Any home designer or architect knows that humans use space to express themselves. The layout and decoration of your home, your office, and any other space you occupy tells others something about you. For example, the way you arrange your furniture can encourage interaction or discourage it; the décor, lighting, and cleanliness of the space all send messages about how you want interactions to proceed. Even the scent of a space impacts communication: customers stay in stores longer and rate the store higher if the aroma is pleasant (as in the scent of chocolate in a bookstore) (Doucé, 2013). Professors who have neat, clean, attractive offices are rated by their students as more friendly, trustworthy, and authoritative (Teven & Comadena, 1996).

Color also matters. Hollywood location scouts negotiated with Juzcar in southeastern Spain to paint all the bone-white Andaluz stone buildings baby blue to film the feature-length version of The Smurfs there. The blue color was so unique—and clearly signaled the popular movie—that tourists flocked there. Although the producers agreed to repaint the buildings white after the filming, the townspeople left them blue because the tourist trade had relieved their unemployment woes (Herman, 2013).

The environment’s power to affect communication may explain, in part, the success of shows like Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Renovation Raiders. In transforming dreary or cluttered spaces into warm and vibrant rooms, the best makeovers reflect not only a family’s practical needs but also its unique personalities and interests. That’s because the designers understand that environment communicates to others about who we are.