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Art at home may affect mood through its colors, shapes and the memories viewers associate with it, according to art historian Susie Hodge and decorator Cameron Jones. They stress that responses differ from person to person, so no artwork or color is guaranteed to produce the same emotional effect for everyone.
Artwork at home may influence how people feel through color, shape and personal associations, art historian Susie Hodge and decorator Cameron Jones told Veranda. Their account describes possible links between visual choices and emotions such as calm, energy or joy, while stressing that responses are personal and no style reliably affects everyone the same way.
Hodge, the author of How Art Can Change Your Life, told Veranda that viewing art a person finds pleasing can bring a rush of dopamine. She compared the intensity of that response to euphoric feelings associated with love. The report presents this as Hodge’s explanation, rather than evidence that all viewers experience a uniform biological reaction to particular works.
Jones, a Raleigh-based decorator, said she begins client conversations by asking how they want a room to feel. In her examples, blues, greens and neutral shades may suit a bedroom intended to feel restful, while yellow artwork might add energy to a breakfast room. Reds and oranges can be used in a dining area for a livelier atmosphere. Jones cautioned that people can introduce color through art without painting an entire room in a bright shade.
The report also describes how form may influence a viewer’s response. Jones said clients often feel calmer around abstract works with rounded shapes and softer lines. Hodge said gentle colors, smooth lines and horizontal compositions can feel peaceful to some viewers, while sharp angles, jagged lines or bold patterns may feel energizing, anxious or upsetting. These are tendencies described by the interviewees, not a universal set of rules.
Choosing Art for Everyday Spaces
People spend much of their time in their homes, and the report suggests that art can be one way to shape the feeling of a room without changing its architecture or furnishings. A piece chosen for a bedroom, dining area or shared living space may contribute to the atmosphere residents want, whether that is quiet, alertness or sociability.
The practical point is not that a specific color will reliably change someone’s mood. Rather, Hodge and Jones advise paying attention to how a work feels to the people who live with it. That approach places personal preference and memory ahead of decorating rules, and can help residents make choices that suit their own routines and reactions.
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Color, Form and Personal Memory
The Veranda report draws on examples from artists whose work uses color or familiar imagery in distinct ways. Hodge cited Agnes Martin’s blue painting Night Sea, which is on view at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and said Martin sought to encourage calm and positive thoughts. She also discussed Henri Matisse’s stated interest in color’s effects and Mark Rothko’s large fields of layered pigment, which Hodge said some viewers have found emotionally powerful.
Those examples do not establish that every viewer will react similarly. The interviewees emphasize that people bring memories and associations to art. A painting that one person finds soothing may remind another of an unpleasant experience. Jones described that subjectivity as both a challenge and a defining feature of decorating with art.
The report also mentions Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup imagery as an example of finding inspiration in an everyday object. Hodge said Warhol connected the subject to a soup he ate regularly. The source excerpt ends during this discussion, so it does not provide further detail about the example.
““When we see art that we find pleasing, it gives us a dopamine rush.””
— Susie Hodge, art historian and author
Why Viewers React Differently
The report does not establish that particular colors, shapes or artworks produce the same emotional or physical response in everyone. It offers expert observations and examples, not a controlled study or a measure of how common these reactions are. Individual experience, memory and taste may change how a work is interpreted.
The source excerpt also does not provide research methods, quantitative findings or the full ending of its discussion of Warhol. Readers should treat the described effects as possible influences and personal observations, rather than prescriptions or clinical guidance.
How to Apply the Advice at Home
The advice in the report points to a straightforward next step: consider what a room is used for and how its residents want to feel there, then choose artwork that appeals to them. People can try a smaller artwork or a limited amount of color before making broader decorating changes, and see whether the choice feels right in daily use.
No follow-up study or further reporting is identified in the supplied material. The main qualification remains that residents’ own reactions matter more than a fixed color chart: a work that feels calming to one person may feel distracting or upsetting to another.
Key Questions
Can art at home affect how people feel?
According to art historian Susie Hodge and decorator Cameron Jones, art may influence emotions through color, form and personal associations. Their examples describe possible effects, not a guaranteed response.
Which colors are described as calming?
Jones suggested blues, greens and neutral shades for rooms intended to feel restful. Hodge also described soft colors as potentially peaceful. Individual reactions can differ.
Does the same artwork affect everyone in the same way?
No. Hodge and Jones said interpretation is personal and shaped by viewers’ memories and experiences. A work one person likes may make another uneasy.
How can someone choose art for a room?
The report suggests starting with the room’s purpose and the feeling its residents want, then choosing artwork they personally respond to. The interviewees do not present a single approach as right for everyone.
Source: veranda.com
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