There is something inherently magical about rainbows – something that makes us look to the sky and ask “What does it mean?” That sublime spectrum of color is brought into the home in these examples of everyday objects organized by their colors.

Artist Helga Steppan arranged all of her worldly possessions into a series of compelling photographs, all of which consisted of items of a single color. Reds, blues, greens, blacks, greys – when arranged in this highly unconventional way, the objects look otherworldly. The artist also composed photos consisting of clear objects (like wine glasses) and “unclassified” objects which contained too many colors to be neatly fitted into one of the monochrome photos.

Some people might call Swiss artist Ursus Wehrli a little obsessive-compulsive. He carefully arranges things however he can – by size, by shape, by category or by color. The anal retentive among us might feel a great deal of satisfaction upon seeing those jumbled-up cars arranged in an orderly way, with each different color in its own section of the parking lot.

Have you ever thought about just how much of your grocery shopping experience is determined by marketers and manufacturers? Artists Marco Ugolini and Pedro Motta found that certain colors tend to appear across the same types of packaged consumer goods. They set off to the supermarket to illustrate their findings, and this oddly compelling color-coded photo series was the result.

Plenty of people organize their belongings by color, but this apartment in Stockholm, Sweden might be the only home that is entirely color-coded. The artists and architects involved in this unique color scheme drew their inspiration from the surrounding trees and plants which themselves cycle through a series of colors with the changing of seasons.

(images via: Dornob 1, 2)

Bookshelves lend themselves particularly well to organization by color. There is something oddly satisfying about looking at a bookcase full of rainbow-arranged spines. Of course, for people who are used to arranging their books alphabetically this new organization technique will be exceptionally maddening because there is no logical way to find a particular book unless you happen to remember its color.

It sort of seems like any colorful objects look much more interesting when grouped by color. The spectrum configuration pops up everywhere, from store displays to home closets and beyond.

That rainbow connection can even be found in entirely unexpected places like this home exterior. Be honest: if you were walking down the street and saw this fantastically cheery house, would you be able to resist smiling?