The shoulds and should nots of decorating with color are not always straightforward. Some tints and shades appear different depending on settings and conditions. Luckily, there are time-tested guidelines in place to make things easier for inexperienced decorators. The Feng Shui color wheel is a popular example. Rooted in a deep understanding of the five elements and how they impact our energies, this color wheel can transform your living space on many levels.

The core purpose behind decorating with color is that every hue and pairing has a specific impact on our mood and attitude. This intuitive and inseparable link between what we see and how we feel is the basis of color symbolism. Decorating with Feng Shui involves some of this symbolism. The good news is that it’s all very intuitive and easy to grasp once you understand how the five elements work.

Decorating with Feng Shui – Bringing The Five Elements Home

The Feng Shui color wheel groups colors into categories, and each category represents a specific ‘element’. These five elements – wood, fire, earth, metal and water – were identified by the ancient Feng Shui masters as the basis of everything in the cosmos. They exist in everything that we see, feel, hear and experience, and contribute to the universal energy or ‘Chi’ in their own nuanced ways.

Decorating with Feng Shui begins with understanding that each of the five elements has its own color linkages. How — and where — you use certain colors in your home will decide how the elements work within it, and the kind of energy and ambiance your living space will have.

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Water

The water element, expressed through blues and black, is associated with contemplation, wisdom and creativity. With their innately calming properties, blue tones help us relax, focus, and connect with those around us. They are perfectly suited to home offices, relaxed living rooms, and areas that need a meditative ambiance. It’s easy to introduce this color category through simple methods, such as nautical-themed peel and stick wallpaper. According to color symbolism, the blue tones representing water are also linked to abundance. This is another reason why they fit office spaces well.

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Wood

Greens and browns are associated with the ‘wood’ element. Color symbolism links these with growth, motivation, and strength in the face of unfamiliar situations. Green tones directly connect you with nature and inspire you to make new beginnings in the right frame of mind. This section of the Feng Shui color wheel will find a place in just about every room. Introduce it through actual houseplants, or peel and stick wallpaper bearing a lovely botanical print.

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Fire

While decorating with Feng Shui colors, you can invoke the fire element through reds and their derivatives like intense purple or orange. These hues are warming, energizing and sensual. The ancient color symbolism associates them with passion, love and understanding, making them an instant fix for spaces that carry a cold and distant vibe. You can introduce measured doses of red and purple to rev up a lackluster bedroom, or make your home gym or workspace a tad more inspiring.

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Earth

The earth element is associated with support, nourishment and stability. When decorating with Feng Shui as your guide, you can manifest these attributes through mellow yellow and orange tones. Adding these earthy hues to your bedroom can create a calming ambiance that also gives you the necessary energy in the morning. Earth colors are particularly great for kids’ bedrooms, though you can add them anywhere for a healing, caring touch.

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Metal

The fifth element, metal, expresses itself through white, gray and metallic hues. If this is your first time decorating with Feng Shui principles in mind, you need to be a bit careful with the metal element. Overdoing it can make your space feel cold and unwelcoming, but almost every setting needs at least a little bit of metal to balance its energies. There is an innate purity and quietness to these colors, and they can bring clarity and structure to your ambiance as well as your being. Use them in home offices, studios and other areas that need you to stay focused yet driven.

How to mix things up while decorating with Feng Shui colors

The Feng Shui color wheel can also guide you on crafting pleasant color palettes and vibrant or soothing spaces. For example, ‘wood’ colors like green can be used in sync with bold reds to create an ambiance that invigorates and inspires in equal measure. Similarly, the stabilizing nature of ‘earth’ colors like mild yellow and orange can be infused with quiet ‘metal’ tones to craft a setting that keeps you clear, focused and balanced.

If the ‘metal’ tones in your living space are making it feel too uninviting, fiery reds and intense purples can bring things back to life. Along the same lines, warm ‘earth’ colors like yellow and orange can prevent the ‘water’ element from becoming too overbearing.

Besides being great fun, decorating with Feng Shui colors can be quite rewarding, because these timeless principles bring you instant results. Enrich your home with the right color symbolism through our gorgeous and practically designed peel and stick wallpapers. Shop now from our collection.