If you want to make your workforce more productive, changing your office’s colour scheme might do the job. Studies show that certain colours can drastically affect a person’s mood, so you could motivate your employees simply by giving your office a new lick of paint.

Here at Official Space, we believe in creating positive and motivational environments in which people can work to their best of abilities, and we understand that décor has a big part to play in that.

Offices have traditionally been pretty bland on this front. It’s only recently that employers have started to use bright colours, but it could be the answer to many of their problems. Think about it for yourself – do you really think sitting in a plain, white room would inspire your creativity? Probably not!

So, precisely which colours can subliminally affect your employees?

Blue is the best

The colour blue is often associated with relaxation, which is why it’s usually chosen for bedrooms and bathrooms. It can help to lower blood pressure and heart rate, and it can also make you feel calmer by slowing down your respiration.

Sitting in a blue room can make you feel more creative, as this colour is said to boost imaginative thoughts. When over 1,000 office workers were surveyed, they picked blue as their colour of choice.

However, not all blue hues are ideal. Dark blue can encourage depression, while cool blue tones can make rooms feel chilly- even if they’re well-heated. These tones can also be seen as quite sterile, so they won’t promote a very friendly atmosphere.

Yellow stimulates happiness

Yellows are popular all-round, as they’re associated with happiness and excitement, as well as conveying a feeling of warmth.

They can make people feel much more positive, so many people choose to paint breakout rooms and main office areas in yellows and oranges.

You should minimise your use of yellow though, as too much of this colour could make your employees feel angry and frustrated. This might have something to do with the fact that yellow is a short distance from red on the colour spectrum; which leads us onto the colours you should avoid.

Stay away from red

This fiery colour is most often associated with anger which you really don't want to cultivate in the office.

Studies have shown that too much red can give you a headache, which would definitely hinder workplace productivity. It could also lower employees’ IQs and cause them to avoid certain tasks they aren’t confident in, rather than simply having a go.

The colour red has also been shown to act as an appetite stimulant. This means your employees might feel even more compelled to nibble on snacks mid-morning!

If you’re redecorating your office, do some research into which colours would be best before you settle on your final colour scheme. As you can see, colours can have a positive or a negative impact on people’s emotions and motivation, so you really can inspire your employees through the clever use of colour!