Introducing Apartment Therapy’s First-Ever Color Month: A July Letter From the Editor

I remember the pivotal moment growing up when I decided my favorite color was no longer purple, but pink. “When you’re a kid, your favorite color is one of maybe five of the most important aspects of your personality,” Roman Mars, the host of the podcast 99% Invisible, said a few months ago on an episode called “The Secret Lives of Color” (give it a listen if you haven’t already). “Over the course of our lives, the fervor for a specific favorite color tends to die down. But over the course of human history, the search for the brightest splash of color has been a defining feature of our species.”

Using color within our living spaces is particularly powerful. Color psychologists, interior designers, and other researchers have worked to define exactly how humans respond to various hues, but it doesn’t take a scientist to understand that colors evoke an emotional response. And it’s not always the same for everyone—I painted the inside of my front door, for instance, earlier this year. The soft pink color (Rose Bisque from Benjamin Moore) makes me feel happy and content every time I close it at the end of the day. I asked my husband how it makes him feel and he said, “I don’t have deep thoughts about it.” Ha, how’s that for different feelings?

One of my favorite parts of looking at our house tours each day is the inventive use of color from our audience all over the world—the ways people translate trends, timeless colors, and preferences into palettes that reflect back their personal styles. That’s why we decided to make July Apartment Therapy’s first-ever color month. We’re kicking it off with this super collection of our 50 most colorful house tours of all time, compiled by our house tour editor, Adrienne Breaux.

Throughout the month, we’ll also be revisiting childhood bedroom colors and what they say about our design styles today (I had two—bright pink at my dad’s house and lime green at my mom’s). We’ll find out where in the world paint colors come from, round up tons of color inspiration by room, and lots more. And finally, we’ll tour the Boston apartment of our News and Culture editor, Tara Bellucci, who’s known for saying, “Life is too short for beige.”

We’re also launching a new tool on the site this month, powered by Sherwin-Williams. Any time you see the rainbow “plus sign” in the upper righthand corner of a photo, give it a click or a tap—you can discover more photos featuring the same colors and features. Give it a try here with this pink kitchen of my dreams:

Pretty neat, right?

While the editors are all pretty excited about Color Month, we also have some other plans for July. Next week, we’ll be launching our first-ever pop-up section entirely devoted to dorms—we’re calling it “Dorm Therapy,” and it’ll be around for the next eight weeks. Check it out for yourself, or send it to a student or parent looking for dorm inspiration. We’ll also be celebrating the Fourth of July, releasing another installment of our UnReal Estate series, and more.

Also, if you haven’t checked out our comprehensive guide to becoming a plant parent, please explore it here—it’s one of my favorite projects so far this year.

Before I leave you, tell me in the comments: What’s your favorite color? In case you couldn’t tell, mine is still pink.

Warmly,
Laura

Our letter from the editor series appears the first Monday of every month.