When feng shui decorating, it’s important to keep the elements in mind. One of the rules of feng shui is to balance the five elements, which allows chi (or energy) to flow naturally throughout your home. Below, we’ll walk you through each of the five feng shui elements, which colors and directions they’re associated with, and how you can use them in different places in your home!

• Fire
• Earth
• Metal
• Water
• Wood

Fire

• Bagua Direction: South
• Colors: Red, orange

Need a boost of confidence or to reignite passion in your life? Your space could probably use splashes of the feng shui fire element! This dynamic element can be represented in many ways to bring energy and happiness into your home.

Add Warmth with Fire

Setting up a fireplace or fire pit—particularly in more social areas like living rooms and outdoor living spaces—is a great way to get in touch with the fire element and harness its energy. Of course, if you can’t add a fireplace into your home or have a fire pit outside, you can always include candles in these spaces.

Focus on Good Lighting

Adding warm lighting is another way you can bring the fire element into your home. Whether it’s pendant lights, floor lamps, table lamps, or wall sconces, good lighting can make all the difference. Just be sure that the light faces upward similar to the way flames reach toward the sky.

Decorate with Reds & Oranges

Reds and oranges are the feng shui colors associated with the fire element, so try to use these colors when decorating rooms where you need more dynamic energy. If painting a whole room red seems too overpowering, you can always opt for red accent walls, orange throw pillows, and other fiery pops of color.

Earth

• Bagua Directions: Center, northeast, southwest
• Colors: Yellow, pink, orange, blue

In feng shui, the earth element represents health, knowledge, and stability. It’s also strongly associated with familial and romantic relationships. Using earthy materials, colors, and images in your home can help channel positive chi around those values.

Incorporate Natural Materials

Furnishings and home decor made from natural materials are an easy way to include the earth element in your home. Go with clay figurines and terra cotta planters in your living room, earthenware vases in your kitchen, or granite countertops in your bathroom to evoke the earth element in more centralized rooms of your home.

Use Earth Tones with Decor

When picking out decor for rooms where you want to harness the earth element—such as a kitchen, bathroom, or bedroom—look for softer, earthier colors like warm yellows, pale pinks, and grayish blues. These colors can stimulate positive energy around health, relaxation, and stable relationships.

Try Some Crystals

Crystals come from the earth, so they can be useful in channeling the earth element. Each crystal has a different meaning and purpose, so be sure to take that into an account when using them. For example, black tourmaline has a strong, protective energy, while rose quartz represents happiness and love.

Metal

• Bagua Directions: West, northwest
• Colors: White, gray, black

Metal is a structured feng shui element that can help bring creative energy and a sense of wanderlust to your home. It’s the perfect element to include in a home office to help boost productivity and stay organized, and it can even be used in entryways and mudrooms to support your travels.

Go with Neutral Colors

Neutrals like white, gray, and black are associated with this feng shui element, so you’ll want to stick to a neutral color scheme when decorating areas of your home for metal. Use light, airy colors like white and cream in family-centered areas to strengthen positive bonds with children. Or try darker shades of black and charcoal in a home office or dining room to attract chi for creativity.

Decorate with Metallics

Another way to harness the energy of metal is with metallic accents and mirrors. Incorporate a large statement mirror, golden picture frames, silver drawer handles, or bronze vases. Because they reflect energy, mirrors are great to place above a fireplace or in your office—just don’t put them in a bedroom!

Round Out Your Decor

The circle is the shape associated with the metal element, so when finding decor for your home, stick to round pieces. Play with using round coffee tables and end tables, circular wall pendants, or fabrics with curving patterns. And if you’re making a furniture upgrade, opt for pieces that have rounded edges.

Water

• Bagua Direction: North
• Colors: Blue, black

When balancing the elements of feng shui, don’t forget about the powerful energy of water! Water is all about fluidity, and it’s connected to your career. If you need more prosperity and motivation in your work life, then the water element is exactly what your home needs.

Experiment with Black

The color black is symbolic of deep waters and has protective qualities. While it’s not recommended to paint an entire room black, you can still bring pops of black into your living spaces. Consider using light fixtures with black accents in your kitchen and living room. Or if your front door faces north, try painting it a shade of black!

Utilize Water Features

One of the best ways to use the water element in your home is with actual water features. This can be anything—fountains, ponds, pools, aquariums, and more. If you’re not ready to take on a big water feature project, smaller features like a bowl filled with water and petals or a fish tank can work well, too!

Opt for Wavy Decor

Curved and wavy shapes mimic the movements of the ocean and can help you bring the energies of the water element into your home. Keep your eye out for decor like glass vases, artwork with flowing lines, or even fabric and wood patterns that have waves in them.

Wood

• Bagua Directions: East, southeast
• Colors: Green, purple, brown

Much like how plants grow and bring life to the world, adding the wood feng shui element to your home will welcome growth to your space, as well as nurture your relationships and wealth. When adding the wood element to your kitchen, living room, or bedroom, you can do so both literally and symbolically.

Buy Some Houseplants

Plants are strongly tied to the wood element because they improve air quality, which helps add the life-giving chi to your living space. And because many plants fit within wood’s color scheme of green, purple, and brown, you can accomplish two-in-one when decorating with plants. Try to find houseplants that are best for feng shui, such as a rubber plant or ficus.

Highlight Wooden Furniture

If you want to incorporate the wood element into your home in a literal sense, use wooden furniture and decor! This can be anything from chairs and tables to decorative bowls, picture frames, and more. If you want to take on a larger project, wood paneling along walls is a great way to use the element as well.

Add Structure with Columns

Tall pillars and columns mimic the strong, sturdy trunks of trees, which makes them the perfect addition to your home when you’re trying to harness the energy of the wood element. You can go bold and install actual columns in your home, or go for a more subtle look with floor-to-ceiling curtains or vertically striped linens.

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