Using Color to Enhance | cheryl-grace

Using Color To Enhance Your Environment

In Feng Shui, color is an essential element that is a core thread of every part of our life. It influences our mood, stimulates our minds, inspires emotion, and can affect your health, happiness, relationships, and opportunities. Some colors make us happy while others send us into a purple funk. If you understand the relationship between color and energy, you can enrich your life simply by using color effectively in your environment. We spend a great amount of time indoors therefore interior colors greatly affect us. In general, home interiors should be restful and relaxing in order to rejuvenate our spirit.

Of all of the non-verbal forms of communication, color is one of the most instant forms of expression. In some cases color is used as a warning signal, such as the color of red for exit or stop signs. Other colors can work in concert with your senses to produce a calming effect or emotional response.

Color can be used to promote status and recognition or be used in a way to make you or your environment stand out and attract attention. Some colors invite harmony and invoke positive responses. For example, warm tones stimulate and arouse your senses. Bright colors are commanding and demand attention. The red spectrum expresses passion, excitement and power. It is by no accident that red cars get more speeding tickets. When the color red is deepened to shades of burgundy, they take on a more subdued and refined qualities yet remain elegant. Any time you want to “fire up” your reputation or relationships, use the red spectrum to add the spark needed for new beginnings.

Pink still invites the energy and excitement of red but is a bit more sultry and romantic. This spectrum can be viewed as softer, more feminine and healthy. Your master bedroom should have hints of reds and pinks to invite and maintain romantic relationships. If you are single, lean towards the fiery reds to ignite the possibility of drawing in relationships and add warmth and vitality to your environment.

Yellow and earth tones emulate warmth and invites enlightenment and imagination. They are often used to ground individuals looking to calm anxiety and nurture their inner spirit, especially if color takes on the essence of creamy or sun-baked. Browns have a strong association with down to earth durability, protectiveness, and security, as they are strongly connected with the earth element. To add more sophistication and style, choose browns that are rich, such as espresso or cappuccino, or rustic terracotta for an upscale hue. After all, who doesn’t love chocolate?

Blues and greens are constant colors in our lives, since we see them daily in nature, the oceans and the sky. They are therefore reliable, dependable and calming. While good choices for tranquil environments, they are not encouraged in bedrooms since they are cool colors and may stimulate rather than quiet your sleeping environment. Strong blues speak of authority and credibility. Think of your policemen and business tycoons. Greens offer strong associations with nature and are thought of as fresh, natural, and healthy.

Neutrals and whites are seen as simplistic and timeless, yet safe. Many people default to painting their walls white, especially small rooms, as they think that the light color will make the room seem larger. The contrary is true. Small rooms without windows will especially look dingy when painted white. Choosing a color that will actually “throw” light from the walls will illuminate a room. In the before and after photos, you will see how a dining room is transformed into elegant and inviting decor simply by adding color on the walls and ceiling.

To add good Feng Shui to your environment, invite color into every room, whether it is a fresh coat of paint on your walls, colorful pillows, or accessories that transform your space into one that stimulates your senses and conveys the true sense of who you are.