How to Determine Desirable Feng Shui Colors for a Balanced Design

Feng shui colors are one of the most fundamental elements in creating a balanced and harmonious home design. Colors impact the energy in a specific environment in a vital way, so it is important to choose colors that you love and that promote the type of energy you desire to activate. Find out how to choose the best colors for your home based on the bagua map and on the foundational five elements.

Choosing Ideal Feng Shui Colors

Feng Shui Colors for a Balanced Design

Ideal feng shui colors vary according to different philosophies and feng shui practitioners. They will also be specific according to each person, as personal preferences play an important role in determining the best feng shui colors for you. In order to choose the colors of feng shui that best suit you, here are some ideas to consider.

  • Bagua Map – Use a bagua map to determine which colors work best in different areas of your home.
  • Five Elements – Each of the five elements correspond with specific colors. Choose colors that activate the type of energy that you want to create.
  • Yin and Yang of Colors – Each color has a yin and yang energy. It is important to balance the yin and yang energy throughout your home to achieve an overall balanced space.
  • Room Type and Specific Intention – Choosing colors for certain types of rooms is an important consideration. Consider a bedroom where the specific intention is relaxation and healthful sleep. Using a vibrant or garish color in a bedroom is not a good idea in feng shui design as these colors do not promote restful sleep.
  • Color Combinations – Consider color combinations within the same room and also combinations of colors that are in adjoining spaces.
  • Personal Energy – Think about your personality and preferences when you are choosing the best colors for feng shui design.

Feng Shui Colors and the Bagua Map

Feng Shui Colors and the Bagua Map

One tool in determining the most auspicious colors in a home environment is the bagua map. The bagua map is important in determining the flow of energy throughout a given space. Each area of the bagua map also represents an area of life that you can energize by using specific colors and symbols.

The western, or BTB bagua map, is divided into eight sections around a center section. Each section has a specific color association. By laying the bagua map over your house layout, you can determine auspicious color choices for different areas of your home. Remember, this doesn’t mean that you need to paint these rooms using these colors. It just means that you can activate the energy in these areas with these color choices in both overall color and in decor accents.


Career Area – Black and Deep Blue

This is the entrance area of your home. Various shades of black, off-black, and deep blue are the most important colors to promote energy in your career and work area.


Knowledge and Self-Cultivation – Black, Green, and Blue

The front and left side of your house is associated with knowledge, wisdom, and self-cultivation. Use a wide variety of black, green, and blue shades to energize the growth of wisdom and learning.


Family and New Beginnings – Green and Blue

This area symbolizes family, both present and past. It also represents new paths that we may take. Use shades of green and blue to activate the energy in this section of your house.


Wealth and Prosperity – Red, Blue, and Purple

The wealth area using the bagua map is the rear left side of your space. This space is associated with abundance in all areas of your life, both material and emotional. Use shades of red, blue, and purple to enhance the energy in this space.


Fame and Reputation – Red

The rear middle section of your space represents your fame and reputation in the outside world. Use various shades of red in this area of your home either as an overall color or as an accent color to promote your reputation abroad.


Love and Relationships – Pink, Red, and White

This is the rear right area of your space. This section symbolizes your relationships, both platonic and romantic. Use shades of pink, red, and white in this area to activate positive energy in your various relationships with other people.


Children and Creativity – White

This space is located in the right middle area of your space. It represents not just children but a child-like sense of wonder and creativity. Use a wide variety of white shades to activate the positive energy in this section of your home.


Travel and Helpful People – Gray, White, and Black

The travel and helpful people area on the map is the front right side of your space. This area represents all the places throughout the world as well as the way that people have helped you along your own life journey. Use shades of gray, white, and black to activate this energy in this space.


Health – Yellow, Brown, Orange

The health area of the bagua map is the very center or heart of your living space. This is the area that represents the source of your health and well-being. Use shades of yellow, brown, and orange to keep the energy flowing throughout this center space.

Feng Shui Colors and the Five Elements

5 elements of feng shui and colors

Feng shui colors are also related to the five elements. These elements include wood, fire, metal, water, and earth. Each of these elements represents unique characteristics and qualities that you can enhance by using colors and symbols that represent them. You can use colors to symbolize the element that you want or use other colors to enhance or detract from a specific element’s energy.

The elements also function in relation to one another in a productive as well as destructive cycle. The productive cycle elements strengthen a specific element’s energy, while the destructive cycle controls or weakens it.


Wood Element

The wood element symbolizes growth, abundance, and vitality. You can use the colors associated with this element to stimulate growth in significant areas of your life. This element is associated with the family and new beginnings and the wealth and prosperity area. Wood colors have special significance in these areas.

  • Wood Element Color – Shades of brown and green
  • Strengthening Element: Water – Shades of black and deep blue
  • Weakening Element: Metal – Shades of metallic, white, and gray

Water Element

Water is an element that symbolizes flow and flexibility. You can use the colors that symbolize this color if you are feeling stuck and stagnant in certain areas of your life. This element is particularly associated with the entrance of your home that symbolizes your career and life journey.

  • Water Element Color – Shades of black and deep blue
  • Strengthening Element: Metal – Shades of gray, metallic, and white
  • Weakening Element: Earth – Shades of yellow and brown

Fire Element

The fire element represents energy that is passionate, energetic, and active. Use this color to activate any area of your life, particularly the fame and reputation area, which is associated with the fire element.

  • Fire Element Color – Shades of red and orange
  • Strengthening Element: Wood – Shades of green and blue
  • Weakening Element: Water – Shades of black and deep blue

Metal Element

Metal energy is careful, precise, and structured. This is helpful energy in all areas of your life. The metal element has a particular emphasis on the children and creativity and travel and helpful people areas of the bagua map.

  • Metal Element Color – Metallic shades and shades of white and gray
  • Strengthening Element: Earth – Shades of yellow and brown
  • Weakening Element: Fire – Shades of red and orange

Earth Element

The earth element represents grounding, security, and protection. Use this element in areas where you feel like you need to regain your energy. This element is particularly effective in the love and relationship area as well as the health area.

  • Earth Element Color – Shades of yellow and brown
  • Strengthening Element: Fire – Shades of red and orange
  • Weakening Element: Wood – Shades of green and blue

Considering the Yin and Yang of Feng Shui Colors

Each color has a yin and yang energy that you can consider when adding a particular shade to your home design. Yang represents active and aggressive energy that is dynamic. Yin represents more accommodating and receptive energy that is calm and soft.

In general, more vibrant and bright colors represent yang energy, while yin colors are lighter and more muted. It is important to choose a balance of both tones in your space to create a harmonious design. Consider the yin or yang energy of a particular color when you are thinking about the specific purpose of a given room.

The room type and your specific intention for the space are vital considerations in choosing the best feng shui colors.

Bedroom

 

https://www.houzz.com/photos/bedroom-spaces-bedroom-dallas-phvw-vp~160988873 (Rachael Elise Design)

Bedrooms are typically a place for relaxation, sleep, and connection. Although feng shui designers consider yin colors the best for sleep and relaxation, this doesn’t mean that you have to avoid all bright colors. You can add fun accents in bright colors to bring a specific type of energy into your bedroom.

  • Color Energy – Yin
  • Auspicious Color Choices – Light blues, greens, pinks, and pale coral tones
  • Colors to Avoid in Large Quantities – Bright yang colors like red, orange, and yellow

Kitchen

Feng Shui colors in Kitchen
Avec Interiors

Kitchens are active places in the home with strong yang energy. Use this energy to activate your family and encourage a healthy and communicative environment.

  • Color Energy – Yang
  • Auspicious Color Choices – Earth tones, blues, and neutral colors to balance the vibrant tones
  • Colors to Avoid in Large Quantities – Dark, dull colors, and black

Dining Room

Feng Shui colors in Dining Room
Art of Construction Inc

Dining rooms are another important space for family and outside connections. Having a balance of energy in this space will create a harmonious environment for discussion and entertainment.

  • Color Energy – Yin and yang depending on your purpose
  • Auspicious Color Choices – Warm colors like red and yellow and shades of brown and green
  • Colors to Avoid in Large Quantities – Avoid colors that are too cool or calming like black, blue, and purple

Living Room

Feng Shui colors in Living Room
Michelle Gage | Interior Designer

The living room can be a space of either high or low energy depending on the particular needs of your and your family. Decide how you are going to use the space before you decide on a specific color choice.

  • Color Energy – Yin or yang, depending on your purpose
  • Auspicious Color Choices – Vibrant or muted shades of blue, green, brown, yellow, and neutrals
  • Colors to Avoid in Large Quantities – Black and red

Home Office

Feng Shui colors in Home Office
David Weekley Homes

https://www.houzz.com/photos/the-burleson-transitional-home-office-houston-phvw-vp~111699380 (David Weekley Homes)

A home office is a space where you accomplish specific tasks and intentions. This is also a space where you experience personal growth and self-cultivation.

  • Color Energy – Yang
  • Auspicious Color Choices – Shades of white, metallic, gray, blue and green
  • Colors to Avoid in Large Quantities – Bright shades of red and orange

Entrance

Feng Shui colors in Entrance
M House Development

The entrance of your home is one of the most important in feng shui belief because it is the place where energy enters your home. It is important to create a balance of energy in this space.

  • Color Energy – Yin and yang
  • Auspicious Color Choices – Shades of Deep blue, black, white, gray, red, yellow, and green
  • Colors to Avoid in Large Quantities – No specific color prohibitions; it is just important to create a good balance and keep the space light.

Color Combinations

It is important in feng shui design, as in all designs, to choose a harmonious color palette. In this sense, you should consider color theory and the different types of color palettes, including monochromatic, analogous, and complementary designs. Using these options, it is possible to construct an overall color palette that works to create a harmonious feng shui design and one that is pleasing to your color senses.

Color Preferences

Your own preferences are not a secondary consideration in choosing feng shui colors. Rather, this is one of the most important elements in feng shui color designs. Using colors that you love and make you feel good are essential in creating good balance and harmony.

Consider the area where you are deciding on a color palette. Is there an obvious choice for foundational and accent colors that you like that work well to promote the specific intention and energy that you want for that area? Feel free to use this color that you love, but be sure to balance it with other color choices.

Sometimes, the choice is not as easy as this. For example, the room you are considering may be located in a particular bagua area where the color choice is obvious, but it is one that you don’t like. Choose a color from the constructive element cycle that can also strengthen the type of energy you want. You can also experiment with different shades, using a disliked color in small doses, or pairing it with colors that you do like.