Your Handy Guide to Smart LED Light Colors for Different Moods

Your home’s smart lighting color schemes can truly sway your mood and set scenes. Color psychology and color therapy aren’t just for marketers, artists and designers.

Smart lighting gives you thousands of hue, tint, shade and brightness combinations to zero in on your ideal atmosphere. Then add the ability to make smart LED lights dimmable and reactive!

And correlations certainly exist between color and mood. Still, a lot about smart lighting colors and moods associated with them is subjective. No hard-and-fast, one-to-one relationships are there — the feel ultimately boils down to you.

So, where do you start finding the right hues and places for the right feel? 

Let’s explore! Kick-start your creative ambience with our guide to smart LED light colors for different moods. 

Take our short mood lighting survey to tell us your favorite smart light and color options.

[Related: 5 Reasons Smart Lighting Benefits Your Home]

Your LED Lights, Color, Meaning, Mood and More

We’ve designed and installed plenty of smart colored light systems in our time at AV Smart Solutions. 

Pairing our experience with reliable sources helps us guide you down the brightest path. (Plus, you can always get in touch if you want advice about smart lighting.) 

Energy to sleep, romance to peaceful solitude — let’s get into mood lighting! We’ll mostly take the ROYGBIV route for colors of light. 

Note. We suggest trying out all LED lighting colors and moods before committing to a palette. Place a light color in one space — see how you feel right then and after a few minutes. Of course, one of the great things about smart lighting is that you can change colors immediately.

[Related: A Guide to Room-by-Room Automation for Your Home]

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Red Light

Fire, roses, apples, cardinals, blood — red has a host of connotations and associated moods.

Red can prompt feelings of energy, passion, intensity and drama. But it can also call to mind danger and fear.

You may respond differently than other people to red lighting in particular. It can draw out many feelings, so definitely experiment first! 

If you enjoy basking in red light, lean into it — we’ve got practical suggestions next. 

But if you don’t care for it, consider nixing it or mixing it with other LED light colors. For example, white light and red light together for a light pink hue may strike a romantic mood.

Note. Scientific American has a fantastic rundown of red and its effects on mood and behavior.

Home Ideas

Try placing red LED lights in your smart home gym. You can set red lighting to respond to music for a little adrenaline rush as you exercise. 

If you feel adventurous, test red light settings in your bedroom. Tweak its brightness and placement — you can craft an air of mystery and intrigue.

Because of red’s connection to desire, it also makes a surprisingly nice addition to the dining room. You can use preset dynamic lighting with gently varying intensities to pique hunger.

Plus, so many food chains and restaurants use red lights, packaging and décor for a reason. Red can increase appetite and even impulsivity.

[Related: Multifamily Smart Home Solutions Your Residents Will Love]

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Orange Light

Citrus, butterflies, pumpkins, autumn leaves, birds of paradise — orange is a versatile color with an overall optimistic disposition. 

As a red-yellow combo, it can turn red’s drama into warmth and yellow’s vibrancy into radiant enthusiasm. 

Orange tends to draw out feelings of energy, creativity and wakefulness. Its lively vibe can also lend a hand in calm awareness and playfulness.

As with other LED lighting colors and moods, toy with its red-yellow balance to see what feelings you experience.

Home Ideas

Smart orange LED lighting goes particularly well in your home’s kitchen. Try automatic dimming and brightening to simulate natural daylight during sundown and sunset.

Beyond the kitchen, orange lighting is a fun choice for breakfast nooks, children’s spaces and creative areas. 

For example, sunny yellow-orange light bulbs fit in your home studio with high-performance audio to complement an innovative headspace.

[Related: How To Build a Premium Home Sound System]

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Yellow Light

Sunlight, lemons, honey, daffodils, bees — yellow is another pep-you-up color in your smart lighting. 

Generally, yellow brings out feelings of happiness, hope, energy and optimism. You may even feel a dash of spontaneity with your favorite yellow tint.

A variety of hues, from subtle pastels to electric canaries, gives you space to play with yellow light. 

As always, dial your yellow LED lighting up and down to find your sweet spot. Although it grabs attention, yellow light might make you feel slightly anxious or lead to eye strain. 

Home Ideas

Yellow LED lights fit well in your smart home gym, children’s rooms and kitchen.

Try it in your home theater while gaming or hosting a party for a zap of excitement. Because of its connection to energy, it can also enhance concentration in your home office.

Tunable white lighting (we’ll get to it, too) often brings out the best in yellow light. 

As a pair, they let you fine-tune both hues to avoid any harshness. Think about creamy yellow-white warm lighting at your bedside table.

[Related: What Do You Need From Your Smart TV?]

Image via Pixabay

Green Light

Leaves, fresh-cut grass, vegetables, jade stone, the Northern Lights — green is innately connected to nature. 

Its blue-yellow blend gives it a keen balance of tranquility and energy. You often feel peace and growth with green lighting, without either mood being overwhelming. 

Other green light connotations include freshness, security, luck, health and well-being. From teal to chartreuse, green light’s spectrum fits almost any space without negative moods.

Home Ideas

Smart LED lights in green fit beautifully in your bathroom. 

Try green LED lighting around bathroom mirrors and in fixtures, lamps and recessed spaces.

For a sumptuous spa evening, use preset themes that shift hue and brightness to mimic green light in water. Consider pairing gentle green lighting with multiroom music for a rich AV experience right in your shower.

Green lighting also works well in your bedroom for that same relaxing mood. Still, switch to dim and warm white light before bedtime.

Using LED light colors for different moods doesn’t get much easier than going with green. Who would’ve thought?

[Related: Smart Home Technologies Supporting Aging in Place]

Image via Pixabay

Blue Light

Clear skies, seawater, blueberries, sapphires, morning glories — blue instantly conjures thoughts of prosperity and peace.

And of course, blue has a clear connection to restfulness and calm, alongside confidence and trust.

But blue lighting is where LED lights, color, meaning, mood and placement get a bit complicated. 

Although you can enjoy blue light’s feelings of peace in any space, use it wisely. At night, blue light can upset melatonin production and disrupt sleep. 

But you can still love blue light LED strips, bulbs and systems for their calming effect in your smart home.

Note. How exactly does blue light affect mood and sleep? The Sleep Foundation puts the matter in plain terms. Healthline has even more thoroughly researched information. 

Home Ideas

Smart LED blue light adds peaceful ambience as bedroom lighting. 

Here’s the ticket to better sleep. When nighttime rolls around, set your smart lighting to shift to a warm white or amber setting. Then, blue light wavelengths don’t upset your circadian rhythm. 

Smart blue lighting also brings relaxation to your den, study and bathroom. Opt for automatic dimming features to tone down intensity and gradually change colors as night grows close. 

Once you know where and how not to use blue light, toy with its color spectrum anywhere in your home. It can elicit an array of comfortable moods, with hues from azure to turquoise to aqua.

[Related: Top Benefits of Smart Home Energy Solutions]

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Purple Light

Amethyst, grapes, wines, royal robes, lavender — purple has close associations with luxury and creativity. 

Its red-blue mix tunes red’s passion into elegance and blue’s calm into confidence. You might feel purple prompt moods as different as decadence or dignity, wisdom or magic.

Purple light can make you feel powerful, ambitious, spiritual or something else altogether. It’s a bit of a mystery in color psychology.

No matter where you sit with purple LED lighting colors and moods, this shade makes a statement.

Home Ideas

Smart LED purple lighting is lovely in your living room. 

Striking and distinguished, purple lighting tends to feel stimulating but not overbearing. Use it around your chairs and bookshelves as a marked mood-setter. 

Pair it with voice control technology to dim, adjust or darken it during get-togethers, movie-viewing nights and gaming sessions. 

Purple LED light bulbs also lend a focused, exhilarating mood in your art studio or bathroom. 

Like other LED light colors, using it alongside white lighting gives you a rainbow of options — periwinkle to violet, pink to magenta.

[Related: 5 Movie Night Ideas at Home Inspired by Seattle Theaters]

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White Light and Amber Light

Clouds, cotton sheets, coconut, stone, bone — white connects directly to cleanliness, purity and simplicity.

And the color white still accommodates nearly any mood, cozy to energized. A lot depends on its color temperature: warm and cool.

Cool white light is usually invigorating and wonderful for daytime lighting. Warm white light and amber light are relaxing in the evenings and at night. 

Meanwhile, neutral white light hits the midpoint.

Home Ideas

White LED lighting is perfect everywhere in your home, entrance to exit, indoors and out. 

Try full-home smart lighting control to seize all the subtle moods white light provides (and each LED light color, too). Its tunable lights let you control color temperature. 

Smart systems, voice control features and apps allow you to preset features, like dimming to darkness at sunset. Motion sensors activate at movement, whether it’s in your hallway or at your front door. 

Actually, using LED light colors for different moods isn’t doable without white light. 

It’s your base coat — what gets you to the root of the mood you want, no matter the space.

Note. You can’t go wrong with good old-fashioned natural lighting, of course. LED light bulbs just can’t replicate it. But you can harness natural light with smart motorized shades and drapes.

[Related: Motorized Shades: A Quick Guide]

Influence Your Mood With Smart LED Lighting Control

We’re excited to design, build and install your perfect lighting system at AV Smart Solutions. 

We’ve been around the block in our installations, from homes to businesses and beyond. 

We also know how smart colored lighting gives your everyday life (or commercial space) a major mood boost.

From full-home smart lighting systems to accent lighting, LED mood light strips to color-changing light bulbs, recessed lights to overhead arrays, we’ve got you covered!

Get in touch to speak with one of our AV specialists online.

Take our quick survey to explore your color and mood lighting preferences.

Featured image via Pixabay