Homely Interior Design

Looking at my topic of interior design I was interested to find that loads of designers nowadays use 'design psychology' to discover what their clients really want for a homely feel. Using pyschological interviewing skills they have evaluated that people in different cultures associate certain colours with similar emotions or concepts. For example:

• Blue/Green = peace
• Pink/Lavender = love
• Blue/Purple = nobility
• Orange can even make a person feel physically warmer whereas blue has the opposite effect.

Apparently a greater feeling of harmony comes when your interior colours slightly echo your house's exterior one.

"The effect of colour in our homes effects us both, psychologically and physiologically." (Ms. Wade on 'The Colour Plan')

The mixture of old and new furniture, along with personal touches such as a pile of magazines and curved 'safe' shapes all can be involved in giving your home a 'homely' feel, but I believe that homeliness is such as personal thing that no one designer can define it, try as they might.

Kelly Barton