Feng Shui Wall Color Ideas
The practice of feng shui originated in ancient China, according to The Everything Feng Shui Book, written in 2002. Feng shui teaches that everything in an environment, including the use of color, has the potential to create positive or negative realities, depending on its location.
Significance
Minimizing clutter and placing certain objects, colors and shapes in specific areas and directions can enhance harmony and balance in a home, represented in the bagua or determined with a compass.
Bagua and Engergy Areas
The bagua refers to the eight energy areas (Thai Chi) and directions of any area, inside or outdoors. These areas include knowledge, family, wealth, fame, marriage, children and creativity, mentors and travel, and health. Find corresponding areas by centering the front door in or near the career area.
Five Elements and Color Symbolism
Five elements (fire, earth, metal, water and wood) correspond to the flow of energy in the environment. These energies can be represented symbolically through specific colors and correspond to areas on the bagua.
Best colors for each energy area
Career: Create a harmonious life path and improve social relationships by using black and dark blues.
Knowledge: Support self and spiritual wisdom by using blue in this area. Browns are also complementary.
Family: Boost family harmony, respect for the blessings of ancestors and a sense of personal power with green in the family area.
Wealth: Realize greater abundance by placing purple in the wealth area. Dark green also works well.
Fame: Experience inspiration to achieve goals and improve reputations with the color of fire, red. Bright orange also works well.
Marriage: Using pink helps improve the relationships of those who live in a home and between business partners.
Children and Creativity: White and metallic colors work best to support ideas, improve the ability to complete work and encourage fun.
Mentors and Travel: Encourage the ability to attract and offer help with gray. The element of metal is also mirrored with whites and metallics.
Health: Sustain the good health of all living beings in your home environment by using yellow in the health area.
Potential
As with any practice with a long, established history, feng shui has many applications for modern life. Those who apply its guidelines join the collective energies of all who came before, increasing the harmony for all.
Feng Shui Bathroom Decorating Tips
Feng shui, which is translated as “wind and water,” is the ancient Chinese art of changing the flow of chi or energy within a house. Although the bathroom is specifically associated with health in feng shui, using this system in your bathroom can help to enhance the wealth, health and happiness in your entire home.
The Five Elements of Feng Shui
In feng shui, you must use the five elements of wood, water, fire, earth and metal in proper balance. The bathroom naturally represents the water element. However, you can still use the water element in the form of an aquarium, sea shells or a fountain when decorating your bathroom. Bring in some natural potted plants such as ornamental bamboo to enhance the wood element.
Add an extra mirror or two to increase the metal element. Add some candles and lights to enhance the fire element. Install tile or add pottery to bring in more of the earth element. Keep in mind that the color scheme you select will also increase one of the feng shui elements in your bathroom. Red and orange are fire, black and navy blue are water, brown and yellow are earth, blue and green are wood and white and gray are metal.
Using a Bagua
A bagua is a type of map that you can use to figure out how to use feng shui in your home. A bagua is octagonal in shape. It also has nine areas or guas, each of which corresponds to a different aspect of home life. There are several places online where you can download a bagua to print. Hold the bagua so that the sections representing “Knowledge,” “Career” and “Helpful People” are facing you.
Divide the space into nine sections using the bagua as a guide. If your bathroom is very small, stand at the threshold of the front door of your home and use the bagua to determine what role the bathroom plays. If your bathroom is large, use the bagua at its door to divide the bathroom into nine sections. Continue reading