
The Psychology of Interior Design: How Colours, Shapes & Furniture Affect Your Mood
Have you ever stepped into a place and felt your mood and energy shift? It either lifted your spirits or brought them down the moment you entered. Take coffee shops, for example, when you walk into one, you feel a cozy, warm, and inviting vibe with its brown, beige, and earthy tones.
Meanwhile, stepping into a modern club gives off a party vibe using red, yellow, orange, and blue to evoke feelings of excitement and high energy. By them you can see that it's obvious: interior design affects your mood based on the colors it brings.
Interior design isn’t just about appearances, it genuinely impacts our emotions and mental state. From the color on the wall to the layout of furniture in a room, an interior designer uses design principles to influence how our brain responds.
In this article, join us as we explore the realm of psychology of interior design, with a special focus on how furniture affects mood. Let's delve into elements like color, layout, comfort, and even the shape of your furniture, and how each one can uplift (or dampen) your spirits. Understanding these design psychology principles will help you create a happier and healthier home.
So settle into your favorite chair (hopefully a comfy one) and let’s explore how your sofa, table, or cabinet might be influencing your mood every day.
How Our Home Environment Influences Mood
In research conducted by psychology and neuroscience, Dr. Joel Frank, agreed that a thoughtfully crafted environment can help anyone relax, sharpen the mind, inspire creativity, and genuinely elevate mood. Opposingly, he also noted that not having proper or basic daylight and fresh air can also affect our mood.
Research in environmental psychology has shown that the design of a space can significantly influence how we feel and even how we behave. We all intuitively sense that our surroundings affect us. A cluttered, dim room might make us feel anxious or lethargic, while an airy, sunlit space can energize us.
Colors and design are especially important in our homes. Since we spend so much time at our home, we want it to contribute to positive emotions, and we avoid poorly designed environments. We want it to be comforting, inviting, and soothing—because our sanctuary is our home.
The furniture, the color, the design, and the environment we choose and create in our home play a major role in shaping that environment and, by extension, our mood and well-being. Our brains constantly respond to visual and sensory cues in our home environment, even if we don’t realize it.
In the sections that follow, we’ll break down specific aspects of furniture and interior design that impact mood, from the colors you surround yourself with to the shapes and textures of your furniture. Let’s start with one of the most immediate mood-setters in any room: color.
Color Psychology: Choosing the Right Tones of Your Furniture
One of the most powerful design elements that influences mood is color. We often hear about color psychology, like how blue tends to be calming or yellow feels cheerful, and it’s true that the hues in your furniture and decor can subtly shape how you feel in a space.
Interior designers in Melbourne and around the world carefully consider color when selecting furniture for a room’s purpose and atmosphere. They choose colors, materials, and layouts that elicit certain feelings.
For example, hotels and spas often use calm color schemes and comfortable furnishings to help guests feel relaxed. Meanwhile, office designers might add pops of bright color or dynamic furniture arrangements to keep energy and creativity high.
In our previous blog about Feng Shui rules, we also talked about the right colors for your home, which highlights the importance of knowing the right color to use, especially since we have the freedom to design for our personal well-being and to create a sanctuary that supports us mentally and emotionally.
Each color carries a psychological meaning, influencing how a space feels and functions. Let’s talk about each color and what it signifies:
1. Warm colors: Think reds, oranges, yellows, which are often associated with energy, excitement, and socialization which brings a sense of warmth or excitement. It can literally warm up the feel of a large, cold room and encourage interaction, which is why it’s best for social interaction.
A bold red armchair or a sunny yellow fireside ottoman, for instance, can become a lively focal point that sparks conversation and joy because warm hues can inspire conversation. So, if you want a social, cozy vibe (say in a living room or dining area), touches of warm color can be uplifting and inviting.
2. Cool colors: Blue, green, soft purples have the opposite effect as they tend to soothe and relax us. An oxford blue sofa can introduce a sense of tranquility, like a calm sea in your living room.
While, a soft green accent or a sage-colored armchair may remind us of nature, promoting a feeling of freshness, growth, and peace. These hues are great for spaces meant for unwinding or focus, such as bedrooms, reading nooks, or home offices.
Studies in design psychology note that cool, natural colors help signal a thriving, safe environment, thereby reducing anxiety. That’s why modern furniture in Melbourne showrooms often feature earthy greens or ocean blues, reflecting a trend toward biophilic and calming interiors.
3. Neutral colors: White, beiges, grays, and browns are known for their neutral color which plays an important role of stability and comfort. They create a backdrop of stability and comfort.
A neutral-toned sofa like a creamy white or soft grey can make a room feel open and serene. While, brown and wooden tones bring an organic warmth that grounds a space and evoke a sense of reliability, dependability, and resilience.
The best thing about neutrals are their versatility and flexibility to adapt to any mood. They won’t overstimulate, and they let you easily add or change accent colors in the room depending on the mood you want.
For example, a beige cloud modular sofa from Artspire Home could be dressed up with vibrant pillows when you want energy, or kept bare with a cozy throw blanket for a calming and minimalist look. Furthermore, their cloud sofa comes in colors like calm khaki, orange, white, and blue—each creating a slightly different ambiance, but all in a comforting and smooth-lined design.
It’s fascinating that simply changing a furniture piece’s color or the cushions on it can subtly shift the mood of an entire room. It just shows that we understand colors and we are affected by it, but it varies from person to things.
If you’re aiming for a peaceful retreat, lean towards cool and neutral tones for big pieces like sofas, rugs, and curtains. You can always add small warm-colored decor if you need a pop of cheer.
Oppositely, if you want a happy, vibrant space, don’t shy away from a statement piece in a warm hue. Just be careful with very bold colors in bedrooms or other restful areas because a bright red bed might be energizing when you actually want to feel calm at night.
The key to colors is balancing it, designers tend to use a neutral or soft base and add a few strategic color accents to set the mood just right.
The Power of Shape and Design: Curves vs. Angles
Beyond color, here comes the shape and form of your furniture which can also affect how you feel in a space, you might not know it, but it does in surprising ways. Our minds respond to shapes on an unconscious, almost instinctive level.
In interior design, shapes and angles are not just there for aesthetics, they create an effect that will affect the mood and energy of a space. Have you ever noticed how rooms with lots of sharp corners and rigid lines can feel a bit formal or tense, while spaces filled with soft, rounded forms feel more inviting? There’s a psychological reason for that.
At home, rounded forms felt safe like the curved shapes tend to be associated with comfort, safety, and approachability. This is because round furniture and circular mirrors create a feeling of softness and invitation. As you can see with curved shapes, there’s no clear start or end—just a continuous flow, like a river, which is why they’re ideal for areas where you want movement to feel organic, such as hallways or open-concept spaces.
Meanwhile, sharp edges might have signaled danger, as sharpness often implies potential harm due to the risk of cuts and lacerations. Additionally, sharp edges on furniture can pose safety hazards for children and individuals with mobility or vision impairments.
In research, people have shown that they find curved furniture and interiors more relaxing and are even likely to spend more time in curved rooms because they feel less threatened and more “welcomed” there.
If you crave a calm, relaxing environment, we introduce you to curves and gentle forms like circular coffee tables like Artspire’s Sculpted Tripod Coffee Table. Curvy furniture not only literally has your back in terms of comfort, but its very presence can reduce stress and make a room feel more harmonious.
Many modern furniture designs embrace organic, flowing shapes for this reason. For instance, the Bubble Sofa we have mentioned earlier. It isn’t just fun to look at, its bubbly, rounded form literally embraces you with plush curves. Sitting on such a sofa can make you feel cozy and cocooned, improving your sense of comfort at your home.
In contrast, angular or very jagged designs can feel edgy, modern, or efficient, but too many sharp angles might also induce a bit of subconscious stress or stiffness. But, that doesn’t mean you should avoid angular furniture altogether.
Artspire Home’s Fireside Sofa is a great example of blending modern style with gentle curves. It has a sleek, low-profile silhouette but also features a C-shaped, armless design that wraps around you, creating a cozy, enveloping feel.
This shape not only looks chic in a modern Melbourne home, but it also provides that subtle psychological comfort of a curve, you feel supported and relaxed when lounging on it. High-back or wraparound pieces like the Fireside Sofa can even tap into our primal need for “refuge,” offering a sense of security as you sit like a high-backed chair that protects your back.
Tips for Designing a Home That Feels Good
Your furniture and decor choices are an extension of yourself. When you fill your home with pieces that resonate with you – whether it’s a color you love, a design style you feel drawn to, or a piece of furniture that has sentimental value – you create an environment of emotional support. This is your home turf, and it should reflect who you are and what makes you happy.
To distill color and shapes into some actionable advice, here’s a handy list of tips and strategies you can use when designing or updating your home. Keep these in mind and you’ll be well on your way to creating a space that not only looks modern and stylish, but also supports your mental and emotional health every day:
- Use Color Deliberately: Think about the function of each room and choose colors that support the mood you want. Remember if you are aiming for relaxation corners and in bedrooms, soft blues and greens or neutral tones for calming spaces.
While, warm tones like yellows or terracotta for social, lively areas such as in kitchens and living rooms. Moreover, if you love bold colors, sprinkle them in through accent furniture or decor so they excite without overwhelming. And when in doubt, nature-inspired palettes (earthy greens, sky blues, warm wood hues) are generally soothing and inviting.
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Embrace Curves and Soften Angles: Include at least a few pieces with curved lines or organic shapes like a round coffee table, a circular rug, a curvy chair, especially in rooms where you want a cozy, welcoming feel.
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Prioritize Comfort and Ergonomics: Always test out seating and beds if possible because it's important to know if they support you well. Look for sofas and chairs with quality foam, good back support, and textiles you enjoy touching. Remember, don’t sacrifice comfort for style because these days you can often have both
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Optimize Layout for Flow: Arrange furniture in a way that feels natural to move around and encourages the room’s purpose. In conversation areas, seat pieces are across from each other and not all facing a TV.
Additionally, in a multipurpose room, incorporate rugs or consoles to subtly zone areas like reading nooks and TV areas. But, don’t forget to leave clear walkways. A good layout should almost guide you effortlessly through the space, reducing any friction or frustration in your daily routines.
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Declutter and Use Smart Storage: Do an honest sweep of each room for clutter hot-spots. If you find piles of things with no home, consider adding furniture that can house them neatly like a sideboard, a TV cabinet with doors like the Ann TV Cabinet.
Multifunctional furniture like a chair with closed storage is great for hiding unattractive items and an open storage (shelves) is great for displaying things that inspire you.
Remember, out-of-sight can mean out-of-mind (in a good way for clutter), and an orderly space is linked to lower stress and better focus. So invest in storage furniture, it’s definitely worth it and you will feel much calmer and at ease in a tidy environment.
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Bring Nature In: Incorporate natural elements through furniture and decor. This could mean wooden furniture with a beautiful grain, stone or travertine table tops, woven natural fiber rugs, or simply adding plants on and around your furniture.
Natural materials and greenery are proven to reduce stress and make us feel more content indoors. A live edge wood dining table, for instance, not only looks stunning but also brings a bit of the forest into your home.
If you’re in the city, a cluster of potted plants on a Plinth side table or a green fabric sofa can provide that much-needed connection to nature. Even artwork of landscapes or nature motifs on cushions can help.
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Listen to your feelings: Interior designers are just here to guide you, but it's your feeling that is more important when you design or shop. Our emotional responses to furniture are valid. If a particular couch makes you go “wow I love this” and feel excited, that’s definitely worth considering.
If a trendy chair looks cool but something about it makes you uneasy like it's too stiff, too odd, boring—that gut is telling you and you have to pay attention to it. Your home should be your comfort zone, literally. It’s great to gather inspiration from Pinterest or through browsing Melbourne’s modern furniture stores, but at the end of the day choose what makes you feel good, both in comfort and in style.
By combining these strategies, you’ll create a home that feels like a true haven, a place that energizes you when you need a boost and embraces you when you need rest.
Designing Your Well-Being at Home
Interior design isn’t just an art; it’s a form of self-care. As we’ve seen, everything from the color of your couch to the shape of your coffee table can ripple through your daily mood and well-being.
The psychology of interior design teaches us that our environment is deeply intertwined with our mental state. When your home is set up to comfort you, inspire you, and support your needs, life simply feels better. You sleep deeper, you laugh more freely, you focus more easily, all because the space around you is working for you and not against you.
Remember that creating a mood-enhancing home doesn’t mean you have to remodel everything at once or spend a fortune on new furniture. Even small changes, like rearranging the layout for better flow, adding a cozy throw to your sofa, or painting a wall a more soothing color, can have an immediate effect on how you feel.
It’s an ongoing, rewarding process of tuning into what makes you comfortable and happy at home. Don’t be afraid to mix practicality with a little bit of daring flair that excites you–the goal is a balance between comfort (both physical and emotional) and inspiration.
If you’re in Melbourne (or anywhere in Australia) looking to elevate your home’s interior with well-being in mind, Artspire Home is here to help. We specialize in modern furniture in Melbourne that marries stylish design with the kind of quality and comfort that makes you sigh “ahh, I’m home.”
Our collections are curated to enhance your lifestyle and mood. We believe furniture is an extension of yourself, so it needs to be comfortable, beautiful, and durable. It should bring you that joyful feeling every time you use it.
The best part about shopping with Artspire Home? We offer great discounts—including our biggest sale ever, with 30% off plus an extra 15% on all furniture for our End of the Year Sale. We invite you to explore Artspire Home’s range of furniture and find pieces that truly resonate with you.
You can also visit our Melbourne showroom to experience these designs firsthand. Sit, lounge, imagine how they’d feel in your own home. You’ll discover that investing in the right furniture is really an investment in your own happiness and health at home.
Your home should be your favorite place in the world, and with a little psychological insight and the right furnishings, it can truly become a source of daily positivity and comfort. Here’s to designing homes that not only look beautiful, but feel beautiful on the inside–much like the lives we want to lead.
Come create your happier and healthier home with Artspire Home!