by Mike Schnippering - Feng Shui Master
Are you thinking about renovating your home or office? Choosing the right color is not an easy task.
Many people are overwhelmed by the wide variety of color choices – thousands of different paint samples are offered by home improvement stores making the decision even harder. Though most people have their “favorite” color to wear – yet to use the same color to paint a home or office is rarely the way to go. For instance wearing a red dress might be attractive to look at, but painting a whole house red is hardly the right choice.
The great news about Feng Shui is that we can learn which colors to use based on the Feng Shui calculations, and more importantly we are guided which colors to avoid.
Feng Shui and Outside colors
Let’s take a closer look at the outside colors first. Many homeowners re-paint their homes in white. Yet when it comes to trim colors the choices can be overwhelming. A good rule is NEVER to introduce more than 3 different colors to the outside. For example: Having walls painted white leaves us with maximum two more accent colors to choose from. One aspect is to bring the inside out. Having certain interior door colors can be also used for the front door. This will connect the inside with the outside and gives a logical flow in the design. Now we have only one more color to choose from for the window frames or eves. A supporting color can be chosen based on the Feng Shui calculation of a home or office. In this case the sitting and facing directions determine to which Trigram your home/ office belongs to. If your home has a North sitting the supporting color would be within a color range from blues and blacks, because the building belongs to the element of Water. Depending on the architectural style of your home or office you should be able to quickly identify the right shade.
Homes/ offices sitting towards the East or Southeast are considered to be associated with the Wood element. If you decide to re-paint your shutters, gutters, trim, etc. find a color within the green spectrum. The color red applies to homes or buildings with a sitting towards the South. Find a shade of yellow or beige for houses sitting towards the Northeast and Southwest. The colors white and grey are ideal for a home sitting towards the West and Northwest. By finding the correct outside trim color you are one step closer to create yourself a stable and prosperous environment.
Feng Shui and Inside Colors
When it comes to decide on inside colors we certainly depend on a correct and in depth Feng Shui reading. As we are working with the five elements of Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal we know which colors are associated with each element. Only one of these five elements can be used within each quadrant of the bagua map (find more information about the bagua map on our website) as a remedy to either enhance the positive of the particular Feng Shui or reduce the negative. Each one of the elements and the corresponding colors may be used as a remedy needed depending on the results of the Feng Shui Consultation for a particular home or office. If Metal is needed we prefer to use the real material either by introducing metal furniture or metal sculptures, etc. If this is not an option colors like white, grey and gold can be used. Since it is not always possible to introduce the Water element we can chose blue and black colors as accent colors on walls and furniture. Fire is often introduced by red accent colors. Too much Fire can hurt, and sometimes it is enough to install a red night light which should be turned on 24 hours a day. The Earth element is represented by earth objects like ceramics or the colors tan and yellow. Wood is either found in living plants or the color green.
