Color is the single most important part of any room design. In the ancient Chinese art of feng shui, color is energy, because color is light. Each color is a part of the grand scheme of the five elements of feng shuiearth, fire, water, wood, and metal. These five elements are the key to creating a harmonious lifestyle in your living space and a successful design plan.
The five elements theory assigns different sections of the house to one of the five elements based on cardinal location. This is called the Bagua, literally meaning eight areas. Each area has a particular life area that they affect. For example, the East is commanded by the wood element and affects your health and family. They are sectioned off as such:
North Water Career/Life Path
Northeast Earth Spiritual Growth/Self-Cultivation
East Wood Health/Family
Southeast Wood Money/Abundance
South Fire Reputation/The Light Within You
Southwest Earth Love/Marriage
West Metal Creativity/Children
Northwest Metal Blessings/Travel
Bringing these elements into your home is the difficulty of the feng shui five elements theory. Each of the five elements has its own set of colors and a shape that exudes its elemental chi. They are as follows:
Wood Green, brown Rectangular
Fire Red, intense yellow, orange, pink, purple Triangular
Earth Light yellow, sand, earth tones, light brown Square
Metal White, gray Round
Water Blue, black Wavy
Once you are acquainted with the five elements and their attributes, you can begin to analyze and redecorate your home. Try to place as many items that fit in the corresponding element as you can. Make the color scheme suit your element. A metal room should have a white and gray color scheme with many round pieces. Perhaps a circular table, or an elliptical mirror. But what if there's that one piece that doesn't quite fit into just one category, like a square white wooden table. Well, it's square, so it falls into the earth element, but it's also white, so it's metal. Then again, it's made out of wood, so it must be wood as well. In a case such as this, take the color of the object into account first. Then consider the shape, and, lastly, what it is made of.
Another common issue is a large or important piece that doesn't fit in with the room's element. For example, your dining room could be of the fire element but have a large, immovable black dining table. This is where the productive and destructive cycles of the five elements comes into play. The productive cycle governs what elements nurture other elements. Having some of that different nurturing element in the room benefits the main element. The productive cycle is:
Water >> Wood >> Fire >> Earth >> Metal >> Water
Each element nurtures the next. So, in this fire dining room, you could place a large potted plant or a piece of art with lush, vibrant greens in order to radiate wood chi. This wood chi will cancel out the water chi that is brought in by the black dining table. Water weakens fire, according to the destructive cycle. The destructive cycle is:
Water >> Fire >> Metal >> Wood >> Earth >> Water
It's like the game Rock, Paper, Scissors. Each element is weak to another. These uses of the five elements theory, however, are only the beginning of the art of feng shui. Mastering feng shui takes years of learning, but with these basics inscribed in your knowledge of feng shui, feel free to play around with the layout and design of your home. Experimentation is important. You'll never know what energy your house can emanate if you don't give it a chance.
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