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The effectiveness of color and how it can impact commercial environments has been gaining attention in recent years and is now a main focus of the interior design of these spaces. This focus can be attributed to increased costs of managing business expenses and the need to gain and retain consumers within these individual segments. 

With many choices now available for healthcare treatment, patient and family comfort during treatment is important to attract and retain patients. Healthcare facility designers strive to invoke feelings of peacefulness and comfort to promote healing.  These palettes often contain colors such as Pine, Terracotta, Olive, Golden, Nutmeg, Pistachio, Java, Natural or Plum.  These colors combine to bring about feelings of assurance that both the patients and visitors can appreciate.  This is true in institutional healthcare facilities that look and feel less like hospitals and more like corporate facilities, as well as long-term care homes that look and feel more like residences.  Tonal colors verses patterns are also more evident in the long-term facilities where design changes occur less frequently because outdated color schemes and décor are familiar to the patients.

Educational environments are being designed to spark creativity while promoting optimal indoor air quality.  While some schools are designed with their school colors involved, others are designed with bright colors that help to keep students alert.  Colors recommended for educational settings are still being based on the primary and secondary color principles, but in more valued tones such as Platinum, Shamrock and Mariner to Tropical Blue, Tangerine, Golden or Azalea.  

Hospitality trends are showing a more comfortable at home appeal in their designs.  Rich hues such as Cinnabar, Bronze, and Black combine with Peacock, Pine, Plum and Nutmeg to conjure up that feeling of familiar surroundings allowing guests to relax and take advantage of their time away from the daily hustle and bustle. 

Increased productivity in corporate facilities can also be affected by the color palette of the interior space.  Colors such as Dolphin, Steel Gray, Deep Navy, and Burgundy confirm that commercial design has addressed the productivity issue while enhancing creativity. Warmer earthy tones such as Black Brown, Ivory and Tan are infused to appeal to the younger workforce that tends to be active in the green movement. 

With these findings in mind, Roppe Corporation will launch their rejuvenated color palette of 70 standard colors available in rubber tile, rubber stair treads and type TS, TP and TV wall base this month.  12 new Fiesta tile and tread colors, and 82 SafeTcork color choices combined with the 70 standard colors and a new, improved subtle marble option in all 70 colors offer designers 234 colorways that work interchangeably within the color lines to complement each other.  The palette consists of many of the forecasted colors expected to impact commercial interior segments into 2009, and is available at their industry leading Single Price Point!

Roppe Corporation is a proven leader in the commercial flooring markets with products available in both rubber and vinyl compositions.  Headquartered in Fostoria, OH, Roppe serves the United States, Canadian, European and Asian markets.