Posted: June 2009

This article looks at the role of color in Universal Design, and how using specific colors in certain rooms can make a home a safer place to live.

By Konrad Kaletsch, CAPS

When it’s time to choose color schemes for our homes, we may consult the likes of Martha Stewart to achieve an air of southern comfort or New England coziness. But what if residential color schemes offered more than personal expression? Could they make a home safer to live in?    
 
Universal Design (UD) applies another set of criteria to color schemes in the home. The intent is for color choice to enhance utility and user experience. Color and contrast serve a functional purpose as much as an aesthetic one. This idea has been applied in other areas of our life, but not our homes. Red means stop, yellow means caution, and green means go. Red is Coca-Cola, yellow is Yellow Pages, and green is John Deere. Deliberate color use enhances navigation, recognition and wayfinding.

Navigation

As we move through our homes, we follow guideposts our brains subconsciously recognize. Even though we don’t count the steps, we know how many there are. In the dark, we grope for familiar objects that will guide us to our destination.   

Color choice provides additional guideposts, or it can camouflage them. If the color of a floor and wall are similar, low-light conditions will make it hard or impossible to clearly see where the floor meets the wall. The result for eyes not adjusted to low-light conditions can be accidental collisions into the wall, perhaps by turning a corner before actually reaching it. High-contrast or opposite colors on the floor and walls make the floor visually “pop.” In this example, color is highlighting a difference. These are visual cues, additional guideposts for the brain to navigate by.

Another application of navigation cues on a floor is the use of patterns. Solid colors make depth perception more challenging as do dull, muted patterns. Depth perception diminishes with age. It also is temporarily altered when light conditions change suddenly. Bold floor patterns not only make it easier to correctly determine when your foot will touch the floor, they also make gauging distance easier. A pattern, such as the square of a different color every few tiles, helps one identify the length of a hallway.

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