Colour as a Frequency: How Colour Shapes Your Home’s Energy and Your Wellbeing
We often think of colour as something we see, yet its first impact is something we feel. It’s subtle, almost invisible. Like a quiet vibration in the background, colour carries a frequency that the body senses instantly, often before the mind has time to interpret it.
When I first began thinking about colour in this way, I noticed something simple yet profound: a room doesn’t just look calm, it feels calm. Enter a space wrapped in soft greens or gentle blues and the breath often deepens without conscious effort.
Warm terracotta, muted clay or earthy ochre tones can evoke a sense of grounding, anchoring us back into the body and the present moment.
This is colour as frequency, not decoration, but a form of dialogue between the space and the person inhabiting it.
Our response to colour operates largely on a subconscious level. Certain hues can soothe the nervous system, while others stimulate, uplift or energise. Blues and greens are often associated with balance and restoration, making them well suited to spaces designed for rest and reflection. Warmer tones tend to invite connection and vitality, lending themselves naturally to kitchens, dining areas and social spaces. Yet colour never works alone.
Light plays an equally important role. A shade that feels expansive and energising in morning light may become cocooning and introspective as daylight softens toward evening. In this way, colour behaves much like a rhythm, shifting throughout the day, responding to light, shadow and movement. The same room can support very different emotional states, simply through the way colour and light interact.
Colour can also express a particular quality of energy within a space. I personally enjoy observing how colour behaves in relation to purpose, and emotion, and how our bodies respond within those environments. What feels deeply soothing to one person may feel uninspiring or unsettling to another. Our personal histories, memories and cultural associations all shape the way we experience colour.
This is why choosing colour becomes far more meaningful when we shift the question from “What should this room look like?” to “How do I want to feel here?” Some spaces benefit from calm, muted palettes that encourage rest and introspection. Others come alive through contrast, warmth and playful accents that spark creativity and joy.
Sometimes, the most supportive choice is simplicity, a neutral foundation that allows life itself to bring colour into the space through texture, objects and lived experience.
There is no right or wrong choice
Ancient wisdoms like Feng Shui offer us a language to understand how colour moves, grounds or uplifts energy within a space, but they are guides, not rules.
Colour as a frequency is an invitation to listen more closely - to your body, your rhythms, and the way a space supports your sense of ease and balance.
When chosen with awareness, colour becomes less about trends or theory and more about resonance, it allows the home to reflect who you are. In that sense, colour is not something to get “right” it is something to feel into, respond to, and make your own.
By Petra Mattis
Petra is the founder of HOLO, a consultancy bridging home design, lifestyle, and holistic wellbeing. With a master’s in product design and a background in London’s real estate market, she brings a thoughtful blend of design insight and human-centred care, helping clients create living spaces that reflect who they are today and support meaningful lifestyle change.
More from the author
Designing a Wellness Centred Home for the Empty Nest
Design Your Home, Reflect Your Soul: A Guide to Intentional Living
How Your Home Shapes Your Habitt
The Home as a Wellness Tool: Supporting Your Circadian Rhythm
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