Tips

How To Brighten Your Mood With Color

We chatted with @colormecourtney (aka Courtney Quinn) who continues to inspire us on the reg with her infectiously positive spirit and colorful & joyful style. Courtney shares how color helps spark her confidence and happiness, how to brighten up your wardrobe, and even spills her favorite hue. Read the interview below!

1) What was the inspiration behind Color Me Courtney?

Color Me Courtney stemmed from my love of color & life of dressing outside the lines. It started at a time where minimal greyscale aesthetics were all the rage, so I wanted to create a positive & bright place on the internet for anyone not afraid to stand out.

2) Why is color so important to you? How does it relate to the message you’re trying to share with your audience?

I think color is tied to confidence. It’s easy to feel like you don't deserve to be seen and decide that wearing neutrals might be easier than standing out in color. But I know YOU DO deserve to shine & be seen, as you are! Color can help you understand that & own that power all while boosting your mood, improving your confidence & energizing those around you.

3) Can you share a few tips for how you stay positive?

Color helps ! When I’m feeling blue I’ll often wear yellow & it can make me feel a little brighter, worst case scenario it will often make other people smile and that’s always a good thing. I also have been through a lot of darkness, I mean everyone has. For me, I lost my only sibling & the reality of that brought me a lot of pain but also some small comfort - When you’ve been through one of the worst things you find a small power in realizing you can survive anything. I do believe that there is a bright side to almost everything, it’s often not even and you’d still give anything to get back what you lost, but if you can find that bright spot and hold on to it, it can pull you through. Oh and if you’re in the darkness and you can’t find the light, it’s maybe because YOU are that bright spot. I would do anything to have my brother back, but loosing him brought me empathy & understanding. It allowed me to help a lot of other people through their grief & make them feel not alone. It’s taught me to cherish those relationships I still have and realize that my mood & how I treat others is one of the only things I can control, so I choose to be a bright spot when I can.

4) You have great style. What are your tips for building a wardrobe that brings you joy?

Color is obviously a must have in my wardrobe! I think that’s the easiest way to infuse joy into what you wear. If you have a pretty neutral closet, start small by investing in a colorful accessory like a bold bag, belt or colorful lip. I share a similar headband obsession to Joanna and love using them to brighten up any outfit. If you invest in a colorful headband and matching bag or belt in 3 colors, you can turn any neutral outfit into something fun without completely revamping your entire closet! But If you’re willing to amp things up even more: look for comfortable fabrics and silhouettes that you feel confident in, but then push yourself to purchase them in color or pattern!

5) What are 5 things that are bringing you happiness right now?

Designing my house in Palm Springs, training my puppy “bad guy” s'mores, my grandma & mom are living with me right now and so we’ve been spending evenings tell each other stories we haven’t heard before, seeing people wearing the Disney collection I designed always makes me smile & I just made some new friends for the first time in a long time and we’re texting constantly and its bringing me so much joy!

6) We need to know -do you have a favorite color?

This is always hard for me to answer because it changes often! For years (maybe 10) it was that kelly green color, I actually would call it courtney green because I said I loved it more than any kelly! But I would say for the past 5 years or so it’s been yellow. I’ll still go through phases, like I’m really loving hot pink and baby blue right now, but in general I prefer warm colors like oranges, reds, pinks or yellow!