The colour of your walls represents one of the most undervalued assets your business possesses. Colour has a profound effect on your psychology, and the right colour can influence your employees to work more efficiently or appeal more to your customers or clients.
You won’t find any universal rules that rate one colour as better than another; they all serve a different purpose. You can take advantage of that purpose by choosing a colour that represents your goals. The following list should give you an idea of what each colour can accomplish for your company.
Blues represent one of the most common colours found in workplaces. Blues stimulate the mind, and this stimulation results in higher productivity. Blue is one of the best colours for jobs that involves extensive thinking, such as jobs in the financial, computer or analytical fields.
Blue also calms most people and opens them up for communication. These benefits make blue one of the best options for office environments such as meeting rooms. However, because blue is so calming you might want to add a brighter colour (such as orange or yellow) to the colour scheme to tone down blue’s calming effect.
Greens promote a healthy sense of balance in employees. It has many similarities to the colour blue, including a calming nature. As a result, green works well in retail stores, restaurants and other similar environments. This colour is also a good option for employees who work long hours.
Green aids creativity and innovation, so it’s a great colour to surround work areas that focus on research and development. However, green can promote inaction, so a complementary colour (such as red) could increase productivity.
Yellow promotes optimism and creativity. It works best in an environment where employees need to think creatively on a regular basis, such as designers, writers or artists.
In large quantities, however, yellow can cause anxiety. Use yellow sparingly, or use a lower saturation of the colour. Don’t use yellow in public environments such as retail stores. Most people don’t prefer the colour or they feel irritated around it.
Never use yellow in an environment where you want people to remain calm, since this colour stimulates high emotions. However, yellow can benefit environments such as break rooms, public bathrooms, or restaurants.
Red drives people. Its biggest strengths include physical stimulation, a greater attention to detail and faster decision-making. Red can improve productivity by increasing motivation and the speed you use to complete a job. These features make red ideal for office jobs that require a large attention to detail.
However, red has been known to reduce analytical thinking, so it might not be best for environments such as financial organizations, engineering or computer work.
Never use pure white in your office environments. White doesn’t stimulate the subconscious, and can decrease performance overall. Even less-productive colours like yellow generally achieve better results than white alone. You can paint parts of your business environment white as long as you use it to accent other colours.
Whites can also give luxury businesses a highly professional or expensive look.
Blacks and greys provide a general sense of professionalism and expense. They work best in fashion or jewellery stores, as well as other luxury environments. However, blacks and greys are psychologically neutral, so they will do little to boost your employees’ performance.
The colour of your paint matters, depending on the goals of your business. Whether you’re just starting a business or looking to make a change, use these tips above to find the best possible colour for your business. Then, contact your paint professionals to cover your space with your preferred hue.