One principle of feng shui emphasizes the role color plays in achieving alignment and balance within an environment. According to this principle, selecting the right colors for each room in a house will result in good luck for all who dwell therein. Selecting the wrong colors, however, will have just the opposite effect and result in bad luck for all who dwell therein.
The Front Door and Color Selection
Before beginning color selection for individual rooms, first determine the compass direction of the home’s main door. This is the direction one faces when looking out of the house, not into it; and if unsure of this direction, one should purchase a compass and get an exact reading. After all, if a door is facing southwest, but one thinks it is facing true south, one might select inappropriate (unlucky) colors for the home.
The Compass Direction of Individual Rooms
After verifying the compass direction for the front door, the next step is to establish the direction for each room; however, one stands in the front doorway and looks into, not out of, the home in order to determine this direction. For example, when standing in the doorway and looking into the home, one might determine that the kitchen lies to the northwest of the main door.
Note: As each room’s compass direction is identified, jot it down so as not to forget.
Applying Compass Direction to Color Selection
Once the compass direction for each room has been determined, homeowners are equipped to select the most appropriate colors based upon the principles of feng shui. They should bear in mind, however, that all colors include a wide range of hues; for example, whites range from purest white to ivory to pale gray to silver; and reds range from pale lilac to lavender to scarlet to deepest purple. This is why it might be wise for homeowners to purchase a color wheel before deciding upon decorating schemes.
Note: In the following guidelines, if a direction is omitted, that direction is considered a positive area based upon the compass reading of the home’s front door and, therefore, rooms lying in the omitted directions need no special consideration other than their yin or yang composition.
- The main door faces south: use colors from the white spectrum in rooms to the southwest and northeast of the door, and colors from the yellow spectrum in rooms to the west and northwest.
- The main door faces southwest: use whites in rooms to the north and south, and reds and purples (from deep to light, including rose, violet, and lavender) in rooms to the east and southwest.
- The main door faces southeast; use reds in rooms to the southwest and northeast, and black, navy, or midnight blue in rooms to the west and northwest.
- The main door faces north: use whites in rooms to the northeast and southwest, and greens and/or light blues in rooms to the west and northwest.
- The main door faces northwest: use greens or light blues in rooms to the north; black, navy, or midnight blue in rooms to the east and southwest; and yellows in rooms to the south.
- The main door faces northeast: use reds in the rooms to the east and southeast, and whites in rooms to the south and north.
- The main door faces west: use any shade of green and lighter shades of blue in rooms to the north; black, navy, or midnight blue in rooms to the east and southeast; and colors from the yellow spectrum in rooms to the south.
- The main door faces east: use reds in the rooms to the southwest and northeast, and black, navy, or midnight blue in rooms to the west and northwest.
Yin and Yang and Color Choice
The final consideration when selecting colors for decorating rooms is that of yin versus yang, and it’s important to remember that yang is active while yin is restful. Yang rooms, therefore, include the kitchen, dining room, main living area, home office, and, if a home has one, the playroom or game room. Yin rooms, on the other hand, are the bathrooms and bedrooms, whereas a study is evenly balanced between yin and yang.
If homeowners prefer a preponderance of yang, they should opt for brighter hues in yang-dominant rooms and darker, subtler shades in yin-dominant rooms. If homeowners prefer a preponderance of yin, however, the opposite applies: darker, subtler shades in yang-dominant rooms and brighter shades in yin-dominant rooms. Yet, if balance is desired between the two aspects of chi, equilibrium can be achieved by using both lighter and darker hues of appropriate colors.
Of course, although these principles are important, there are other principles that homeowners must keep in mind when decorating, but choosing the right colors for each room will certainly help ensure them and their families of good luck, health, happiness, and prosperity.
Sources
- Kwok, M. & O’Brien, J. (1991) The Elements of Feng Shui. New York: Barnes & Noble Books
- Simons, R. (1996) Feng Shui Step by Step. New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks.
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