Did you know that choosing the best color for office walls can positively affect the work you do day to day? Choosing the best color for your office walls can increase your productivity and creativity. While not every person working from home has the same color preferences, there are certain colors for office walls that are better than the rest.
The best color for office walls is soothing while still boosting focus and aiding workflow. Blues, greens, warm grays and whites, and tans are the best colors for promoting a calming influence in an office space. Golds and yellows increase productivity, which is a must for home office walls.
As you can see, there is no one color that wins out above the rest when it comes to office walls. That is because many factors come into play when painting your office walls.
What do you do for a living? Are there any colors you particularly loathe? What does the rest of your home look like? How many windows let natural light into your office? When it comes to choosing the best color for office walls, there are many considerations that go into choosing the perfect one for your situation.
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Choosing the Best Color for Office Walls
When choosing the best color for your office walls, you want to choose a color that is known for its positive psychological effects. Paint colors in your home office should promote stress relief and keep your energy focused on your work at hand rather than the chaos outside your office walls. That’s where those earthy neutrals and warm grays and whites come in.
Take a look at the reasoning behind what makes these colors perfect for home offices.
- Gray: Gray is the perfect neutral. It’s non-threatening. In fact, gray is so against commitment that it won’t even choose between black and white.
- Off-white: Stark white walls are too clinical. You don’t want your home office to feel like a hospital. Off-white still looks clean, but with an added glow of warmth and coziness.
- Tan: Tans and browns will pair well with your wooden home office furniture.
- Blue: Blue is always the go-to calming color for creating a relaxing and peaceful atmosphere — perfect for a home office.
If these colors sound boring to you, they don’t have to be. The natural colors and the earthy tones are great for home offices because they are calming and don’t cause you to feel hectic or out of control. You need to be able to relax in your office and the added stress of harsh colors can make working in your home office more difficult. However, your entire office does not have to be gray or neutral.
There are hundreds of hues that exist on this spectrum. Forest greens, gray blues, deep navies, and eggshells all fall within these ideal colors. There is a wide array of beautiful colors available to you. Additionally, you will find that unexpected colors like oranges and teals can work well in a home office.
Now, it is important to note that the best color for your specific home office depends on you and your individual needs. Do you have trouble focusing in your daily life? Maybe you need a space where you can completely tune out the rest of your household.
You can easily find a list of colors and their positive psychological effects online then slap all of them on your walls. But you will end up with a busy, disjointed, and downright hideous home office, and that’s not what you want.
You didn’t come here to find a guide to creating the cookie-cutter home office. Instead, you tailor your home office colors to you as an individual by choosing the right colors that fit in line with your priorities and personality.
What Is a Good Color for a Home Office That Suits You?
The best color for your office walls depends entirely on what you want to accomplish in your office. There is a wide variety of jobs that you can do from home and not all of them require the same environments. However, regardless of the work you do, you want your office to have colors with positive psychological effects.
- You want to feel comfortable in your office.
- You want to focus on your work.
- You want energy to come easily.
So, what is a good color for a home office? Consider the following important factors when deciding on the best wall color for home office use.
- The job (or jobs) you do
- Your preferred work style
- What mood effects are important to you
In this day and age, we know that everyone operates a little bit differently. Some folks thrive under pressure while others need perfect solitude and serenity. You know yourself better than anyone. How do you operate best? Colors that promote peace include pale greens and olives. Colors in the red family can actually increase your blood pressure.
Best Wall Color for Home Office for Your Goals
Before you go out and buy your paint colors, take a long hard look at your ultimate goals for your home office. Obviously, you want a comfortable space where you can work and be productive. But you likely have secondary aims.
Consider how the colors of your office walls can affect the job you do. Whether you are a graphic designer, a software engineer, or anything in between, choosing the best wall color for your home office can give you a leg up in your industry.
Paint Color | Color Benefit | Job | Examples |
Yellow | Invokes imagination and inspiration | Yellows are great for creative jobs like writing and graphic design. | Saffron Ivory
Bicycle Yellow |
Orange | Invokes creativity and increases energy | Oranges are great for creative jobs like writing and graphic design. | Mango Punch
Knockout Orange |
Teal | Increases productivity and positivity | Teal is great for jobs like editing that require quick and positive thinking. | Vintage Teal
Fiji |
Green | Promotes focus and balance | Greens are great for jobs like accounting that require focus and precision. | Webster Green
Jungle |
Blue | Promotes relaxation and productivity | Blues are great for stressful jobs…so, all of them. | Blue Dragon Drenched Rain |
In the above table, there are primary colors as well as secondary colors. This is no coincidence. Both yellow and orange invoke creativity, for example. However, orange is more emotional than yellow. Therefore, if you are a novelist, you might prefer orange over plain yellow because it will place you in a more emotional state, which is perfect for writing fiction.
If you know anything about the color wheel, you will also find that color combinations can work beautifully together for your home office walls.
Blue, for instance, is a favorite for home office walls. Light blues are airy, positive, and calming. However, blue is a cool tone. Too much blue and your office can become downright cold. What better way to liven up a blue office than with a splash of emotional orange, blue’s complementary color?
Additionally, there are colors that can dampen your workflow.
- Black can lay heavy on your workspace, affecting how well you’re able to get your work done.
- Cool grays should be broken up with warm and bright colors. You’ll notice that warm grays are on the list of the best colors for office walls. However, too many cool grays in one space can feel sterile. Use an accent wall to brighten your office.
- Deep browns can make your office feel outdated and small. A few browns here and there are good, but a fully brown office will hinder your creative juices.
Using a smart combination of colors will increase your productivity and create a positive atmosphere. After all, you have to spend a good chunk of your time in your office, so you better enjoy being in there.
Not Every Home Office Paint Color Works for Everyone
Keep in mind that the wrong color choice can actually work against you. If you are prone to anxiety, you want to avoid reds. Red is an energizing color, but it’s more of a panic-inducing energy, not the kind of energy you want in your office.
Too much purple on the walls can create an indulgent atmosphere in your office. Purple is the color of royalty, so it is great for logos and designs, but in your home office, it can go one of two ways. Either you will be obsessing over your profits all day or, you will feel so luxurious that you might feel more inclined to take naps rather than meet deadlines.
You may feel inclined to go out and choose your favorite color just because you think it’s beautiful. Unfortunately, the prettiest bold colors on the market are not necessarily the best colors for your home office. Your favorite fuchsia might do more harm than good when it comes to getting work done in your home office. Those bright, fun jewel tones might be better suited for your living room.
Take into account the lighting in your home office. Do you have a lot of windows that let in natural light? You might consider utilizing a darker accent wall, so you aren’t blinded by the sun at midday.
On the other hand, if you barely have any natural light coming in, stick to clean, light-colored walls that will increase the brightness in the room. There is nothing worse than feeling claustrophobic and boxed in. Your deep moody colors can quickly become gloomy if your lighting isn’t right.
Choose Home Office Wall Colors You Can Live with
At the end of the day, you want to choose the best colors for your office walls based on all of the principles above and your own preferences.
Your home office is a place for you to work, but it’s also a place for you to get motivated, create, and build. Unlike an office building, you get to decide what your home office looks like, so you make it something you enjoy looking at every day.
Next Steps
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