Integrating the Five Elements of Feng Shui

Posted by on August 23, 2010

The following is a partial excerpt from my book, 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner Publishing 2010).

Walk into a beautifully decorated model home or even your favorite room in the house. What you will find is a natural interplay of the Five Elements: Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The Five Elements are considered the basic building blocks of everything on Earth and within ourselves. It is only natural that we feel best in environments with a harmonic balance of these essential elements. This is one reason why nature feels so good to us. Nature naturally strikes a balance with the Five Elements.

Some people have a natural affinity with design and will intuitively harmonize a space using the Five Elements without even realizing it. For example, most interior designers and decorators who are not adept at Feng Shui will naturally incorporate the Five Elements into a room. With some basic knowledge of the Five Elements anyone can enhance a space. Each element has certain shapes, colors, and qualities associated with it. These aspects can be seen in everything in your home — from fabrics, artwork, and accessories to furniture, materials and appliances.

The use of each of element will naturally differ depending on what materials are readily available in certain regions. For example, in the South most new homes are brick; whereas, in the North, most homes are wood construction. In the Southwest, adobe is the material of choice due to its availability and climate adaptability. It is therefore important to find creative ways to incorporate all five elements in a space. Here are some suggestions:

Wood:

Anything made of wood, including furniture and materials

all plants and flowers, including fake plants.

Artwork depicting landscapes, flowers, trees

Most fabrics such as cotton, silk, rayon

Columnar shaped objects

Shades of green and blue

Fire:

All lighting, including artificial and natural light

People and pets

Textiles or accessories made of fur, leather, wool, feather, or bone

Triangular or cone-shaped objects

Shades of red

Artwork depicting any of the above

Water:

Glass, mirrors, crystal, reflective surfaces

Bowl-shaped, flowing, free-forms

Black or dark-toned colors

Earth:

Pottery, ceramics

Art images of the Southwest, earth landscapes, deserts

Long, flat surfaces such as squares and rectangles

Earth tones, yellow, orange, brown

Metal:

Any type of metal

All rocks, stones, and gemstones, including granite, marble, slate

Crystals and gemstones

Sculptures

Circle and oval shapes

White, light colors, and pastels

While each room should have a balance of the Five Elements, certain rooms have a predominance of one or two elements according to where it falls on the Bagua Map. My iphone app – Feng Shui Bagua Map – includes a detail of these areas along with décor enhancements.

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Tisha Morris is a certified life coach, feng shui consultant, energy healer, yoga instructor, and author of 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home (Turner Publishing).  For more information, visit www.mindbodyom.com.