Right now, we want our homes to be a place we can stabilize after the unpredictability of the outside world. To be somewhere we can exhale, become ourselves again, and reach equilibrium, rather than responding to constant stimuli all of the time. A home should balance our brains and steady our souls — and mood-stabilizing colors can help do just that.
We’ve already been decorating with calming paint colors — so how are mood-stabilizing hues different? They anchor us much more than calming tones, maintaining and sustaining our energy level rather than lowering and relaxing it. They feel grounded rather than gentle, helping us carry on with daily life rather than necessarily just wind down and switch off, and they’re emotionally neutral rather than comforting and soothing. In practice, they’re often muted rather than pale or bright, are tempered rather than highly saturated, have subtle undertones, are warm-leaning, and are rooted in the earth. Think weathered, dusty blue over restful, powder blue, sunbaked clay pink instead of blush pink or earthy sage green over mint.
