10 Feng Shui Tips - How to Use the Power of Color in Your Home

Franca Giuliani - Within feng shui as within design, color is very important and powerful. Before trying to pick out the "right color” for home decorating, let's try to understand color.

Color is energy. (And, remember, everything is energy.) Colors are specific wavelengths of energy that can be used to balance our chi, our life force. Here's what colors can do for you and yours:

• Colors have an impact on our emotions and our vibration. They possess the power to arouse or to tranquilize, to bring joy or create depression. 
• Colors engage our eyes and influence how we interpret our emotional experiences. By understanding the emotional context of colors, we can manipulate the experience of space to benefit our energetic body.

Color Has Three Dimensions

HUE: This is the first recognizable characteristic of a color. It's the quality by which we distinguish one color from another, as red, yellow, etc.

VALUE: The quality by which we distinguish a light color from a dark color (or how clean the color is). Value is raised by adding white and is lowered by adding black. Colors change in value with light - the brighter the sun, the more light you have coming into a room, the brighter the room colors will be.

INTENSITY: The quality by which we distinguish a strong color from a weak one. Color is lowered in intensity by adding gray or by adding its complementary color. 

Color Has Harmony

This is an agreeable combination of colors, and there are two kinds of harmony.

CONTRASTED HARMONIES use colors on the opposite side of the color wheel. Most common are complementary colors - exactly opposite.

RELATED HARMONY uses colors close to each other on the color wheel or only one color. Analogous colors are

Click to read more ...

Red for the New Year

Franca Giuliani - I said last month that I would talk about the color Red for January … so here it is! With all the New Year festivities, the color Red has been used a lot. But, have we ever really thought about its meaning?

The Chinese associate Red with auspiciousness and good luck. (And, just to note: their New Year has not arrived until January 23, the start of the Lunar New Year.) Red sends a message of happiness, strength, and warmth. It's fire. It's fame. It's an honor to walk on the Red carpet. To celebrate, people will “paint the town Red." 

As the color of blood, Red also represents the flow of life in our bodies. Red is a deep affirmation of life, and when we use it in a living space, we're making that statement. However, keep in mind it can be over-powering. Red can agitate and is often associated with danger. Red means “Stop.” Brake lights are Red. Fire equipment is painted Red. If a business is in the “Red,” it's losing money.

Nonetheless, Red ignites activity and intention. Play with a little Red this month, and see where you can add some of it into your personal space. Place a beautiful Red pillow on a chair. Can you cover a lamp or light bulb with a red mask to change the color of the light? And, as you do this, keep in mind your intentions for 2012. This will help you anchor them in your thoughts.  

Here are some January observations for you,

Click to read more ...