A Splash of Color Might Be the Easiest Way to Boost Happiness

Her own favorite is a case in point. “I love a marigold orange,” she says—a shade that, for her, “reminds me of joy, and reminds me to be playful.” In color psychology, orange is associated with childlike fun—which, she realized, was exactly what she needed more of. “My whole career is on color, and I can get quite bogged down in the detail, and sometimes I forget to have fun,” she says. “So when I have the orange around me, it reminds me to have fun.” But she doesn’t drench herself in it. “I can’t wear a lot of it,” she says, because her personality is “already quite Tigger, kind of bouncy. If I wear a lot of orange, it’s like I’m bouncing off the ceiling.” A handbag, a pair of shoes, and no more: “I just need a little bit.”

One mistake people make, Haller says, is assuming more color automatically means more joy. She reaches for a chocolate analogy. “I feel like a little square of chocolate, so I’ll go and buy a whole family block,” she says. “And then I eat the whole family block because I wanted a little bit.” Color works the same way. Craving a lift, you might paint your whole living room sunny yellow. But instead of feeling happier, you end up overwhelmed—not because yellow is the wrong color, but because there’s simply too much of it. The answer isn’t to avoid bright colors; it’s to use them in the right dose.