psychologists have long thought that color affects mood, and nothing is more transformative to a room and the way you feel therein than color. and it usually takes only two gallons of quality paint (roughly $120) to repaint a room. my favorite example of the application of color psychology is the visitor's locker room at the university of iowa's kinnick stadium, which was painted pink in the late '70s. i'd like to hear what you think about color psychology and if/how you've applied it to your home.

shortly after he arrived at the university of iowa, legendary football coach hayden fry, a psychology major at baylor, had the visitor's locker room painted pink, believing that pink would put opponents in a "passive mood."

when we moved into our current home, all of the walls were painted benjamin moore's cameo white (bm 915), which has a peachy/pink tint that i have yet to find in nature. since i (and my high blood pressure) like surrounding myself with more natural, soothing colors, i slowly started repainting the house room by room. for the master bedroom, i chose taos taupe (bm 2111-40). it instantly warmed the room and feels like a hug each time we enter.

for the master bathroom, i chose gossamer blue (bm 2123-40). it blends perfectly with the dark maple cabinets and marble floors/countertop and lightens up the room like a clear blue sky.

for my home office, i chose whitall brown (bm hc-69). the color makes my office cozy and calm, which was the only thing that kept me sane when i was in the midst of contentious workout negotiations for one of my finance clients last year.

i painted the hallway leading to my office cape hatteras sand (bm ac-34), which is purplish grey. while the color doesn't match any sand i've ever seen, it is as relaxing as a day at the beach.

sticking with the beach theme, i chose sea haze (bm 2137-50) for our den. it is bluish grey and one of my favorite colors in the house. i sometimes go in the room just to look at the walls. perhaps i need a hobby.

our living and dining room are painted revere pewter (bm hc-172), which seems to glow when kissed by the morning sun. the accent wall in the dining room is pratt & lambert rialto (32-21), which looks like an intensely dark black bean soup and adds depth to the room.

for one of our guest baths, i copied a color used by my high school friend debbie peterson in her minneapolis kitchen--timothy straw (bm 2149-40). i've used this color in at least four houses, and it never disappoints.