In a world where white walls often signify sophistication and greys are seen as timeless, Karen Haller is challenging us to ask: where did all the colour go?
We recently sat down with Karen on In Light of It All to explore the psychology of colour, why our spaces have become so muted, and how colour—far from being a superficial afterthought—can reconnect us to our most authentic selves.
Karen, a behavioural design consultant and author of the international bestseller The Little Book of Colour, has spent nearly two decades exploring how colour influences behaviour. But more importantly, she’s on a mission: to help the world fall back in love with colour—not as a trend, but as a tool for self-expression, healing, and connection.
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From Duck Egg Blue to Global Movement
Karen’s journey into colour wasn’t straightforward. Formerly a business analyst and project manager, she once worked in IT, wearing black suits and managing teams of developers. It wasn’t until she created a duck egg blue felt hat adorned with chocolate brown ribbons and feathers that something clicked. Out loud, she said: “Oh my God, it’s colour.” That moment marked a turning point—a visceral realisation that sparked her lifelong pursuit of colour psychology.
She trained, questioned, researched—and questioned some more. Eventually, she stumbled upon a colour psychology teacher in the UK who answered everything she’d been searching for. Since then, Karen has built her own frameworks, honed over nearly 20 years, helping designers, architects, and even lighting professionals understand how to create environments that serve people—not just visually, but emotionally and behaviourally.
Colour Isn’t Decoration—It’s Behavioural Design
One of Karen’s most compelling points is that design isn't just about what looks good—it's about how people feel and act in a space. A beautiful room that doesn’t elicit the right behaviour isn’t truly successful. “We start with behaviour,” she says. “Not with colour.” Whether it’s a hotel, restaurant, or home, Karen’s approach begins by identifying what feelings and behaviours the space needs to support—calm, creativity, focus, intimacy—and then selecting colour palettes that subtly support those outcomes.
“Brilliant white,” she adds, “isn’t calming—it’s draining.” Flat, cold, and man-made, it reflects no life back into the room. Yet it dominates our homes, offices, and institutions under the false premise of neutrality. In fact, its popularity may stem from a post-war push for speed and function over feeling—leaving a legacy of emotional sterility in our built environment.
Colour as Self-Expression—and Survival
Karen argues that colour is far more than aesthetic—it’s identity. And many of us are too afraid to show ours. Social conditioning and the pressure to fit in, she says, suppress our natural instincts. "We all want to be accepted, to belong, to be loved. And sometimes that means we hide the truest parts of ourselves—often through what we wear and how we design our homes."
She tells stories of clients who have been afraid of red their entire lives, only to discover through conversation that it linked to a traumatic childhood memory. Or others who choose orange because it reminds them of EasyJet and the excitement of travel. “Colour is a carrier for emotion and memory,” Karen explains. It’s cultural, personal, and biological—and it’s with us all the time, whether we realise it or not.
Biophilia, Nature, and the Myth of Minimalism
Karen also cautions against the oversimplification of biophilic design—reducing it to white rooms with a few houseplants. True biophilic design, she argues, is about crafting holistic environments that align with our human nature. This means designing for multisensory stimulation, texture, light, shadow, curvature, and yes—colour.
She challenges the idea that minimalism equals calm. In fact, she observed a cultural pendulum swing during lockdown: people once comforted by grey and white interiors found themselves drained and overstimulated by silence and stillness. The response? A sudden craving for saturated colours—anything to feel alive again.
But she warns against swinging too far the other way. Maximalism, just like minimalism, can be overwhelming. “It’s about balance,” she says. “The right colour, in the right proportion, in the right place.”
Designing for the 95%
Karen’s methodology isn’t rigid or dogmatic—it’s adaptive. She accounts for cultural associations, age, neurodiversity, vision differences, and emotional needs. Her goal isn’t perfection—it’s inclusivity. She aims to design for the 95%, while acknowledging outliers and accommodating them where possible.
When asked about the current disconnect between buildings and their users, she doesn’t hold back: “Design is still too masculine—too focused on form over feeling. We need to reintroduce emotion, softness, and sensory intelligence.”
What Can We All Do?
Karen’s advice is simple but powerful: start by tuning into yourself. What colours energise you? Calm you? Remind you of home? What environments feel nourishing—and why? Don’t follow trends. Don’t try to impress. And don’t decorate for Instagram.
Instead, create spaces that feel like you. Whether that’s soft, earthy tones or vibrant, spicy pops of colour, what matters is resonance—feeling at home in your own skin.
A Call to Courage
Expressing yourself through colour takes courage. But Karen believes it’s one of the most powerful ways we can reconnect with ourselves—and the natural world around us. It’s why she continues to teach, write, and speak, urging us all to see colour not as something “extra”, but as essential to our wellbeing.
Her parting words? “Design is service. And colour is life.”
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