by Dr. G. A. Anderson

Created on: July 28, 2008   Last Updated: June 02, 2010

It's perfectly fine to be a rebel when you're choosing a paint color for your bedroom! Once back in the 1970s, a young couple decided on a bright shade of blue for their master bedroom. It was actually a bright marine blue and would have antagonized many a conservative room designer at the time. But they loved that particular shade of blue, they painted it in the summertime when they were living life around the pool each day, and they were young and adventurous then. Room color rebels. Age does have a lot to do with color choices. But no matter what age you are, courage is certainly not to be underestimated when it comes to painting.

Fast-forward to 1989 and an example of choosing an interior color - not for the bedroom this time, but for another much-used room. Much was to be learned from this experience for all of us. Still inclined toward trend-breakers in room color and now living in another home, the now-older couple made the decision to paint their living room rust. The idea was to play off the old wooden barn theme and the horse farms in eastern Pennsylvania. So although they had never seen a living room painted in rust, they went full-steam ahead with it. The only problem was that it created such a restful mood that their daughter nicknamed it "the lethargic room." It was then that the couple made the connection between room color and mood.

In 2006, another friend's master bedroom needed a makeover. She discussed various options, keeping in mind that she could be living with the color for years to come. Her husband wasn't one to enjoy pink, rose, or other traditionally feminine colors. They didn't particularly want any shade of blue. Yellow, although popular in room decor, seemed too bright and sunny for them, given their love of sleeping in on weekends. Red was too bright and would keep them awake. Gray would soon become dull and boring, and all white seemed too bleak. Lavender seemed to be more feminine, and they couldn't find a shade of green they agreed upon, even though she knew green would be soothing on the eyes.

But they both loved deep purple and the feeling of comfort they both found in it. Off to the local paint store, which was less than five minutes away from their home. Who knew there were so many shades of purple with such subtle differences between them, even though the wife was a painter? To see the selection in the many various color chips is enough to boggle the mind, but they narrowed it down to three different shades of deep purple

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