The colours of feng shui
Feng shui colours are based on the five elements of fire, earth, metal, water and wood.
Many think of feng shui as involving furniture arrangement, “lucky” ornaments, and some mystical calculation of wind direction and qi. But in real-life application, it involves much more, especially when colours are the main focus.
by Jet Lee
The term “feng shui” has become a generic one to describe some vague form of Asian interior design and architecture many do not understand, despite its increasing popularity even outside of Asia.
One reason for this is that in the process of bringing feng shui to the mass market, everything has been boiled down to the superficial level of good or bad. Hence, it is important to understand its application before attempting to use it.
A focus on colour is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to control the qi in your home or office in order to create good feng shui. However, working with colours can be a bit tricky. Creating a good feng shui ambience is dependent on many factors, two of the main ones being your environment’s brightness, and the colours in your home décor.
Brightness
Brightness plays an important role in creating yin-yang polarity to facilitate the flow of qi in a particular space. As a general rule, the room or space in which you conduct business activities should be the brightest in your home or office.
On the contrary, the room most relevant to your health and relationships should be the dimmest, i.e., the bedroom.
Five elemental colours
In feng shui, each elemental colour is considered an expression of one of the five elements, namely, fire, earth, metal, water and wood. Each of these elements governs a specific area of your home. Your choice of colour for each area will determine the end result of qi there.
Fire
The fire element represents passion and aggression, as well as warmth and caring. A balanced fire element in your home or office will bring supporting qi and added motivation to all your career pursuits. Fire also nourishes one’s sexual qi and inner warmth.
Fire is the dominant feng shui element of the south-facing area of your home or office. The north-eastern and south-western sectors of your house will also benefit from good fire qi when decorating.
Element colours: Red, pink, purple, orange, maroon
Earth
The earth element provides a sense of integrity, sincerity and stability. A strong and harmonious earth element brings stability, nourishment, and calm protection to human relationships. It also maintains one’s health and inner balance.
Earth qi governs the north-eastern, south-western and centre areas of your home or office. Based on their productive relationship, the western and north-western sectors could also be considered for the application of the earth element.
Element colours: Yellow, beige, grey, brown
Metal
Metal qi projects creditability and determination. It brings out qualities of sharpness, precision and efficiency, and helps to sustain the qi of determination. Metal is also the dominant feng shui element of the northern, western and north-western sectors of the home or office.
Element colours: White, gold, silver.
Water
Water promotes emotion, sentiment and wisdom; it also gives one freedom and ease. A harmonious water element will bring a refreshing qi of calm, purity and freshness. Water is also the ancient symbol of abundance, and is thus a potent feng shui cure for wealth.
It is the element of the northern, eastern and south-eastern sectors, with the eastern and south-eastern areas of the home or office also benefiting from it.
Element colours: Blue, black
Wood
The wood element represents benevolence, humanity and growth. An abundant wood qi brings healing, health and vitality. In feng shui, the wood element is also an expression of humanity, kindness and helpfulness, and is thus used as a cure for health.
Wood is the element of the eastern and south-eastern sectors of the home or office, and is also compatible with southern sector, as wood gives rise to fire.
Element colours: Green
These is the basic feng shui colour guide to help you create a happy and healthy home or office environment.
Colour is like music, in that it nourishes and uplifts those who apply it to their lives correctly. If the colour is harmoniously placed and thus absorbed by its environment, your sense of well-being will inevitably be greater.
You will also feel mentally enlightened and as a result, witness a higher level of vibrancy in your life. After all, colour is light and light is the source of life.
This article was first published in the print version PropertyGuru News & Views. Download PDFs of full print issues or read more stories now! | |||
