Customer Reviews

Color Therapy at Home: Real-Life Solutions for Adding Color to Your Life

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The décor in this book is awesome and inspiring. There were very few room designs I didn't like. The rooms all have strong personality with a simple modern look. There are no flowery or country looks here.

The book is split into two sections. The first focuses on what colors are associated with in our lives. Objects are shown and their effects on emotions are discussed. It also explains and demonstrates the excellent and very useful 60-30-10 color rule.

The second section focuses on color functions for serenity, fantasy, healing, clarity, nurturing and spirituality. Here more full rooms are shown. I love the tips for formality, informality, local color schemes and stages of life. I also like the use of flower bouquet accents (fresh or silk) in lots of the rooms. They really add spice to the décor.

The color choice quiz in back of the book is great. It really helps you pick the best colors for any room in your home based on what personality you want it to have. If you want to truly use color to create the perfect atmosphere in any room get this book.

Pluses:
The photographs in this book are great. As you might imagine with a book by this title there is a bold use of color. The style is modern, but will probably stand the test of time. I like the way the book is sectioned into chapters that fit a particular mood you might want to create (e.g. colors for fantasy). Also, there are general decorating tips scattered throughout the book.

Bonus:
The color choice quiz. Listed from A-Z all the emotions/moods you could ask for. You choose which emotions/moods you want to promote in a room. Then, you look at the color choice key to see which color matches those emotions/moods.

Minuses:
After buying the book and looking at it more carefully, I realized something...it has some of the same pictures as a book which I also own titled Color Healing Home by Katherine Sorrell. For example, check out pg. 27 of Color Healing and pg.63 of Color Therapy.

How to differentiate between the two: Color Therapy focuses more on how to promote moods. It lists moods and tells you what colors enhance that mood. Color Healing Home gives you more choices of color hue. They have a page for each hue and then tell you what moods each of these hues promote. You say tomatoe and I say tomato. I decided to keep both books, but I am a color junkie.

Recommendation:
What makes Color Therapy standout is the color choice quiz. If that is something that interests you, I would recommend this book. Otherwise, it is a coin toss between Color Therapy and Color Healing, and other books with bold uses of color.

I had hoped for more. The title sounded so intriguing. But what I got was nothing new. I have other decorating books (and magazine articles) that cover the same ground. Tips such as using your wardrobe as a guide to colors you want to live with are old clichés and don't always apply. (I wear only neutrals yet have a colorful house.)

As a design and decorating editor, I've found Color Therapy at Home to be a great resource. both at home and at work. The photos and text are inspiring and informative. I have a library of books on color, and this is the one I turn to again and again.

It is nice that the design industry has begun to look into spiritual healing therapies such as Chromotherapy. I have reviewed the color choices, however, and find they do not always match up with the truest teachings of Chromotherapy. So, if you are looking for a great design book that helps people associate their moods with color, this is nice. If you are truly wanting to trigger the brain's release of certain chemicals, you will need to find a hard core book on Chromotherapy.

As several other reviewers have noted, the actual information about colour is superficial. There are a variety of striking photos, although several I thought seemed familiar to me. The photos are what "makes" the book. Much of the text is basically like a stream of consciousness poem listing out words or phrases associated with the colour on the page. It's not intriguing, it's unhelpful. The "colour quiz" consists of a couple of pages of words. You are supposed to figure out the words you want to colour your room/house with, and then there's a key that tells you the colour. I didn't find that too helpful. If you already know absolutely basics, for instance that blue is meant to be soothing, red is energizing, purple is mystical or sensual, then this isn't the book for you. The information is very limited.

McCauley has crafted a great resource for those of us whose decorating sense is not a natural gift. He outlines his argument for color as a shorthand for our society. We tell people who we are by the colors we choose for our clothes and the colors we choose for our homes.

He starts off with color associations: red/pink, yellow/gold/orange, as well as blue/purple/turquoise and showcases big and bold photographs to highlight these associations.

He then moves on to the function of color. Instead of looking for a color, readers can consult this guide when looking for a statement or a mood. Looking for serenity or clarity? Start at pages 50 and 94, respectively. Not sure what you are looking for? You could always take the Color Choice Quiz at the back of the book.

I liked the overall presentation and readability of this book. Check it out: what do colors say about you?

I thought this was a very good book

This author has better taste in women than in colors.