Latest / Repcolite Home Improvement Show / Shaping Serenity: The Power of Color and Environment

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Shaping Serenity: The Power of Color and Environment · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

0:02
Speaker 1: Hey, everybody, Welcome to Home in Progress, brought to you
0:04
Speaker 1: by Recolite Paints and Benjamin Moore. I'm Dan Hansen, and
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Speaker 1: today we're going to be diving into a few things
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Speaker 1: that might just change the way you see your home
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Speaker 1: and maybe your car for sure, your car. Maybe your
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Speaker 1: home for sure your car. First up, we're tackling color psychology,
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Speaker 1: but not the fluffy, you know, Pinterest style version. We're
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Speaker 1: going into the real science behind why certain colors make
0:25
Speaker 1: you feel calm, focused, or energized. Spoiler alert, It's not
0:29
Speaker 1: just about preference. It's about how your brain and your
0:32
Speaker 1: body physically respond to different wavelengths of light. So we'll
0:35
Speaker 1: get to that. We'll also be digging into the power
0:38
Speaker 1: of your environment. We'll look at a fascinating study from
0:42
Speaker 1: Philadelphia that shows how mowing the grass and planting trees
0:45
Speaker 1: led to a drop in gun violence, and we'll talk
0:48
Speaker 1: about what that tells us about the spaces that we
0:50
Speaker 1: live in and how we can design them to a
0:52
Speaker 1: little better support our mental health. And coming up in
0:55
Speaker 1: a little bit, I've got a quick summer reminder. There
0:58
Speaker 1: are some things that you should never ever ever leave
1:00
Speaker 1: in a hot car. I've got the full list, and
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Speaker 1: a couple that you might not expect. I'll get to
1:05
Speaker 1: that in a minute, but right now, I want to
1:07
Speaker 1: start with something silly. It's really not all that important.
1:10
Speaker 1: There's not a whole lot of weight behind this. It's
1:13
Speaker 1: just something I want to get off my chest. Here's
1:16
Speaker 1: the deal. When I do anything, I've got this visual
1:20
Speaker 1: all right, of what I think I look like. I
1:23
Speaker 1: don't know how everybody's brain works, but mine works like
1:26
Speaker 1: a movie. I'm always picturing scenes rather than thinking through
1:32
Speaker 1: words or you know, thoughts. Even my thoughts are movie scenes.
1:38
Speaker 1: It's very very visual. That's how it is. Maybe that's
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Speaker 1: how everybody is. I don't know, but I've got this
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Speaker 1: visual and when I do things, I have this picture
1:47
Speaker 1: of what I think I look like. And then every
1:49
Speaker 1: once in a while I gain some insight into what
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Speaker 1: I really look like, and I'm stunned that that is me.
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Speaker 1: For example, a case in point the other day driving
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Speaker 1: around and let me tell you, in my mind, I'm
2:03
Speaker 1: mister cool, you know, mister cool. Indeed, I'm an action star.
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Speaker 1: I'm like Tom Cruise. You know. That's how cool I am.
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Speaker 1: That's what I picture. Anyway, I've got a mental image
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Speaker 1: of me driving with my arm hanging out the window.
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Speaker 1: You know, my little elbow is resting on the open window,
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Speaker 1: you know what I'm talking about. My sunglasses are propped
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Speaker 1: down my face, giving me this ultra cool, you know,
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Speaker 1: ultra cool edge. My hair is just flowing serenely behind.
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Speaker 1: You know, my luscious locks are flowing in the breeze.
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Speaker 1: In my mind's eye, my back is utterly straight. My
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Speaker 1: face it's like chiseled stone. My jaw is set in
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Speaker 1: this you know, no nonsense pose. And I've got one
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Speaker 1: hand firmly gripping the wheel. I mean, I'm cool in
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Speaker 1: my mind. That's how I picture it. Well. The other
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Speaker 1: day I pulled alongside a vehicle and I happened to
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Speaker 1: look over, and there reflected in the tinted windows was me.
3:00
Speaker 1: And oh my goodness, what an absolute loser, loser, capital
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Speaker 1: l loser. You know, I just told you what I
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Speaker 1: envision that I'm doing when I'm driving. Here's what's really
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Speaker 1: going on. First off, I'm slumped nearly in half, literally
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Speaker 1: slumped in half. I'm leaning forward so much. You know,
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Speaker 1: I'm almost like a capital letter C. I'm a letter person.
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Speaker 1: I'm mister C. That's what it boils down to. I
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Speaker 1: said earlier, I'm mister cool. I'm not. I'm maybe close
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Speaker 1: to that. I'm mister C. Because I'm curled over like
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Speaker 1: a capital letter C. It was horrifying to see. I
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Speaker 1: couldn't believe that was me. But that was just the
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Speaker 1: beginning of what unfolded and what I realized. You know,
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Speaker 1: that one arm resting on the window ledge thing that
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Speaker 1: I talked about, that that's how I picture myself driving.
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Speaker 1: I don't even know what I'm thinking about, right. I
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Speaker 1: drive a huge Chevy Silverado. My elbow can't reach that
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Speaker 1: ledge without being angled upward at like a forty five
4:00
Speaker 1: degree angle. And you can't drive like that because that's
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Speaker 1: not comfortable even remotely, all right, So that's not happening.
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Speaker 1: I'm just slumped forward, one hand on the wheel, absolutely,
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Speaker 1: one hundred percent not the case. I mean, I don't
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Speaker 1: even know why I'm picturing this because I'm sitting there,
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Speaker 1: hunched over like the letter C, and I've got my
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Speaker 1: hands at ten and two for supreme safety and control.
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Speaker 1: That's how I drive on top of that, because I'm
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Speaker 1: short and hunched over. You know, I'm steering through the
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Speaker 1: steering wheel to see, you know, out the windshield, and
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Speaker 1: even then I'm kind of looking up into the sky.
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Speaker 1: Where's the road? Who knows? Who knows? I'm hoping that
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Speaker 1: there's tall vehicles so I can base where I'm at
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Speaker 1: on you know, their location, strong jawline, setting a no
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Speaker 1: nonsense pose. What an absolute idiot for thinking that. No.
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Speaker 1: I looked at my face in that reflection, and this
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Speaker 1: was the worst part of all of it. This was
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Speaker 1: the most horrifying of all of it. The curved you know,
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Speaker 1: leaning over like the lef see was bad, But my
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Speaker 1: face in that reflection was so bad. I don't even
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Speaker 1: know what I'm doing. I don't know how to describe
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Speaker 1: it to you. But my resting driving face has my
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Speaker 1: lower jaw, you know, sliding way back, way way back.
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Speaker 1: It's so much so that it appears like it's disappearing
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Speaker 1: into my neck. A profile of my face maybe this
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Speaker 1: will help explain it. If you would look at a
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Speaker 1: profile of my driving face, it would look like I
5:26
Speaker 1: don't have a lower jaw. That my face just goes
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Speaker 1: from my nose to my upper lip and then whoop,
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Speaker 1: gone goes to nothing, just meets my neck somewhere. I
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Speaker 1: am the furthest thing from an action hero when I'm driving.
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Speaker 1: I got no idea how my self perception could be
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Speaker 1: that profoundly off. And I really wish that all of
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Speaker 1: this was just a big joke, that I was making
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Speaker 1: it up, but I'm not. It's the truth. It's the
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Speaker 1: literal truth. And now that I've seen it, it's all
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Speaker 1: I can think about. And so I'm cluing into my
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Speaker 1: posture as I'm driving, and sure enough, there's the big hunch,
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Speaker 1: there's the letter see again. There's the lower jaw thing
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Speaker 1: that I'm doing. You know, I'm picking up on all
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Speaker 1: these things now, and I fix them, you know, and
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Speaker 1: straighten myself up and pull my lower jaw out of
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Speaker 1: my neck and my throat and you know, look like
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Speaker 1: I've got a normal profile. But then ten minutes later,
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Speaker 1: there I am again letter see and you know, huge overbite. Anyway,
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Speaker 1: I was so stunned about that revelation about how I
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Speaker 1: look when I drive that I just had to share
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Speaker 1: the whole thing. It was that or weep. So I
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Speaker 1: decided to laugh and share, and then weep later. Now,
6:35
Speaker 1: speaking about cars, let's move on to real important things.
6:38
Speaker 1: I want to take a break and when we come back,
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Speaker 1: We're going to talk about some things that you should
6:42
Speaker 1: never ever ever leave in a hot car. That's all
6:45
Speaker 1: coming up after this. You're listening to Home in Progress,
6:49
Speaker 1: real projects, real life, and a little bit of paint
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Speaker 1: on your hands, in your eyes, in your hair, on
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Speaker 1: your shirt everywhere. Homing Progress is sponsored by repcol Like
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Speaker 1: Paints and bench More, offering expert advice, premium paint and
7:03
Speaker 1: all the tools you need to keep your home moving forward.
7:06
Speaker 1: All right, let's talk about cars in the heat. Not
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Speaker 1: cars in heat, because I don't know, I'd be a
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Speaker 1: crazy Disney movie, you know, an adult Disney movie. Let's
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Speaker 1: talk about cars in the heat. I'm really sorry, that's
7:19
Speaker 1: just ridiculous. We'll see if that stays in and makes
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Speaker 1: the final cut. Cars in the heat? How many of
7:26
Speaker 1: you remember vinyl seats? Right in cars? Vinyl seats? How
7:29
Speaker 1: many of you remember wearing short shorts? Who wears short shorts?
7:34
Speaker 1: Dan wears short shorts. Who remembers wearing short shorts and
7:37
Speaker 1: having a car with vinyl seats in the summer? Oh
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Speaker 1: my goodness, Mom had a car just like that. And
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Speaker 1: I remember plopping down on the seat many a summer
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Speaker 1: day and almost when I did, having an out of
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Speaker 1: body experience as I shot up and tried to somehow
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Speaker 1: hover over that you know, fiery vinyl. But I never
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Speaker 1: could hover long enough, and I always plopped back down,
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Speaker 1: and then I shot back up again. That vinyl was
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Speaker 1: so hot, and I, like I said, I had those
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Speaker 1: eighties shorts on those short shorts. Wow, what an experience.
8:13
Speaker 1: You know, I probably have scars down there from that.
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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna go check, and I'm not going to
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Speaker 1: report back even if I do decide to go check,
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Speaker 1: which I might, because once I start thinking about something,
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Speaker 1: it's hard for me to let it go. Anyway, moving on,
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Speaker 1: I'm sure that you've all got similar stories about how
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Speaker 1: hot cars can get in the summer. You know, I
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Speaker 1: remember a story. It's not mine. In fact, i'm sure
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Speaker 1: you've heard of it. I think it's an urban myth.
8:37
Speaker 1: I don't think it's actually a true story, but it's
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Speaker 1: still pretty great. You know. It's a story about an
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Speaker 1: elderly lady. Right she's at the grocery store getting her
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Speaker 1: groceries together. It's a hot, hot, hot day, and she
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Speaker 1: gets her stuff, pays for it, walks out to the car,
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Speaker 1: and just walking to the car is just taking it
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Speaker 1: out of her in the heat. And she gets there,
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Speaker 1: puts the groceries in the back seat, slides behind the
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Speaker 1: steel wheel, and just decides, I'm gonna rest for just
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Speaker 1: a few minutes here. She rolls the window down and
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Speaker 1: just kind of closes her eyes, just to rest and
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Speaker 1: recuperate a little bit before the before the drive home. Well, anyway,
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Speaker 1: as she's sitting there, she hears what she sure is
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Speaker 1: a gunshot and then feels something hit the back of
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Speaker 1: her head. Well, freaked out, you know, naturally, she reaches
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Speaker 1: back and then feels all kinds of goo. You know,
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Speaker 1: it's gotta be brains, right, It's got to be brains
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Speaker 1: leaking out. That's the conclusion she instantly jumps to. And
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Speaker 1: so she slumps forward and she kind of leans out
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Speaker 1: the open window, quietly calling for help, Help, help, help,
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Speaker 1: because if she says anything too loudly, you know, who
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Speaker 1: knows what's gonna happen with her wound? You know, the
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Speaker 1: brains are in there right now, she's alive, she's cognizant,
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Speaker 1: But if she starts hollering and moving around, who knows
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Speaker 1: what's gonna happen. That's what she's thinking, so finally, help help.
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Speaker 1: She gets somebody's attention and they run over, and then
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Speaker 1: she explains, I've been shot. I'm horribly injured. My brains
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Speaker 1: they're leaking out. Well. The person you know, looks at
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Speaker 1: her and looks at the back of her head and
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Speaker 1: busts out laughing. Turns out it's not brains at all.
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Speaker 1: She'd brought crescent rolls, you know, in one of those
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Speaker 1: little tubes, and in the heat, it burst open, made
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Speaker 1: the popping sound, and then sprayed the back of her
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Speaker 1: head with gooey crescent roll goodness that felt like brains
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Speaker 1: to the uninitiated. Hot cars, the temperature gets crazy in
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Speaker 1: them in the summer. We all know that. So let's
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Speaker 1: talk in this segment about some things that you absolutely
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Speaker 1: should never, ever, ever know never leave in your car.
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Speaker 1: And obviously we all know about the really big one.
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Speaker 1: We're gonna start with this right away. Never leave kids,
10:44
Speaker 1: never leave pets in a hot car ever, ever, ever, ever,
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Speaker 1: never do it, not even for a few minutes, not
10:50
Speaker 1: even to just run into the store real quick and
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Speaker 1: get whatever and come back out. You know, nothing never
10:55
Speaker 1: goes as fast as you think it's going to go.
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Speaker 1: Do not do it, not even for a second. Even
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Speaker 1: on a seventy degree day, your car's interior can climb
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Speaker 1: to one hundred degrees in about twenty minutes. At ninety
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Speaker 1: degrees outside, your car can hit one hundred and forty.
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Speaker 1: It's dangerous, it can be deadly. It shouldn't need to
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Speaker 1: be said, and yet every year we read about tragedies
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Speaker 1: where somebody did that. Don't do it, not even for
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Speaker 1: a few minutes. Don't leave people or pets in your car.
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Speaker 1: All right, that's the big one, And now we've got
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Speaker 1: it covered. So let's walk through a few more medications.
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Speaker 1: Maybe you've got prescription meds in your purse, in your glovebox,
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Speaker 1: your center console. If you do, you got to be careful.
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Speaker 1: Heat can alter the chemical structure of certain medications, and
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Speaker 1: it makes them less effective, and sometimes it can even
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Speaker 1: make them potentially harmful. And that includes everything from insulin
11:49
Speaker 1: to antibiotics to EpiPens. If a label on the medication
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Speaker 1: says store it room temperature or keep away from heat,
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Speaker 1: that's not just a suggestion. And it doesn't just mean
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Speaker 1: you keep it away from the oven or the stovetop.
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Speaker 1: Keep away from heat dan can mean your car as well.
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Speaker 1: And it's not just a suggestion on your medication. It's
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Speaker 1: the real deal. It's something you got to pay attention to.
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Speaker 1: Room temperature means sixty eight to seventy seven degrees fahrenheit.
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Speaker 1: Once your car gets into the nineties, the hundreds, the
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Speaker 1: one hundred and twenties, you've left room temperature in the dust,
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Speaker 1: and now your meds are questionable. All right, So don't
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Speaker 1: leave medications in a hot car. Electronics, right, this is
12:30
Speaker 1: a no brainer. But we've all done this at times.
12:33
Speaker 1: We've left a phone or a laptop sitting on the
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Speaker 1: front seat, the dashboard, or even buried under a jacket
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Speaker 1: in the back. Well. Heat and electronics don't go well
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Speaker 1: together at all. You know, your phone can overheat and
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Speaker 1: shut down, or worse, you can actually permanently damage internal components.
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Speaker 1: You can reduce your battery life, you can even lose
12:51
Speaker 1: your data. Laptops, tablets, cameras, they're all sensitive, of course,
12:56
Speaker 1: they are to extreme heat. If you ever try picking
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Speaker 1: up a phone that's been sitting in the sun on
13:01
Speaker 1: your dashboard, it's like holding a grilled cheese sandwich right
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Speaker 1: off the pan and mushing it up against your face.
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Speaker 1: Don't put your phone through that. It's not made for
13:11
Speaker 1: those kinds of temperatures. And I know that, we know that.
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Speaker 1: You know. It's all something that we're well aware of,
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Speaker 1: and yet we do it. We toss it on the
13:20
Speaker 1: dashboard out of habit, and we leave it there, or
13:23
Speaker 1: whatever we do try to break the habit. Keep in
13:27
Speaker 1: mind how bad things could get. A third thing, batteries.
13:30
Speaker 1: A lot of electronics contain batteries, of course, but I'm
13:32
Speaker 1: talking also about spare ones. You know, a pack of
13:35
Speaker 1: double a's cordless drill battery in the back of your
13:38
Speaker 1: work truck. He can cause them to leak acid, to swell,
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Speaker 1: to burst, They can lose their charge faster than normal.
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Speaker 1: All kinds of really undesirable things can happen when you
13:49
Speaker 1: leave batteries in your car. And depending on what type
13:52
Speaker 1: of battery it is, you know, lithium ion, for example,
13:56
Speaker 1: you could end up with something dangerously close to a
13:58
Speaker 1: fire hazard. So don't leave those in your car at all.
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Speaker 1: Next thing, aerosol cans pressurized containers. You know, this one's
14:08
Speaker 1: a little more exciting than the other ones, but it's
14:10
Speaker 1: probably exciting in the worst possible way. Aerosol cans They're
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Speaker 1: little pressurized bombs that are just waiting for the right conditions.
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Speaker 1: When heat builds up inside your car, the pressure inside
14:21
Speaker 1: those cans increases, and if it gets high enough, who
14:24
Speaker 1: knows what's going to happen. They can rupture, they can explode.
14:27
Speaker 1: That could include you know, spray paint. It could be deodorant.
14:30
Speaker 1: It could be hair spray. It could be cooking spray.
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Speaker 1: It could be whipped cream. It could be a little
14:34
Speaker 1: tube of crescent rolls that explodes in your car. Whatever
14:38
Speaker 1: it is, it's not fun to come back to your
14:40
Speaker 1: car and find it in that state. So don't leave
14:43
Speaker 1: those things in there. Food and drinks. You know, I've
14:46
Speaker 1: lost track of how many times I've left a water
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Speaker 1: bottle or a granola bar or a cookie in the
14:51
Speaker 1: car and come back to find, you know, a science
14:54
Speaker 1: experiment waiting for me. Perishable foods they spoil incredibly fast
14:59
Speaker 1: in the heat. Drinks, especially carbonated ones, they can expand
15:03
Speaker 1: they can leak. They could explode under the right pressure.
15:06
Speaker 1: You know, we talked about sealed cans that would include pop.
15:10
Speaker 1: Even water bottles aren't innocent. Plastic can break down in
15:13
Speaker 1: high temperatures, and that can potentially leach chemicals into your drink.
15:18
Speaker 1: So don't throw a big packet of water bottles into
15:20
Speaker 1: the back of the car and just leave it there
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Speaker 1: all summer long, because you could be drinking stuff that's
15:25
Speaker 1: full of chemicals that you really don't want to be drinking. Now,
15:28
Speaker 1: you're probably fine if it's just a water bottle for
15:30
Speaker 1: an hour or two, but you don't want to make
15:32
Speaker 1: a habit of storing them in your hot car. Now. Sunscreen.
15:35
Speaker 1: Here's another one. And this one seems ironic, doesn't it.
15:39
Speaker 1: You know, sunscreen, it's what we use to protect ourselves
15:41
Speaker 1: from the sun, but if you leave it in the car,
15:44
Speaker 1: it actually breaks down and becomes less effective. The expiration
15:48
Speaker 1: date on the bottle that assumes that it's been stored properly.
15:52
Speaker 1: In a couple of weeks of baking in your back seat,
15:54
Speaker 1: that's not exactly FDA approved conditions. So technically you could
15:58
Speaker 1: be putting on sunscreen, but it might not be doing anything,
16:01
Speaker 1: or it might be dramatically reduced, and you're gonna be sunburned,
16:04
Speaker 1: you're gonna be miserable, you're gonna need allo, you're gonna
16:07
Speaker 1: be walking around going ooh ooh, ooh, my shoulder shirt.
16:09
Speaker 1: You don't want that. It's not a good look, it's
16:12
Speaker 1: not a good anything. You don't want that. Don't leave
16:14
Speaker 1: your sun's screen in a hot car. How about eyeglasses? Sunglasses?
16:19
Speaker 1: I leave them in the car all the time, and
16:21
Speaker 1: normally they're like crazy hot and they burn the bridge
16:24
Speaker 1: of my nose. And that's pretty severe. But even more important,
16:29
Speaker 1: more concerning, is that the plastic frames can warp. The
16:32
Speaker 1: lens coatings can bubble or appeel, and like I said,
16:35
Speaker 1: they can be utterly miserable to throw onto your face
16:38
Speaker 1: when you climb back into the car. Lighters, this one's simple,
16:42
Speaker 1: it's kind of a no brainer, it's common sense. But
16:44
Speaker 1: it is dangerous. The liquid fuel, of course, the liquid
16:47
Speaker 1: fuel inside the lighters can expand in heat. Potentially, it
16:50
Speaker 1: can leak, Potentially, it could explode. Who knows. It's a
16:54
Speaker 1: little thing, but in the wrong conditions it could become
16:56
Speaker 1: a serious hazard. Musical instruments. I don't know how often
17:00
Speaker 1: you're traveling with big old musical instruments in your car,
17:03
Speaker 1: but guitars, violins, brass instruments, whatever it is. You know,
17:08
Speaker 1: high heat is brutal with these things. Wood can warp
17:11
Speaker 1: varnish can bubble glue, joints can come undone. Even metal
17:15
Speaker 1: instruments can be affected by expansion and heat stress. And
17:18
Speaker 1: the last thing you need is to really heat up
17:20
Speaker 1: that trombone and then wrap your lips around that thing
17:24
Speaker 1: to blast out a tune or two at some you
17:27
Speaker 1: know park event as everybody's showing up for music in
17:31
Speaker 1: the park. You don't need blistered lips. You don't need
17:34
Speaker 1: to be that person. Don't leave those instruments in the car.
17:37
Speaker 1: All right, random surprises. Let's get to the last bit
17:40
Speaker 1: of things that I've got, the unexpected stuff, the everyday
17:42
Speaker 1: items that you really don't even think about. Sometimes crayons.
17:46
Speaker 1: Kids are traveling with crayons. They've got crayons in the car.
17:49
Speaker 1: Don't leave crayons in the car. Melted puddles in the
17:52
Speaker 1: back seat, that's what those are, those crayons. Those are
17:55
Speaker 1: melted puddles. Remember that. Markers and pens, they can leak,
17:58
Speaker 1: they can dry out. They're drying out out. Who cares,
18:01
Speaker 1: you know at that point. But the leaking that can
18:03
Speaker 1: be a huge mass. You don't want that. Plants, of course, plants,
18:07
Speaker 1: the heat stress, it's all heat stress and dehydration. That's
18:11
Speaker 1: what's in the future for your plant. If you leave
18:13
Speaker 1: that in a car. Plastic containers, plastic bags, they can
18:16
Speaker 1: end up melting. They can actually fuse to your upholsterreet,
18:19
Speaker 1: your fancy tupperware can get all warped, and the lid
18:22
Speaker 1: might not work ever again, you might not be able
18:24
Speaker 1: to burp it appropriately anymore once you've left it in
18:28
Speaker 1: your car. And if you've left goodies in it, oh
18:31
Speaker 1: my goodness, it maybe is dead to you at that
18:34
Speaker 1: point because the stench and the stink that can come
18:37
Speaker 1: off of that, that's something that's almost epic in nature.
18:41
Speaker 1: Here's the thing. Your car heats up crazy fast, even
18:43
Speaker 1: with the windows cracked. You know, studies show that it
18:46
Speaker 1: barely makes a difference. So don't leave things that you
18:48
Speaker 1: care about inside the car. Grab your bag, take your
18:51
Speaker 1: electronics with you, bring in your groceries, and of course,
18:54
Speaker 1: never ever ever leave your kids or your pets in
18:56
Speaker 1: a hot car, not even for a minute. Every single
18:59
Speaker 1: year we hear heart breaking stories, and every single one
19:02
Speaker 1: of them is preventable. So keep all that in mind,
19:05
Speaker 1: all right. Coming up next, we're talking about the spaces
19:07
Speaker 1: we live in and how much they actually shape the
19:09
Speaker 1: way we feel, whether we realize it or not. We've
19:12
Speaker 1: got some fascinating research out of Philadelphia showing how mowing
19:15
Speaker 1: the grass, literally just that helped reduce gun violence. No
19:18
Speaker 1: major policies, no big initiatives, just trees, fences and grass.
19:22
Speaker 1: We'll break that down, talk about what it means for
19:24
Speaker 1: our own homes and why your environment might be influencing
19:28
Speaker 1: your mood more than you think. That's all coming up
19:30
Speaker 1: right after. This home in progress is brought to you
19:34
Speaker 1: by Repcolite Paints and Benjamin Moore Top Toier Paint expert advice.
19:38
Speaker 1: Your next project is way easier than you think it's
19:41
Speaker 1: going to be. All right, here's a statistic for you
19:44
Speaker 1: or some information that I think is really interesting and
19:47
Speaker 1: it's going to get us jump started on this next topic.
19:50
Speaker 1: Here's the scoop. In a series of Philadelphia neighborhoods, gun
19:54
Speaker 1: violence dropped by nearly thirty percent, not because of new laws,
19:58
Speaker 1: not because of more police, but because somebody mowed the
20:01
Speaker 1: grass and planted a few trees. Now, I know there
20:04
Speaker 1: are a bunch of dads out there who are feeling
20:06
Speaker 1: like I am. We're feeling vindicated. You know, the yard
20:09
Speaker 1: matters everybody. Look, it does. Here's the stats that prove it.
20:13
Speaker 1: We're not crazy for mowing every other day. We're doing
20:16
Speaker 1: God's work for the people. Seriously, though, researchers took some
20:22
Speaker 1: of the most run down, trash filled vacant lots in
20:25
Speaker 1: the city and they cleaned them up. You know, grass trees,
20:28
Speaker 1: a little bit of fencing, and what happened on those
20:30
Speaker 1: blocks Fewer shootings, less vandalism, a significant drop in burglary.
20:35
Speaker 1: People said they felt safer, happier, less anxious. What I
20:39
Speaker 1: want to talk about in this segment is why that works.
20:42
Speaker 1: You know, why physical spaces affect us as much as
20:45
Speaker 1: they do. Why your environment, whether it's a city lot
20:49
Speaker 1: or your living room or your bedroom or wherever, Why
20:51
Speaker 1: your environment has the power to directly shape your stress levels,
20:55
Speaker 1: your mood, and even how much control you feel over
20:58
Speaker 1: your whole life. This isn't about decorating trends. Really, it's
21:03
Speaker 1: way bigger than that. It's about using the spaces that
21:06
Speaker 1: we live in to support our mental health and well being.
21:10
Speaker 1: You know, nothing but the best for everybody who's listening
21:13
Speaker 1: to Home and Progress by Repcolite. So here's the scoop
21:16
Speaker 1: here's what actually went down in Philadelphia. Researchers randomly selected
21:21
Speaker 1: hundreds of neglected lots across the city. Now, some got
21:24
Speaker 1: the green up treatment, you know, trash removed, grass planted, trees, added,
21:28
Speaker 1: fences installed. The others were left completely alone, you know,
21:32
Speaker 1: no new programs, there was no extra security. It was
21:35
Speaker 1: just a visual and environmental change. And the results gun
21:39
Speaker 1: violence down nearly thirty percent, burglaries fell by more than
21:42
Speaker 1: twenty percent, illegal tumping and vandalism dropped by thirty percent.
21:47
Speaker 1: But maybe more importantly, people living nearby reported feeling less hopeless,
21:52
Speaker 1: less anxious, more connected to their neighborhoods. Now, we've known
21:55
Speaker 1: for years that run down spaces always seem to invite trouble.
22:00
Speaker 1: Exciting about this research is that the fix doesn't need
22:02
Speaker 1: to be massive. You know, just greening a space up,
22:06
Speaker 1: cleaning it up changes how people feel in that environment.
22:09
Speaker 1: And here's where it gets personal, where it hits close
22:12
Speaker 1: to home. If planting grass and trees can lower crime,
22:16
Speaker 1: what in the world is going to happen if you
22:18
Speaker 1: tidy up your kitchen, you know, what is that going
22:20
Speaker 1: to do for the stress levels in your home? What
22:22
Speaker 1: could a code of paint do for your sense of calm. Now,
22:25
Speaker 1: obviously painting our living room it's not going to prevent
22:29
Speaker 1: a robbery. But the core idea is what I'm getting at.
22:32
Speaker 1: You know, when we clean, when we organize, when we
22:35
Speaker 1: improve a space, we send a signal. You know, of
22:38
Speaker 1: course it goes out to other people, but we send
22:41
Speaker 1: a signal I guess, primarily even to ourselves, that this
22:44
Speaker 1: space matters, that it's safe. You know, it's under control.
22:48
Speaker 1: You know. For me, that's the bigger thing. I always
22:51
Speaker 1: feel safe in my home, but I don't always feel
22:54
Speaker 1: that things are under control. And when you do feel
22:58
Speaker 1: that things are under control and you feel safe, and
23:00
Speaker 1: you feel like you've got to handle on what's going
23:02
Speaker 1: on in that area in your home, in your space,
23:06
Speaker 1: it's a really powerful thing. Because get this, Studies show
23:10
Speaker 1: that Americans spend ninety percent of their time indoors. That means,
23:14
Speaker 1: for most of us, the spaces that affect our mental
23:16
Speaker 1: health the most. They're not city parks, they're not city streets.
23:20
Speaker 1: They're not our front yard or our backyard or whatever.
23:23
Speaker 1: There are kitchens, our bedrooms, hallways, the basements, Oh my goodness,
23:28
Speaker 1: the basement. If the basement has anything to say about
23:32
Speaker 1: my mental health, you better lock me up now. Better
23:36
Speaker 1: lock me up now. I'm not going to say any
23:38
Speaker 1: more about it because I don't need to spill the
23:40
Speaker 1: beans about my basement anyway. If our indoor spaces are
23:44
Speaker 1: dark or cluttered or chaotic, that's the world that our
23:47
Speaker 1: brain lives in. If they're light and organized and peaceful,
23:51
Speaker 1: even in small ways, that has real psychological effects. And
23:55
Speaker 1: there's science to back this up. You know, I wouldn't
23:57
Speaker 1: just be ranting about it and have science to back
24:01
Speaker 1: it up. For starters, clutter increases cortisol, which is your
24:05
Speaker 1: body's main stress hormone. In one study, researchers found that
24:09
Speaker 1: women who describe their home as cluttered or unfinished had
24:12
Speaker 1: consistently higher corticol levels throughout the day compared to those
24:17
Speaker 1: who describe their homes as RESTful or restorative. So if
24:20
Speaker 1: your home feels cluttered, unfinished, a work in progress. If
24:24
Speaker 1: your home is a home in progress, oh my goodness,
24:27
Speaker 1: buckle up. Your whole family's in for a crazy ride.
24:32
Speaker 1: I'm not saying you got to get your home finished,
24:34
Speaker 1: because I know that's not going to happen. But if
24:36
Speaker 1: you can bring these rooms under control. There's going to
24:39
Speaker 1: be a feeling of restfulness, of restorativeness. You're going to
24:44
Speaker 1: feel better. In other words, you know, basically, your brain
24:47
Speaker 1: is going to know when your space is out of control.
24:49
Speaker 1: And when it knows that things are out of control
24:52
Speaker 1: and there's things that you got to do, it keeps
24:55
Speaker 1: you on edge. Clutter also causes cognitive overload. Here's more
25:00
Speaker 1: science for you. Every pile of paper, every misplaced item,
25:03
Speaker 1: is just another demand on your attention. It's more visual
25:07
Speaker 1: information that your brain has to sort through. Even if
25:10
Speaker 1: you're not consciously thinking about it. You know, your brain's
25:13
Speaker 1: just sick of it. It wants that stuff out of
25:15
Speaker 1: there so it can just rest a little bit. And
25:17
Speaker 1: over time, when it can't rest like that and it
25:20
Speaker 1: constantly is surrounded by all of this clutter, it wears
25:24
Speaker 1: you down. It makes it harder to focus, harder to rest,
25:27
Speaker 1: harder to feel calm. Now, the good news is that
25:30
Speaker 1: the opposite is also true. Small intentional changes can improve
25:34
Speaker 1: your mood. Rearranging a room, cleaning off a desk, even
25:38
Speaker 1: just adding light, you know, bringing in a plant, choosing
25:41
Speaker 1: a new wall color. All of those things signal safety
25:45
Speaker 1: and stability and care, not just to others. Like I said,
25:50
Speaker 1: it's not just about other people. It signals all of
25:52
Speaker 1: that to you and your own nervous system. It's part
25:56
Speaker 1: of what therapists and designers call environmental regular shaping your
26:01
Speaker 1: surroundings to better support your emotional needs, environmental regulation. And
26:06
Speaker 1: one of the leaders in this space is Anita Yakota.
26:10
Speaker 1: She's a licensed therapist who became an interior designer, and
26:13
Speaker 1: she talks about how our homes aren't just backdrops to
26:16
Speaker 1: our lives, they're emotional ecosystems. They affect how we feel,
26:20
Speaker 1: how we relate to others, how we handle stress, all
26:22
Speaker 1: of that in her work, again the name was Anita Yakota.
26:27
Speaker 1: In her work, she focuses on helping people designed around
26:30
Speaker 1: their core emotional needs. You know, not just what looks good,
26:34
Speaker 1: but what feels supportive. And that means choosing colors that calm,
26:38
Speaker 1: creating spaces where people can reconnect, building layouts that foster
26:42
Speaker 1: communication or privacy, you know, depending on what you need.
26:46
Speaker 1: And she's not talking about a full renovation. Usually she's
26:48
Speaker 1: talking about intentional choices. You know, a shift in lighting,
26:52
Speaker 1: a change in wall color, a new system for clearing clutter,
26:55
Speaker 1: small changes. That's what makes it so wonderful. These are
26:58
Speaker 1: small changes, but they have a big gigantic impact on
27:02
Speaker 1: how we think and feel in our home. So where
27:05
Speaker 1: do you start? Where do you start with all of this?
27:07
Speaker 1: You don't need to gut your kitchen or call in
27:09
Speaker 1: a contractor There are a number of things that you
27:11
Speaker 1: can try, even this weekend. If you wanted to pick
27:14
Speaker 1: a wall and painted a calming color, you know, that's
27:17
Speaker 1: one thing. Soft blues, light greens, off whites, something that
27:21
Speaker 1: feels kind of like breathing room, something that feels calm,
27:24
Speaker 1: you know, that could help you out. You could declutter
27:27
Speaker 1: one space, and it doesn't need to be like a
27:29
Speaker 1: space like my basement. That is a space, but my
27:33
Speaker 1: basement space is full of little spaces. Maybe your time,
27:36
Speaker 1: you know, the time that you've got today, maybe the
27:39
Speaker 1: time that you have left, you only have time to
27:43
Speaker 1: get to one small space. Maybe it's a night stand,
27:45
Speaker 1: maybe it's an end table, maybe it's a kitchen counter,
27:49
Speaker 1: whatever it is, your entryway, find one space to clear,
27:53
Speaker 1: you know, and just find out what that does to
27:56
Speaker 1: your day and your mood when you've got that one
27:59
Speaker 1: space cleared off. Even if all you declutter is your
28:02
Speaker 1: to do list, you know, because some of it isn't
28:05
Speaker 1: just the space that we live in, you know, the
28:07
Speaker 1: clutter of that space that can drive us nuts and
28:09
Speaker 1: really play on our psyche. It can also just be
28:12
Speaker 1: the weight of all the things that we've got to do.
28:14
Speaker 1: I've got a to do list that seems to go
28:16
Speaker 1: on forever, and the fact that it goes on forever
28:20
Speaker 1: stresses me out after a while. If I could declutter
28:22
Speaker 1: that list, remove a few things from it, just a
28:25
Speaker 1: few little things, you know, just every day, get one
28:28
Speaker 1: or two things crossed off that list, I start to
28:30
Speaker 1: feel more in control, I start to feel more calm.
28:33
Speaker 1: So maybe that would help you out. You could add
28:35
Speaker 1: something living, you know, first off, remove something dead. If
28:38
Speaker 1: you've got dead plants in your home, get them out.
28:40
Speaker 1: They're not helping your mood. I had this what was it, oh,
28:46
Speaker 1: an ivy thing. It's something that we had forever. My
28:50
Speaker 1: mom told me it's impossible to kill this. You can't
28:53
Speaker 1: kill it, Mom, guess what You're wrong. You can. You
28:56
Speaker 1: can kill it by long periods of utter and neglect.
29:01
Speaker 1: And that's what I did. I just kept forgetting about it,
29:04
Speaker 1: and I found it the other day, and oh my goodness,
29:07
Speaker 1: it had reached down, you know, it had really sent
29:11
Speaker 1: its little you know, it was ivy. So it was
29:13
Speaker 1: just draped down this entertainment center like it was reaching
29:19
Speaker 1: for love or something. I feel so terrible. It was
29:23
Speaker 1: just reaching out. And now it's a shell of a thing.
29:26
Speaker 1: It's dead. And when I saw it, I left it
29:28
Speaker 1: for a while, thinking maybe it'll come back. I watered it,
29:32
Speaker 1: you know, an absolute gesture of just a complete wasted
29:37
Speaker 1: time gesture. I'm watering this utterly dead plant, hoping against
29:41
Speaker 1: hope that somehow it greens up again. Finally I got
29:44
Speaker 1: it out. And let me tell you the weight that
29:47
Speaker 1: lifted by not seeing that carcass in the living room.
29:50
Speaker 1: I recommend it to everybody if you've got a carcass
29:52
Speaker 1: of a plant or anything, I mean, hopefully there's nothing
29:55
Speaker 1: more than a carcass of a plant in your living room.
29:58
Speaker 1: If there's more carcass is in your living room and
30:00
Speaker 1: they're not plants, and they were other living things besides bugs,
30:05
Speaker 1: you got other issues to worry about. But if you've
30:07
Speaker 1: got dead plants, get them out. That's just a stupid,
30:10
Speaker 1: stupid tangent that I went down, Put a living thing
30:13
Speaker 1: in there. Put a nice plant on the table, and
30:16
Speaker 1: then keep it alive, fresh flowers, you know, even a
30:18
Speaker 1: photo of nature. You know you, you know who you are.
30:22
Speaker 1: You know, if you're going to keep something alive, or
30:24
Speaker 1: if you're going to kill it in a week. Maybe
30:26
Speaker 1: if you're going to kill it in a week, put
30:27
Speaker 1: a picture of nature up on your wall. Whatever. Get
30:31
Speaker 1: something green in there that helps let in more light.
30:34
Speaker 1: Open the blind, swap out a light bulb, move a
30:37
Speaker 1: chair next to the window. Whatever. A friend of mine
30:40
Speaker 1: repainted her hallway last year. I think it was yet
30:43
Speaker 1: nothing big. He just swapped out a dark beige for
30:45
Speaker 1: this soft gray blue that she found. She added a
30:48
Speaker 1: mirror on the end to bring some light back around,
30:51
Speaker 1: you know, bounce it off of that, off of some windows,
30:54
Speaker 1: and just send it down the hallway a little bit.
30:56
Speaker 1: And she told me that the whole thing it's weird,
30:58
Speaker 1: she said, actually feels like she's being lifted up as
31:03
Speaker 1: she walks down the hallway, like a little movie scene.
31:06
Speaker 1: What's she exactly feeling. I don't technically know what she's feeling.
31:10
Speaker 1: Those are her words. All I know is that she's
31:12
Speaker 1: in the same house as she used to be. It's
31:14
Speaker 1: the same walls, it's the same hallway, but she made
31:17
Speaker 1: a few changes and now the whole thing feels way different.
31:20
Speaker 1: She feels way happier. So, yeah, a new wall color.
31:23
Speaker 1: It's not going to fix everything, but it really can help.
31:26
Speaker 1: And world where so much is out of our hands,
31:29
Speaker 1: you know, so much feels out of our control. Remember
31:31
Speaker 1: that your home is a space that you can shape.
31:35
Speaker 1: You know. We can make them calmer, we can make
31:36
Speaker 1: them brighter, we can make them lighter. We can build
31:39
Speaker 1: spaces that reflect who we are. We can build spaces
31:42
Speaker 1: that kind of reflect who we want to be. We
31:45
Speaker 1: can create environments that kind of nurture us in our family.
31:48
Speaker 1: If we're spending ninety percent of our lives in man
31:50
Speaker 1: made spaces, makes sense to shape those spaces with a
31:54
Speaker 1: little bit of care. So if you need help with
31:57
Speaker 1: any of that, you know there's a lot of people
31:59
Speaker 1: out there who can help with all of that. We
32:01
Speaker 1: can connect you with painting contractors, we can connect you
32:04
Speaker 1: with interior designers. Just go to repcolit dot com, click
32:07
Speaker 1: the find a contractor tab, write on the homepage, tell
32:11
Speaker 1: us what you're doing, hit submit, and I'll send you
32:13
Speaker 1: some names, so we can help you with that, but
32:15
Speaker 1: we can also help you with colors. We can help
32:17
Speaker 1: you find the colors that will make your home feel
32:20
Speaker 1: the way you want it to feel. All right, And
32:24
Speaker 1: speaking of colors, I think I want to talk about
32:26
Speaker 1: the psychology of color, and this is something that we've
32:29
Speaker 1: done many, many times before, but this time I want
32:32
Speaker 1: to go way deeper and talk about why colors do
32:35
Speaker 1: what they do. And we're going to get to that
32:37
Speaker 1: right after this. This is home in progress where the
32:41
Speaker 1: to do list is long, and that's all right. We're
32:44
Speaker 1: not crabbing at you. We're not going to yell at you.
32:46
Speaker 1: That's how it is. It's how ours is too. It's
32:48
Speaker 1: probably supported by Repcolite Paints and Benjamin Moore because home
32:52
Speaker 1: projects are easier when you've got people you can trust.
32:56
Speaker 1: So we just finished up talking about how your environment,
32:59
Speaker 1: your home environment, can impact how you feel, you know,
33:03
Speaker 1: how you relate even with the people in your family.
33:05
Speaker 1: You know, it's a big impact on it. And in
33:07
Speaker 1: that conversation I made a few passing references to color psychology,
33:12
Speaker 1: largely about how blue and green and certain colors can
33:15
Speaker 1: be calming. And that's what I want to dig into
33:18
Speaker 1: a little bit next, because if you've ever read anything
33:20
Speaker 1: about color psychology, you've probably come across the usual lists,
33:24
Speaker 1: and you know, we've already talked about them on the
33:26
Speaker 1: show Ad Nauseum, And to be honest, this is one
33:30
Speaker 1: of my least favorite topics. And I'm obligated to talk
33:34
Speaker 1: about it because I work at Repcolite and we deal
33:37
Speaker 1: with paint and we deal with paint colors, and so
33:39
Speaker 1: I've got to talk about color psychology. But I don't
33:42
Speaker 1: like it. And I don't like it because it's so
33:45
Speaker 1: touchy feely. You know, it's just touchy feely. When I'm
33:48
Speaker 1: telling people blue is peaceful, Yellow's cheerful, red's exciting, green
33:53
Speaker 1: is calming. All of that, it's ah, it's just so
33:58
Speaker 1: touchy feely. It's subjective. I feel like it belongs on
34:01
Speaker 1: a Pinterest board about throw pillows and essential oils. But
34:05
Speaker 1: today I want to dig deeper because I want to
34:08
Speaker 1: go to the real science that underlies all of this stuff,
34:11
Speaker 1: all these emotional responses. There really is science beneath it,
34:15
Speaker 1: and we never really talk about that. We talk about
34:17
Speaker 1: what the colors do, but we never really get to
34:20
Speaker 1: the why behind it, Why does blue make us feel peaceful?
34:24
Speaker 1: It's because our brains are physically responding to different colors
34:27
Speaker 1: in different measurable ways. And that's what this whole segment
34:32
Speaker 1: is going to be about. So let's just jump right in.
34:34
Speaker 1: Let's start with blue. Blue is consistently ranked as a
34:38
Speaker 1: lot of people's favorite color. You know, it's used in banks,
34:40
Speaker 1: it's used in hospitals, it's used on social media platforms.
34:44
Speaker 1: A lot of police officer uniforms are blue. Business logos
34:49
Speaker 1: are often blue. And the reason they're that way, the
34:52
Speaker 1: reason that color is used is because blue traditionally conveys
34:55
Speaker 1: this idea of calm, you know, it inspires trust, it
35:00
Speaker 1: makes us feel focused, all of those things. Now why
35:03
Speaker 1: does blue do that though, Well, it all comes down
35:05
Speaker 1: to light wavelength. There's two main reasons with blue. We're
35:09
Speaker 1: going to talk about both of them, but one of
35:10
Speaker 1: them is light wavelength. Blue light has shorter, lower energy
35:14
Speaker 1: wavelengths that hit the eye gently and that gentleness, that
35:18
Speaker 1: sweet touch on our eye, Yeah, that just completely made
35:21
Speaker 1: it touchy, ali and silly. That gentleness leads to a
35:24
Speaker 1: biological response. You know, our brain slows down, it increases
35:29
Speaker 1: alpha brain waves. That doesn't mean the brain waves of
35:32
Speaker 1: the leader, you know, the alpha brain waves. The alpha
35:35
Speaker 1: brain waves are associated with a relaxed and focused state,
35:39
Speaker 1: and all of that happens cycle. All of that happens
35:43
Speaker 1: physiologically when we encounter blue. But it's not just the
35:47
Speaker 1: mechanics of light. You know, for thousands of years, blue
35:49
Speaker 1: skies and blue water meant something really important to people.
35:53
Speaker 1: It meant safety. If the sky is clear, then the
35:55
Speaker 1: weather's going to be good. You're not worried about big storms.
35:58
Speaker 1: If there's clean water, then your tribe probably gonna survive.
36:01
Speaker 1: You know, all of that has been a part of
36:04
Speaker 1: the human experience for thousands of years, and over time,
36:09
Speaker 1: our brains have associated blue with stability and with peace.
36:13
Speaker 1: And that's why blue walls tend to feel calmer. That's
36:16
Speaker 1: why blue bedrooms tend to help people sleep better. It's
36:18
Speaker 1: not just taste that we really do like blue better.
36:22
Speaker 1: It's biology at work. Now, let's flip the switch. Red
36:26
Speaker 1: is on the opposite end of the light spectrum. It
36:28
Speaker 1: has the longest wavelengths and it's the most stimulating color
36:32
Speaker 1: to the human eye. Literally, your heart rate increases when
36:36
Speaker 1: you're exposed to red. Whether you feel it or not.
36:38
Speaker 1: Your heart rate increases, your blood pressure goes up, your
36:42
Speaker 1: brain releases adrenaline. Again, from you know, thousands of years
36:46
Speaker 1: of human experience. From that standpoint, red meant something urgent
36:50
Speaker 1: still does. Red means blood, fire, danger, can mean food.
36:56
Speaker 1: It definitely when you saw red, it triggered a decision
36:59
Speaker 1: as am I going to fight or flight? Am I
37:02
Speaker 1: going to go forward? Am I going to run away?
37:03
Speaker 1: Am I going to look for a band aid? Am
37:05
Speaker 1: I going to just lay down and just bleed out?
37:09
Speaker 1: You know, take the sweet embrace of death? Who knows?
37:13
Speaker 1: Either way? Red provokes some kind of response, and today
37:16
Speaker 1: red still carries that same charge. Think of red lights,
37:19
Speaker 1: you know, stop signs, sale tags, even fast food branding.
37:22
Speaker 1: They're all designed to grab your attention right now. And
37:26
Speaker 1: that's why red can feel really intense or even stressful.
37:28
Speaker 1: In a home. It demands your energy, It raises the steaks.
37:33
Speaker 1: So that's red. Yellow. Yellow is bright, it's cheerful, it's
37:37
Speaker 1: like painting your walls with the rays of the sun.
37:40
Speaker 1: But here's the catch. It's also very stimulating to the
37:44
Speaker 1: human eye. It's very easy to overdo yellow. A little
37:47
Speaker 1: bit of yellow, especially in kitchens or bathrooms or accent
37:51
Speaker 1: pieces can lift your mood. It's associated, like I said,
37:54
Speaker 1: with sunlight, warmth, fruit, vitality. It's a healthy, life giving space.
38:01
Speaker 1: You know. Yellow is like a big, warm sunny day.
38:05
Speaker 1: You can't think of it any better than that. But
38:07
Speaker 1: because it hits your visual system so hard, too much
38:10
Speaker 1: yellow can actually lead to irritability and anxiety. It overstimulates
38:15
Speaker 1: the emotional centers of your brain. Too much yellow can
38:18
Speaker 1: overstimulate the emotional centers of your brain. In fact, studies
38:21
Speaker 1: have found that babies cry more in yellow rooms and
38:25
Speaker 1: adults get more agitated in bright yellow offices. Guess who
38:28
Speaker 1: just painted his living room bright yellow? Guess who's feeling
38:35
Speaker 1: over stimulated almost all the time. Now, yeah, you got it.
38:39
Speaker 1: And guess who probably doesn't need to be overstimulated. I'm
38:42
Speaker 1: already stimulated enough. I live on the edge, and now
38:46
Speaker 1: I just pushed myself over it. Am I gonna keep
38:48
Speaker 1: my yellow? Who knows? You'll find out as time goes by.
38:52
Speaker 1: Just keep listening to the show anyway, yellow, Use it
38:55
Speaker 1: like hot sauce. A little bit goes a long way.
38:57
Speaker 1: That's a good way to think of it. What about green?
39:00
Speaker 1: Green might be the sweet spot right. It falls right
39:03
Speaker 1: in the center of the visible light spectrum, which means
39:05
Speaker 1: it's easy for our eyes to process. There's no straining,
39:08
Speaker 1: no squinting, It's visually RESTful. And from a biological standpoint,
39:12
Speaker 1: green has been shown to reduce cortisol, the stress hormone.
39:15
Speaker 1: It activates the parasympathetic nervous system, the one responsible for
39:19
Speaker 1: slowing things down, for digesting food, for calming us after
39:23
Speaker 1: a long day. And you know, traditionally, for the human experience,
39:27
Speaker 1: green means life, foliage, food, shade, shelter, all of those things.
39:32
Speaker 1: Green represents stability and abundance, and that's why it's used
39:35
Speaker 1: so often in schools, in hospitals, nurseries, things like that.
39:39
Speaker 1: It just tells you everything is okay. Thankfully, my dining
39:43
Speaker 1: room and kitchen are green. So I go from the
39:46
Speaker 1: over stimulated yellow, and whenever I go to get a
39:49
Speaker 1: snack out of the fridge or whatever, I walk through
39:52
Speaker 1: the green, and I feel so calm, so rewarded, and
39:56
Speaker 1: then I go back to the yellow, and the anxiety
39:58
Speaker 1: amps up again. Purple is another one. It's very interesting.
40:01
Speaker 1: It's not common in nature, you know, we don't see
40:03
Speaker 1: it in large quantities. In nature anyway, and that rarity
40:08
Speaker 1: gives it a lot of power. You know, Purple's got
40:10
Speaker 1: a lot of power. It's made by combining red and blue,
40:13
Speaker 1: so in your brain it's kind of firing off two
40:16
Speaker 1: different signals at once. Red's intensity and blues calm. And
40:20
Speaker 1: that tension is kind of what makes purple feel creative
40:23
Speaker 1: and imaginative and even a little bit mysterious. You know,
40:27
Speaker 1: if you want to want to add a touchy feely
40:29
Speaker 1: word to this, mysterious probably sums up purple a little bit.
40:33
Speaker 1: It's also historically associated with royalty, with spirituality, and that's
40:38
Speaker 1: partly because dyes, purple dyes used to be incredibly rare
40:42
Speaker 1: and very expensive, So purple carries the weight of elevation,
40:46
Speaker 1: you know, reflection, creative thinking, all of those things. It's
40:49
Speaker 1: perfect for an art space or a bedroom. Maybe not
40:52
Speaker 1: so perfect for a high stress office. All right, let's
40:55
Speaker 1: wrap up with the neutrals. Black absorbs all light, you know,
40:58
Speaker 1: it kind of gives a sense of depth and authority,
41:01
Speaker 1: but too much can feel heavy or isolating. White it
41:04
Speaker 1: reflects everything, you know, creating a feeling of cleanliness and clarity,
41:08
Speaker 1: but it also can feel you know, sterile or cold
41:11
Speaker 1: if it's overdone brown, you know, the ultimate earth tone
41:15
Speaker 1: signals comfort, warmth, practicality, all of that. It's the color
41:18
Speaker 1: of tree trunks and soil. It's the color of home,
41:22
Speaker 1: you know, it's color of my home. It really is.
41:25
Speaker 1: Go drive past my home. It's brown. That's what it is.
41:27
Speaker 1: I'm not just making some kind of gross joke. It's brown.
41:30
Speaker 1: It's not flashy, but brown is stable. It's grounding, all right. So,
41:34
Speaker 1: color psychology it's not just you know, touchy feelies and
41:39
Speaker 1: vibes and all of that stuff. It's hardwired in our brain.
41:41
Speaker 1: It's biology, brain chemistry, all of those things. Color enters
41:45
Speaker 1: through our eyes, but it affects your nervous system, your
41:48
Speaker 1: brain waves, your heart rate, your stress hormones, all of it.
41:52
Speaker 1: And that's why choosing the right paint color it's not
41:54
Speaker 1: a trivial thing, you know, And not to add more
41:57
Speaker 1: stress to the whole color choosing process. There's enough us
42:00
Speaker 1: on it. I don't mean to add more, but you
42:02
Speaker 1: do want to make sure that you get it right.
42:04
Speaker 1: And the first step to doing that is to understand
42:07
Speaker 1: color psychology a little deeper. There really is solid science
42:11
Speaker 1: behind how we feel about certain colors and you want
42:14
Speaker 1: to work with that as you make your choices. And
42:17
Speaker 1: also remember that at Repcolite, we have people who are
42:19
Speaker 1: ready and waiting to help you make the best color
42:22
Speaker 1: choice possible for your home. Just stop in, bring your photos,
42:25
Speaker 1: bring your couch cushions, your pillowcases, whatever you think is
42:29
Speaker 1: going to help, whatever you need to bring, bring it
42:31
Speaker 1: all in and we'll help you get the perfect color
42:33
Speaker 1: for your space. All right, that's going to do it.
42:35
Speaker 1: For this week's episode of Home in Progress, today we
42:37
Speaker 1: covered a ton of ground, from the science behind color
42:40
Speaker 1: psychology to the power your environment has on your mood
42:43
Speaker 1: and mental health. And you have a quick reminder not
42:46
Speaker 1: to leave earbuds, medication, or chocolate covered almonds in your
42:50
Speaker 1: hot car. You're welcome for that. If you found something
42:54
Speaker 1: helpful or interesting on the show, be sure to subscribe
42:57
Speaker 1: so you never miss another episode. And if you've got
42:59
Speaker 1: a second and leave us a review or share the
43:01
Speaker 1: show with a friend. It helps us grow and we
43:03
Speaker 1: really appreciate it. Until next time, I'm Dan Hanson. Thanks
43:06
Speaker 1: for listening, and we'll see you next week on Home
43:08
Speaker 1: in Progress.