A Feng Shui-Based Colour Scheme for Your Home

A friend was recently doing up the interiors of her already vaastu-compliant home. But as with all new home owners, she wanted to know if there was something more she could consider doing for it. Feng Shui (pronounced ‘fung schway’); the Chinese equivalent of vaastu was something she began looking into. If you are unsure of the art form, here are some thoughts I believe you may like to consider.

The Premise of Feng Shui

The foundation of Feng Shui is based on the principle of people getting affected by their surroundings in positive and negative ways. It is an ancient Chinese art where you manipulate and organize your surroundings in such a way that it attracts positive life energy, or chi, allowing it to flow unobstructed through your body and environment.When you decorate with Feng Shui you work on the movement of energy and unblocking of areas so that energy is able to move in a balanced manner around your entire home. There are a number of Feng Shui décor pieces that can be used for this such as decorative mirrors, water bodies, plants, colors, sound, smells and more.When you are taking Feng Shui principles into consideration, make sure that they correspond to the Bagua which is a set of 8-diagrams related to Taoist cosmology and are a color scheme that you will need to work with. For example, when it comes to wealth and family, you will need to include elements of wood in your décor such as plants with broad healthy leaves.Using blue wallpaper and carpeting or soft furnishings is a good idea as they are representative of water and water nourishes wood. Using fish in Feng Shui, as a decorative element, is symbolic of wealth.Fame and reputation are represented by fire, which of course doesn’t mean that you set the place on fire. Rather, including a touch of red would be nice. Using red and fire elements will bring you luck and recognition.You could use a warm peach or maroon shade on your wall and have decorative furniture with shades of red. Tone the colors down as per your requirement as they don’t really need to be all that bright. Use multiple light fixtures such as floor lamps and decorative candles.Consider natural crystals, terracotta and tiles in your décor to encourage better relationships and enhance your knowledge areas. These are representative of the earth element in Feng Shui. Hues of orange, yellow, and browns will work ideally. Mixing fire elements with earth will give your décor an added punch.Including metal chimes is good for children and for enhancement of creativity. Wrought iron is a great choice. In Feng Shui, it is believed that gold and silver bring good fortune as well. For rooms related to this, use white or metallic colors and include a few earthy tones. Always have music of some sort playing in the background.The area in your home where you work out of, may be characterized by a small water body. Too much water is representative of flooding. Have a small water fountain or an aquarium near you. Add in a painting of a water scene as well.Decorating through Feng Shui principles is all about feeling the space and following a few basic Feng Shui ideas. You will then have a home that becomes a pleasure to live in. 

Take-aways

• Feng Shui is the Chinese version of Vaastu.
• It works on the principle of good energy or chi.
• The premise of Feng Shui is the Bagua which is a set of 8-diagrams related to Taoist cosmology.
• Different decorative elements may be used to enhance the energy of your home.