Learn how to use color to create a vibrant living space, a wardrobe you love, and a life filled with wonder in this practical guide from the color expert and DIY maven behind The Crafted Life — Rachel Mae Smith.
Color can influence your feelings, affect your moods, control how you interact with your home, and even change how you feel about yourself. In Colorful Living, writer, photographer, and professional color consultant Rachel Mae Smith explains why color is so powerful and how you can use it to brighten up your world.
Below is an excerpt from Colorful Living — Simple ways to Brighten Your World through Design, Decor, Fashion and More.
These are super simple activities you can do at your own leisure. Think of them as low-pressure ways to interact with color. These pursuits will get you out into the world around you to observe and interact with color. Have fun, repeat them often, and adapt them to fit your lifestyle.
1: Pick a Random Color
Select a color you are you are loving lately and change the background on your phone to an image with that color. As a bonus, style and shoot the photo yourself. Lightroom is a great phone tool to help you brighten and colorize your photography.
2: Watch the Sunset
Make time to watch the sun go down for at least 30 minutes to really see the variety of colors in the sky. Let yourself sit, be still, and just observe. Take note as the warm sunlight fades to cool blues. Which shades are your favorites? Did you notice any gradients?
3: Have a Monochromatic Day
Pick a color and let it be your guide. Maybe it’s putting together an outfit with different hues of the same color, or choosing a treat to match your drink, or going to a specific restaurant because their branding is the color you chose. See how many times in the day you can make something happen around that color.
4: Change Your Sheets for a More Colorful Option
They are sort of a hidden pop of color because you don’t fully see them until you’re in bed. Maybe this is a backup pair of sheets for when you’re doing laundry. You could also dye your own sheets! Buy cotton bedding in white and add your own color.
5: Pick Three to Five Colors and Use them to Create a Bouquet of Flowers
You could write a bunch of colors down and choose them out of a hat, or text a few of your friends and ask them to pick their favorite color. Head to the grocery store or the flower shop, or if you’re able, forage in your yard and see what you can create.
Rachel Mae Smith is the author of The Crafted Life blog as well as the books Hello Color and Colorful Living. Her work has been featured in Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes & Gardens, Good Housekeeping, Apartment Therapy, and more. Follow her @thecraftedlife
