How to Choose Exterior Feng Shui House Colors
Choosing auspicious exterior feng shui house colors is one of the most important design opportunities available to you as a house owner. The exterior of your home is of vital importance because it is a visible statement to the rest of the world. Exterior feng shui house colors also have practical and aesthetic implications that resonate far beyond just the color on the walls. This color sets the tone for the energy within your home. The right color can help you attract the best opportunities for yourself and can bring more wealth and abundance.
Deciding on the best exterior house colors is needed, but it can be a confusing process. Different practitioners utilize different methods for choosing the best exterior feng shui house colors. Ultimately, the color you choose is not as important as walking through the process and making thoughtful decisions about your home and its surroundings.
Ideas for Choosing Exterior Feng Shui House Colors
It is vital, when choosing exterior house colors, to consider feng shui principles, the location of the house, its surrounding environment, and the specific goals and needs of the inhabitants of the house.
Consider the Direction of the House
The house’s orientation within the environment matters when deciding the most auspicious exterior colors. Feng shui practitioners consider both the facing direction of the house and the sitting direction of the house. Some schools of feng shui will emphasize one direction over the other.
To determine your house’s facing direction, use a magnetic compass or a compass app on your smartphone. Stand facing away from your front door and look at the reading on the compass. This shows you the home’s facing direction. Your home’s sitting direction is the exact opposite of its facing direction. Your home’s sitting direction is east if its facing direction is west.
- North – Shades of deep blue, black, white, gray or metallic tones
- Northeast – Shades of blue, black, green, red, orange, and yellow
- East – Shades of green, aqua, pale brown, deep blue, and black
- Southeast – Shades of purple, blue, green, red, and black
- South – Shades of red, yellow, orange, pale brown, and green
- Southwest – Shades of pink, red, white, orange, and yellow
- West – Shades of white, gray, metallic tones, yellow, and brown
- Northwest – Shades of white, gray, blue, black, yellow, and brown
Using the Bagua Map
Another way to choose an exterior color with good feng shui is to consider your home’s position on the lot according to the bagua map. A bagua map is a way that feng shui designers chart the location of energy in a given space. Determine your home’s location on the bagua map. You can use the colors that correspond to a particular location on the bagua map. This will activate the energy of that particular area.
This is a useful method if your home’s location corresponds with an area of your life that you want to activate. For example, if your home is located in the Children and Creativity section of your lot, and this is an area of your life where you want to place your focus, use the color white on the exterior of the home.
The Five Elements
Feng shui design seeks to balance the five fundamental elements of nature: wood, earth, fire, metal, and water. These elements also represent different qualities that you can energize in your life. One way to choose an exterior feng shui house color is by choosing a color that represents an element that has qualities you want to attract into your life.
The Wood Element
The wood element represents growth and forward movement. This house color is ideal for people contemplating new endeavors in their lives. The wood element is also helpful if you are feeling stuck in a particular stage of your life and want to move on.
- Wood Colors – Shades of green and pale brown
- Supporting Colors – The supporting element for wood is water. You can also use shades of deep blue and black to support the wood elemental energy.
The Water Element
The water element signifies abundance, tranquility, and prosperity. Consider using this house color if you want to generate more opportunities in your life as well as increase your serenity.
- Water Colors – Shades of deep blue and black
- Supporting Colors – The supporting element of water is metal. You can use shades of white, gray, and metallic tones to support the water element.
The Fire Element
The fire element represents passion, creativity, and active energy. This is the ideal element for your home’s exterior if you want to generate more inspiration in your life.
- Fire Colors – Shades of red, orange, and cheerful yellow
- Supporting Colors – The wood element supports fire. You can also use shades of green and pale brown to amplify the fire energy of a home’s exterior.
The Metal Element
The metal element represents clarity, organization, and precision. This is the ideal element if you need more structural support and direction in your life.
- Metal Colors – Shades of white, gray, and metallic tones
- Supporting Colors – The earth element supports the metal element. Use shades of brown, yellow and other earth tones to support metal energy.
The Earth Element
The earth element represents nurture and strength. This is an ideal energy for many homes as this is a place where you want to create a sense of safety and security.
- Earth Colors – Shades of brown, yellow, and other earth tones
- Supporting Colors – The fire element supports the earth element. Use colors like red, orange, and yellow to support the earth element.
Choose a Color Based on Your Environment
Good feng shui is all about creating harmony in your space. You can use an exterior paint color to harmonize with your natural environment. Consider both the natural environment as well as the built environment, like neighbor’s houses and surrounding buildings, to choose a color that sits well in the environment.
Choose a Color Based on Your Preference
It is not good practice to choose an auspicious feng shui exterior home color if it is one that you dislike. Your dislike of the color will produce unhelpful negative energy, even if it is a color that has a reputation for good luck in feng shui.
Consult a Feng Shui Expert
Consider going to a certified feng shui designer to help you choose a harmonious exterior color. These experts will use your preferences, the house direction, and your needs and goals to choose the best color palette for your home’s exterior.
Feng Shui Color Guide
Colors have an important effect on our mood and on the way that we project our image into the world. Learn the language of important feng shui colors.
Red
Red, like the fire element, means passion and energy. This is a color that will get noticed on a home’s exterior. This is an ideal color for a south-facing home. Use a shade of red on your south-facing front door if you want to add active energy to your life but don’t want to overwhelm your house with color.
- Complementing Colors – White, black, gray, beige, blue, green, yellow, and teal
Yellow
Yellow is a bright and cheerful color with many associations in feng shui. Dusky shades of yellow represent the earth element, so feng shui designers use it to symbolize stability and grounding. Brighter yellow tones represent the sun, which represents good health and vitality.
- Complementing Colors – White, black, gray, blue, green, orange, purple, and red
Orange
Orange is also associated with the fire element and symbolizes energy and passion. Orange also has a special association with creativity. Most people would not choose orange as an exterior home color, but shades of orange like coral and peach can be effective as an accent color on a dark home exterior.
- Complementing Colors – White, gray, black, brown, blue, green, and yellow
Blue
Feng shui experts use shades of blue to bring tranquility, peace, and relaxation to an environment. They also use blue to symbolize knowledge and self-cultivation. Shades of blue harmonize with many surrounding spaces because it is such a visible earth shade.
- Complementing Colors – White, black, gray, brown, red, green, yellow, orange, and purple
Green
Green is another prominent earth tone that works well in a variety of surroundings. Green represents the wood element and growth and upward momentum.
- Complementing Colors – White, black, gray, brown, red, blue, yellow, and orange
Black
Black represents wisdom and learning. It is also a color that symbolizes protection and stability. This is an ideal color for a front door to optimize house protection.
- Complementing Colors – White, gray, beige, red, blue, yellow, green, and orange
White
White is associated with the metal element and represents clarity and focus. You can also use it to represent cleanliness and purity. A choice of a white exterior is ideal for a home that has a west-facing orientation.
- Complementing Colors – Gray, black, brown, blue, green, red, yellow, and orange
Gray
Gray represents balance as it is the color between yin and yang energy. Use gray to support qualities associated with the metal element, including organization and clarity.
- Complementing Colors – White, black, brown, blue, green, yellow, and orange
Brown
Shades of brown represent the earth element, so symbolizes strength and stability. Brown blends into many external environments. It is the ideal choice for siding or a front door to help ground your space and make it feel secure.
- Complementing Colors – White, black, gray, blue, green, red, and orange