The Feel of Color

Synesthesia

Have you ever heard of synesthesia? I hadn’t until I met a young man who had the remarkable experience of hearing music when he saw a color. If you’re not familiar with the term, synesthesia is a condition some people have where their different senses mingle so that objects that are normally experienced by one sense are simultaneously experienced with a totally separate sense. So for example a synesthete might experience smells when they hear music or see colors when they look at a number or word on a page. It is a remarkable phenomenon and must make for a very rich experience of the world. 

Some psychologists say that it is possible to develop this capacity even if you are not naturally inclined to it. Whether or not that is true, there is a deep connection between each of our senses and they are intertwined. Think about the word “soft”, for instance. How many different senses could we think of that use the word soft: soft to the touch, soft music, soft colors . . . are there soft smells, I wonder? Or think about sharp: the sharp ringing of a bell, the sharp taste of cheddar, sharp lines on a piece of furniture. So, while we might think of our senses as being very different parts of our experience of reality, there is a melding of our senses that is a part of being human beings experiencing and making sense of the world around us. 

In the interior design world, this fusion of our senses is expressed in many ways but especially so in color. The palettes we work with and the colors we choose are so much more than wavelengths on the color spectrum bouncing into our eyes. They are intertwined with all our other senses, but even more importantly with the rest of our lives. The colors we choose to have around us are intensely meaningful and have always been expressions of our tastes, cares, hopes, dreams, even the times we live in. When we splash a color on a wall or cover a piece of furniture, we are evoking a world of feeling, thought, history, and more.

So, why don’t we explore this world of color and meaning together a bit. If you look through the history of design over the past decades, you can trace our national history through the colors people chose to have around them. 

A Whirlwind Tour of Color History

If we think about the '40s and early '50s, the decades were marked with war, service, and sacrifice. Frugality and self-sufficiency were important to people. It wasn’t a time to be ostentatious or extravagant. Color schemes were muted, modest, and patriotic. Military greens and blues in conservative old-fashioned patterns marked this era.  

In the post-war decades, this seriousness gave way to the baby boom. The world was full of optimism, hope, and life. The economy was booming, families were growing, and the colors that expressed this were bright light pastels. As if the sun had come out from behind a cloud. Walls were delicate pinks, greens, and yellow, colors that expressed hope and prosperity.

As this new generation came of age, we saw a move towards revolutionary ideas, rock and roll took on a countercultural aspect. There was a rejection of the norms and mores of the previous generation and an embrace of the psychedelic and experimental. The palettes shifted to the extremes of deep oranges and greens, the gaudier the better. Unexpected pairings of color expressed the sentiments of the age. Moving to the late 70’s and 80’s things became a bit more muted but still were still rich oranges, yellows, and greens. Wood paneling and exposed brick were also popular.

The '90s and early 2000's saw some of that color fading to lighter palates, the excesses of the previous decades wearing out perhaps. It was a less revolutionary time as the baby boomers grew up, had kids. Perhaps a bit more serious mood expressed itself in the palettes of the day. The colors were denim and white, lots of fabric, fringes, skirts on furniture. Lighter backdrops were the starting point for color design. When richer colors were used, they were deep and not so neon or bright. Here we see the beginnings of an era dominated by grey as the base color.

This brings us to our day and age. While there are always multiple streams of design going on at any one time, words that would describe our current mood and therefore design might include: nostalgic, optimistic, timeless, reflecting on earlier eras and attempting to bring them into a modern era, innate charm, therapy, relationships, balancing life. What colors come to your mind when you hear these words? What words would you use to describe your mood and aspirations these days?

What is Your Color Story?

Now while the history may be interesting, what is more important is to see how the colors we choose are an ongoing expression of who we are, what we need, what we desire, what we aspire to. And that brings the conversation back home for us today. When we join you in your design project, how do we go from a first meeting with you to a completed home that is filled with colors that speak to your life, your needs, your imagination, your aesthetic? Well, it takes a few things. On our side, it takes a lot of experience and knowledge of the colors available, how they work together, how they fit different environments and applications. 

 But more importantly it takes really getting to know you. The better we know you the more we understand those things about you that make you who you are. And as we hear how you think and feel, we start having a synesthesia of sorts. We start seeing patterns and colors in the things you tell us about yourself. So, when we start to present you with choices to work from, they are already speaking your color language. When you see the palates and choices laid out on the table for the first time you see expressions already of who you are and what you are looking for. Then you get to choose between things that are already in the ballpark. So the finished product, the colors that fill your home and life, are an expression of something of who you are. Ultimately making it a home that you would want to live in. That is the power of design that doesn’t start with the designer’s taste or her preconceived notions of what is currently fashionable, but that starts with a relationship with you.