By surrounding yourself with certain colors, you can boost your mood simply due to the reactions the color exposure has on your body. According to medical research, colors can invigorate your senses and produce feelings of happiness and relaxation, or feelings of sadness and depression.

Yellow colors represent sunlight and exposure to the sun can invoke feelings of happiness. This is because studies show the color yellow causes an increased production of serotonin, the hormone responsible for feel-good emotions. Yellow can also help improve your concentration and boost your metabolism. However, yellow may cause young children or babies to react with tears since their eyes aren’t fully developed to handle the intense color for long periods of time.

Red is one of the most powerful colors because it invokes feelings of excitement, movement and energy. It’s also associated with blood—which is the symbol of life. Red is also used prominently at Valentine’s Day and Christmas, so it’s associated with love, warmth and giving. Shades of pink are known to help calm aggressive feelings.

Blues and greens are some of the most common calming colors since they represent the sky, ocean, grass and trees. When surrounded by blue or green walls, it’s been shown to increase productivity and focus, while calming the nerves. This is one reason why you hear television waiting rooms referred to as “green rooms” so they can relax before appearances.

So which colors best suit you? Professionals suggest blues or greens for bedrooms to help promote restful sleep patterns… light shades of yellow for common spaces… and reserve strong hues of red, purple and orange for accent colors. By using white, it can make rooms appear larger, therefore reducing anxiety associated with claustrophobia, or small spaces.