WinZip, to decompress the file.

If you want to learn more, you can sign up for Eva Sonaike’s online course, African-Inspired Interior Design: Explore Color and Pattern. Throughout the course, you’ll learn to add color, pattern, and cultural influences to your home. Eva takes you through how to put what you’ve learned into practice in your hallway, bathroom, office, bedroom, living room, and outdoor space.

Looking for more free resources created exclusively for the Domestika community? Check out the Downloads tag on the blog.

You may also like:

- These 7 Colors Will Trend in 2022 According to the Experts
- Free eBook: Color Theory, by Domestika
- Interior Design Fundamentals: Mastering Color and Texture, course by Shari Francis
- Interior Design Tutorial: Learn How to Decorate a Room with Plants
- Interior Styling: Design Personalized Spaces, course by Dee Campling