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A Veranda report examines how art at home may affect emotions, drawing on comments from art historian Susie Hodge and decorator Cameron Jones. They describe possible responses to color and form, while stressing that reactions are personal and depend on individual experience.
A report by Veranda examines how artwork in the home may influence mood, with art historian and writer Susie Hodge and decorator Cameron Jones describing possible emotional responses to color, shape and composition. Their central qualification is that people respond differently: art that one person finds calming or uplifting may evoke anxiety or personal memories for someone else.
Hodge, author of How Art Can Change Your Life, says that viewing art a person finds pleasing can produce a dopamine response. She compares the emotional effect of art someone particularly likes to the euphoria people may feel when looking at someone they love. These are Hodge’s characterizations of the experience, not a claim that every viewer responds the same way.
Jones, a Raleigh-based decorator, says she often begins projects by asking clients how they want to feel in a room. She suggests that greens, blues and neutral shades such as cream, white and taupe may suit a bedroom meant to feel settled, while yellow can add energy to a breakfast room. For a dining area, she says, some people may gravitate toward orange or red. Artwork can introduce a measured amount of color without requiring bold walls or furnishings.
The report also points to formal qualities beyond color. Jones says clients often feel calmer around abstract works with rounded shapes and softer lines. Hodge says soft colors, smooth lines, circles and horizontal compositions can feel peaceful to some viewers, while sharp angles, jagged lines or bold patterns may feel energizing, anxious or angering, depending on the person.
Choosing Art for the Mood at Home
The experts’ comments offer a practical way to think about decorating: people can start with the mood they want a room to support, then consider whether particular colors or forms fit that aim. Art may also be a flexible way to add color or visual character without changing a room’s larger design.
The advice is not a formula for producing a guaranteed emotional effect. The report stresses that personal history and taste shape interpretation. A familiar painting may recall a difficult memory for one viewer, while another finds it joyful. That makes the guidance most useful as a prompt for personal choice, rather than a rule that certain colors or styles will reliably affect everyone.
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Color, Form and Personal Memory
The report grounds its discussion in examples from artists whose work uses color or familiar imagery in distinctive ways. Hodge describes Agnes Martin’s blue painting Night Sea, held by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, as an effort to encourage calm and positive thoughts. She also cites Henri Matisse’s stated belief that color can affect people, including his remark that “a certain blue enters your soul” and “a certain red has an effect on your blood pressure.”
Hodge says Mark Rothko sought to express basic human emotions through layered fields of color, and that some viewers cried in front of his paintings. These examples describe artists’ aims and reported reactions; they do not establish a uniform response. The report also invokes Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup imagery as an example of finding inspiration in everyday subjects, noting Hodge’s account that Warhol ate the soup regularly for years.
Jones says colorful rooms can prompt visitors to describe a space as happy, but she cautions against assuming that everyone wants the same amount of color. She says the right choice depends on the people who live in the home and what they want the space to feel like.
““When we see art that we find pleasing, it gives us a dopamine rush.””
— Susie Hodge, art historian, writer and artist
Why Reactions Differ by Viewer
The report does not establish how often particular colors or shapes produce a given reaction, nor does it cite a study measuring emotional outcomes in home settings. Its observations are attributed to Hodge and Jones, alongside examples of artists’ intentions and viewers’ responses. It remains unclear how much any response depends on the artwork itself, the setting, a person’s memories or other circumstances. The experts’ descriptions should be understood as guidance and interpretation, not a reliable prediction for every household.
Applying the Advice at Home
The report describes no formal study, policy change or announced follow-up. For readers choosing art, Jones’s approach is to begin by identifying the desired feeling in a room and then select works that fit personal taste. Viewers can also notice their own reactions to color, shapes and subjects before deciding where to display a piece. The source material does not set out further reporting or a next milestone.
Key Questions
Can art at home affect how people feel?
Hodge and Jones say it can influence emotional responses, but the report emphasizes that effects vary by person. It does not establish a guaranteed outcome for any artwork.
Which colors are described as calming?
Jones suggests greens, blues, creams, whites and taupes for a bedroom intended to feel settled. Hodge also describes soft colors as potentially calming. These are suggestions, not universal rules.
What kinds of shapes may feel peaceful?
Jones says some clients feel calmer around abstract art with rounded shapes and softer lines. Hodge also points to circles, smooth lines and horizontal emphasis as qualities that can feel peaceful to some viewers.
Can the same artwork affect people differently?
Yes. Hodge says viewers bring their own experiences to art, and Jones describes interpretation as personal. A work that one person finds uplifting may remind another of an unpleasant experience.
Is this advice based on a study?
The supplied report attributes observations to an art historian and a decorator and discusses artists’ intentions and reported viewer reactions. It does not cite a study that tests how home artwork affects people across a measured group.
Source: veranda.com
