Clocking Orange: Creativity and Energy

When it comes to orange, we've observed two types of people: the person that naturally buys and displays orange abundantly, and the person who envies that person. There’s no question, it’s daring and effortless and speaks to self-confidence.

We spend our lives around colour at MILOU MILOU, and in the first our colour psychology series we look at how incorporating the colour orange into your home can impact your mood, mind, and even your eating habits.

Colour psychology tells us orange is an energetic and stimulating colour, one which people tend to associate with words like uplifting, rejuvenating, happy, warm, and fresh. We often find orange used in restaurants, implemented to increase appetite, and in advertising to grab attention. Orange is also favoured in chromotherapy, or light therapy. In this type of healing, orange is used to increase energy levels and heal the second chakra, known as the sacral chakra or Swadhisthana. This chakra that sits just below your navel is responsible for governing both creativity and sexual energy, so if it is blocked it can wreak havoc on everything from your workflow to your libido.

Orange is not a one-size-fits-all option. It comes in many variants and you should consider choosing a shade based on how you want your space to feel. For example, go for a light peach if you want a calming effect, a vibrant carrot-like hue if you need an infusion of energy, or a burnt orange for an earthier aesthetic that feels grounded in nature.

It is important to note that while it is common to associate certain feelings and energies with orange—and every other colour for that matter— how a colour makes you feel is also deeply personal. Your upbringing, your culture, and your memories will all impact how a colour affects you. For example, while a pastel shade of orange may feel soothing to you, someone else may associate it with the hospital room where their loved one passed and therefore feel panic and sadness when they are in rooms with light orange tones.

Incorporating orange into a room doesn’t have to mean all or nothing to receive psychological benefits—even just a few well-placed expressions of orange can help you reap the benefits of the cheery hue. Four orange walls aren’t likely to provide most people with an equally-important sense of calm, and the feature wall is copping some flack right now. Using paint to highlight a cubby or corner, or choosing patterned wallpaper with orange embellishments draws the eye, and texturises a space. In the scheme of an interior, a small object we like can catch our eye every time we move through a space – tiny things we look at often can be as fundamental to colour psychology as a wall, or artwork. 

With its feeling of fresh energy and intelligence, and governance of the second chakra, orange is a great colour to incorporate into the bedroom. Looking beyond paint, turn your focus toward fabrics and accessories. An orange lamp is not only a great way to introduce the colour, but it can also enhance the ambience of a bedroom by using low-light bulbs. Introducing orange in a bigger way, you can opt for bedding in oranges or docile reds to give the space a rich and luxurious feel that pulls directly from warm earth materials like clay and desert sand.

There’s is no right or wrong way to use colour in your interior—use your intuition and find what feels good to you. Whether that means a bold and bright wall or a few muted accents, infusing your life with a bit of orange has been shown to increase energy, vitality, and wellness within your home.

FURTHER READING

A critical analysis on light therapy

Art Therapy's Colour Meanings and Symbolism

Our orange, KAAN, as duvet, with TIMO and MARDEN cases.