Invite Good Energy into Your Home with These 6 Feng Shui Color Tips

Choosing the right paint color for a room can be daunting. If you're stuck on the decision, try using feng shui as a guide. This ancient Chinese art isn't just for arranging your space—its principles can also be applied to picking paint colors.

"Color is a great way to enhance your home—each color has its own feel and can bring a unique energy to a space," says Abby Magill Henry, feng shui expert at Holistic Homes. When it comes to selecting colors for your home, she says there are two critical things to consider: what the color represents energetically and elementally in feng shui, and whether you actually like the color. Ahead, Magill Henry shares her top color advice to help you channel the right energy in your space.

1. Avoid Blues for a Calming Bathroom

Given the amount of water in a bathroom each day, the Water element is strong in this space. The expert explains that to prevent the chi and wealth from draining in this area, it's very important to incorporate the earth element.

"Yellows and earthy browns and tans, reddish hues, and pinks—these are all reminiscent of earth and help hold the chi in its space while grounding the energy here," Magill Henry says. She advises you to avoid dark colors and most blue hues, even though they're typically considered popular bathroom paint colors. "These are common in bathrooms but are not the best shui, they add to the already present Water and can feel draining," she explains.

2. Use Greens and Blues for an Inviting Living Room

As one of the public spaces in a home, a living room is often used for a range of functions, from formal entertaining to casual lounging. The paint color on the walls serves as the backdrop not just for decor and furnishings, but also for daily life and important milestones. To create an inviting space, the feng shui expert recommends the green and blue color families. "Greens and blues are very welcoming and invite ideas and growth through the wood element," Magill Henry says.

3. Lean on Earth Tones in a Relaxing Bedroom

Bedroom paint colors can be subjective, and Magill Henry says colors that work well for some people might not work for others. However, she notes that color does become vital if you have trouble sleeping. In that case, she recommends leaning into earth colors such as yellows, browns, and tans to create a relaxing bedroom retreat. "If you are looking to do deeper and want a very serene space, watercolors may be for you," she says. These include deep, deep aubergines, inky indigos, and greens which give a bedroom a relaxing sense of depth and serenity. 

4. Paint a Kitchen in Bright Yellow Tones

The kitchen is typically considered the heart of the home, and, in feng shui, it houses the life force through the stove and its Fire energy. To create a vibrant, warm, and welcoming energy, Magill Henry suggests the color yellow. "Yellows are wonderful in the heart of the home and make a cozy vibe for a kitchen, especially brighter hues to encourage the fire energy," she says. To take this energy to the next level, she suggests adding a bit of red or orange to the space.

5. Use Light Hues for a Formal Dining Room

Whether you have a formal dining room or want to create a nook that serves as one, turn to feng shui to choose a color that creates an elegant backdrop for meals. "The word formal speaks to the Metal element, and it's all about honing things and creating a harmonious space," Magill Henry says. For this reason, she recommends whites and pastels. A crisp white paint color is timeless and classic, while pastel shades add a touch of sophistication and softness, infusing the room with a hint of understated color.

6. Mix and Match for a Lively Family Room

All the colors of the rainbow represent fun, and to bring in the most energy into a family game room, Magill Henry suggests mixing up the colors. "Try a vibrantly painted wall and a few items of contrasting colors around the room," she says. Bringing in an array of vibrant colors allows them to play off of each other ,which brings a fun energy to a space.

Bonus: Choose the Right Paint Finish

In addition to choosing the right paint color for your space, Magill Henry says it's important to consider the paint finish as well. "It determines not only how washable it is but also the amount of light that plays off the wall," the expert says.

A luxurious high-gloss finish reflects the maximum amount of light and brings in the most Water energy, and Magill Henry says it pairs well with a black front door. An eggshell finish fits into the wood, fire, and metal elements, so it's really the color itself that will determine which element stands out.

As for a matte finish, it brings in earth energy by reflecting minimal light, and Magill Henry recommends using it in a space such as a bedroom.