Mark McCauley,
ASID is a Professional Member of the American Society of Interior
Designers (ASID) and is a Registered Interior Designer.
He is the author of four books on interior design, former Editor-in-Chief of Fine Furniture International Magazine, nationally syndicated columnist, and has appeared and currently writes for HGTV.
Mr. McCauley has spoken in public throughout the United States, to both his peers in the industry and the general public. He has appeared on both local and national television and radio, and has been an invited guest speaker at the High Point International Furniture Show in High Point, NC on several occasions. Mr. McCauley also served as Senior Interior Designer for Marshall Field's, Chicago.
Color Meanings
Learn how color affects your mood and how to maximize its impact in your home.
He is the author of four books on interior design, former Editor-in-Chief of Fine Furniture International Magazine, nationally syndicated columnist, and has appeared and currently writes for HGTV.
Mr. McCauley has spoken in public throughout the United States, to both his peers in the industry and the general public. He has appeared on both local and national television and radio, and has been an invited guest speaker at the High Point International Furniture Show in High Point, NC on several occasions. Mr. McCauley also served as Senior Interior Designer for Marshall Field's, Chicago.
Color Meanings
Learn how color affects your mood and how to maximize its impact in your home.
Green
Associated with life itself, the color
green represents newness (and naivete) and birth. As with the trees of the
forest, green is photosynthesis, the act of turning light into life. Green also
has a whimsical, fun nature and is seen as talkative and stimulating to
conversation.
Orange
Orange is warming and uplifting, as in the
softer energy found in the last rays of sunset. It relates to our entire
lifecycle as the color of fall, symbolic of the end of life. Orange, as clay,
has a primitive side as well, reminding us of our antediluvian forefathers.
Blue
We're surrounded by blue! We live on this
big blue marble consisting of sea and sky. When associated with liquid, blue
represents the soft lapping of waves or the running of a clear mountain stream.
As the air we breathe, blue is fresh and vital, reminding us of the clarity of a
sunlit day under azure skies.
White
White is "up in the air," as in marching
clouds. It has associations of an upward "heavenly" motion and is pure as the
driven snow, innocent in its ultimate nature. White represents cleanliness and
the absence of pain and is as inviting as a pure white cotton sheet on which to
lay our troubles and our bodies.
Black
Black is the "forever" color forever
night, forever faithful, forever formal. It's a color that can inspire fear
through its association with nothingness and earth but can also feel calming due
to its solid, orderly and definite appeal. Nothing washy here.
Purple
Purple brings to mind royalty and ancient
civilization. It's the color of the Muse, of soothsayers and prophets. It is
clairvoyant and psychic, headstrong and powerful. Yet it is also the color of
sorrow and passion intertwined, as in the Christian sense, with death and
resurrection.
Yellow
Yellow is associated with "higher powers,"
of things greater than we mere humans. For the Egyptians, the sun god Ra ruled;
for the ancient Greeks, Apollo's chariot blazed across the skies. Yellow is the
sun, as any child can tell you; it relates to intellectualism, random thought
and innocent happiness.
Red
Red reigns! The color that calls on
powerful emotions, either love or hate, red is the arbiter of our deepest
feelings. It's the dynamic motion of flame and the color of the blood that
courses through our veins. It's all of the things that mean so much to life
itself. Full of ego and "inner" flames, red is the life force.
Gold
There is an old world reverence
and true depth of emotion about the color gold. With gold, we inherently think
of wealth, luxury and desire, yet it also relates to satisfaction and intimacy.
Gold is the wedding ring, the ties that bind; it's lifelong love. It is the
finest we have to offer and often represents our highest achievements.
Pink
Depending upon its strength,
pink can make us feel young and joyfully alive or gentle and calm. It's innocent
and playful and is often associated with the feminine side of our natures. Pink
also represents garishness and a devil may care attitude in its hotter
intensities.
Gray
Gray can feel warm or cool or
no temperature at all. It represents "the rock," therefore solidity and support.
Gray is nondescript, just gray and nameless. Gray is trying to fit in but not
bring attention to itself. The color of the wallflower, gray is also the color
of wisdom and longevity.
Turquoise
This high-powered blue isn't as
restful as its near neighbors on the color wheel. Turquoise is vibrant and
spirited enough (as in the sense of American Southwest colorations) to represent
a kinesthetic, athletic tension, while reminding us of the opulence of the
Tokapi Palace and ancient intrigues and mysticism.
Beige
The great balancing act of
neutral beige allows the other colors to come out and play. Beige is the
arbitrator, joining disparate ideas together and forming new unions. It is the
color of noncolor, the sameness of the desert lulling us into sleep through its
unchallenging nature.
Brown
Brown is the Protector, the
"Earth Mother" to us all. Security and contentment are found in brown. It's the
cozy color, enveloping us in strength and allowing for rest and recovery. Brown
shelters us from the storms of life.