Visual Merchandising - North Central Regional Center for Rural ...

Color and Lighting
Color
Color contributes significantly to people’s impression
of a display, as well as a store’s overall appearance. Color
in a display can catch the eye and make people pause and
look. The color combinations of the ceiling, walls, floor
covering and the overall decor can affect the atmosphere
of a store. Changing the color scheme can change people’s
attitudes and perceptions of a store, and can increase (or
decrease) business.
Color can change the shape and add interest to a dull
room, and can direct attention toward a specific object or
away from problem areas. People tend to respond a certain
way to different colors; these responses are outlined
in the chart on the following page.
Warm colors (red, yellow, orange and colors with red
or yellow hues such as yellow-green, beige, peach, brown
and orange-red) are stimulating and cheery. They make
a room feel warm and intimate. Warm colors make a
room seem smaller while making objects in the room
appear larger. A warm color on the end walls of a long
narrow room will appear to shorten the room.
Blue, green, violet and colors containing blue, such as
blue-green and violet-blue, are cool colors. These help
create a relaxing atmosphere. Rooms decorated primarily
in cool colors tend to appear larger and more spacious.
Cool colors are especially pleasing in smaller rooms.
A color wheel is a handy tool to use in developing a
color scheme for a store. The color wheel consists of 12
“Changing the
color scheme can
change people’s
attitudes and
perceptions of a
store, and can
increase (or decrease)
business.”
Visual Merchandising
NCRCRD, 1991