Blue is the hue of sadness and rue.

It's also the color royalty has a claim to.

Red can inflame and it can arouse.

Black is bold. Black is proud.

Orange, well, it's just loud.

Colors have a lot to say.

They invoke, incite, imbue and give due.

They are the palate of artists and the shades of life.

Choose right and you can eliminate a lot of strife.

So says Ahmed Abdelaziz, CEO of Omerica Home Builders who likely didn't wax quite as poetic (or wish to) when he recently released "Homing In On Color," a check list on the power of colors used in the home.

"I had a client who had lime green walls in their bedroom. Every time they went to sleep they didn't find rest … or romance. They felt sick," said Abdelaziz.

"We sifted through dozens of colors and hues and finally found a cream and yellow combination that comforted."

Abdelaziz, is an Oak Brook, IL luxury real estate developer with a colorful background. He's also a general contractor, hotel renovator, and approved installer for Home Depot's Expo Design Center.

He says colors may invoke hunger, slow human metabolism, ease depression and make a house a home, provided you know what colors can do.

Red, the color of fire and blood is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power and determination, but also passion, desire, sex and love. An emotionally intense color, red enhances human metabolism, increases your respiration rate, and can even raise your blood pressure. A room all in red is too intense, but one wall can accent a room and bring it to life.

Yellow is the color of the sun. It's associated with joy, happiness, intellect, and energy. Yellow warms, arouses cheerfulness and stimulates mental activity. Use yellow to evoke pleasant, cheerful surroundings. Light yellow tends to disappear into white, so it typically needs a dark color for highlighting. Certain shades of yellow are visually unappealing because they can become dingy and loose cheerfulness.

Green is the color of nature. It symbolizes growth, harmony, freshness, and fertility. Green also has ties to safety and healing. It is the most restful color for the human eye. Dark green is often associated with money, but also greed. Leave the darker greens for accents.

Blue is the color of the sky and sea. It is often associated with depth, stability, trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith and truth. Blue is considered beneficial to the mind and body as it slows human metabolism and produces a calming effect.

White is associated with light, goodness, innocence, and perfection and conveys a positive feeling. White can represent a successful beginning and depict faith and purity.

Black is associated with power, elegance and formality as well as evil, mystery and death. Used as an accent or trim, black can be a very sexy or chic. It also gives a feeling of perspective and depth. Too much can be depressing. A little goes a long way.

Published: May 22, 2008

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Broderick Perkins parlayed a career in old-school journalism into a contemporary digital news service that really hits home. The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based editorial content and consulting service specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and related editorial consulting services. The DeadlineNews Group includes the website, DeadlineNews.com, offering real estate editorial content and consulting services, and its back shop, the Deadline Newsroom, an open house on news that really hits home. Perkins obtained his formal journalism education from University of Delaware and a journalism boot camp, the Institute of Journalism Education at the University of California-Berkeley. He went on to 20 years of service as a daily newspaper journalist at the Wilmington, DE News Journal and San Jose, CA Mercury News. Perkins covered housing on the San Jose Mercury News reporting team which earned a General News Reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1989 for coverage of the Loma Prieta earthquake. He has also produced real estate, consumer and small business content for the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, RealtyTimes.com, Nolo.com, Better Homes and Gardens, the National Association of Realtors, Homestore/Move and Intuit/Quicken among more than three dozen publications. In addition to managing the DeadlineNews Group, Perkins most recently served as chief editorial consultant for Nolo's Essential Guide To Buying Your First Home, Nolo, and writes real estate television scripts for RealtyTimes.com.