Want to make your home more welcoming and friendly? Need a boost of confidence? Colors can help: They're scientifically proven to influence different emotions. Emotions connected to colors influence us in unique ways every day: The color of a room may set you off or the color of a shirt may make you happy. When you want to attract more of a specific emotion, vibe, or feeling, colors can help you do it. Here's a guide to what each color means, and how to incorporate them into your life.
Red
Fiery and invigorating, this color is for people with want to feel more drive and passion in their lives. If you feel a lack of energy, desire, or motivation in any area of your life, try wearing more red. Whether it be a splash of red lipstick, a red dress, or just a red shirt, wearing the color will connect you more to your inner fire and power. It is also connected to the root chakra, located at the base of the spine. This chakra is associated with our most primal instincts to survive, endure, and thrive. If you feel like you don't have this chakra in balance, you may feel insecure, afraid, hot-tempered, and egocentric. To balance this chakra out, you can include red in everything you do, even in your home. But you don't have to repaint your house to do it. You can choose one room you feel it belongs in the most: Red colors do best in the bedroom and study room. Having red in the bedroom could actually enhance your love life (it's not the main color of Valentine's Day for nothing). Having more red in a study room, or place of work, could help you become a more efficient, driven worker and increase productivity. It will make you feel more awake, so my advice is to keep the hue of red darker and deeper for bedroom purposes, and brighter and lighter for study rooms. Bright red hues, such as cherry red, are very energetic, so you may want to leave that for accents, instead of painting an entire room that color. You can experiment with different red toned accents like pillows, chairs, rugs, vases, bedding, and lamps. The possibilities are endless.
Orange
Warm and reassuring, orange is a great color for people who want to attract more sensuality and creativity into their lives. Often times, people who avoid orange have repressed sexual feelings, or may need orange more than they realize. It is connected to the sacral chakra, which is located in the lower abdomen to the navel. This color can help unblock creative funks and stimulate a healthy love life (similar to red, but even more so with orange, believe it or not). It is comforting and symbolic of abundance (Thanksgiving often is associated with orange for this very reason). If you wish to attract more orange into your life, try drinking more orange-colored beverages like carrot juice or (actual) orange juice, watching a beautiful sunset, or simply wearing more orange. If you want to incorporate it into your home, too, the best places for orange are in the bedroom or possibly even the living room. Since there is such a focus on sexual energy with this color, it only makes sense the best place to put it is in the bedroom. Do not incorporate it into areas where you do career work or where children play, since this color is associated with love and marriage in feng shui.
Yellow
Sunny and uplifting, yellow is bound to cheer you up in a heartbeat. Either that or irritate you. Some forms of yellow are too bright for some people, so wearing and painting using lighter shades are recommended. That said, no one can deny the beauty of the sun and the bright yellow in a sunset. Yellow is linked to the solar plexus chakra, which is located in the stomach region. This chakra is all about promoting confidence and self-empowerment, which yellow certainly represents. It's hard to think of yellow as a timid color unless it's very pale. Not surprisingly, it's said that yellow can help keep the stomach, liver, and intestines healthy. It also aids in mental health and intellect, so definitely keep yellow in areas of work. If you struggle with depression, or someone in your household does, yellow is the perfect color to incorporate more of. Some places perfect for incorporating yellow are the kitchen, living room and home office. Feel free to also wear yellow to work to give yourself a confidence boost at work or settle stomach issues on the go. You can even wear citrine, a yellow crystal connected to the solar plexus, to help promote cheerfulness and intellect wherever you go.
Green
Nourishing and soothing, this color is perfect for people who need some extra self-love in their life. People sometimes can be their own worst enemy, but green can help foster self-appreciation and even promote healing. The color green is associated with the heart chakra, because it's directly linked to unconditional love, healing, and purity. If you just had a fight with someone, are recovering from an illness, or feel under appreciated, try wearing more green or incorporating it into your home. Some beautiful green crystal jewelry you can either wear or keep around your home are Jade, moss agate, and malachite. Feel free to incorporate actual greenery into your home as well, as plants are great sources of the color green in action. The healing benefits of green can always be felt when out in nature, so bringing it indoors is a simple way to get some green in your life. Since green is great for connecting you to nature, any room that has nice, natural lighting and big windows will do great when painted with the color green. According to feng shui, green belongs in areas of health and family, so the living room, bathroom, and bedroom are all good choices. Lighter shades are ideal for the bathroom and living room to promote a gentler, healing vibe, but they work well in the bedroom too. Avoid electric green colors as these are too harsh. However, it is recommended to incorporate other shades of green in a room painted green. These can come in the form of plants (as mentioned before), pillows, or rugs (as long as they're a different green from what's painted on the walls).
Blue
Blue is well-known for its calming and cooling properties. If you wish to relax more, or find that you're an anxious person, blue can certainly help you. It is also linked to the throat chakra because of its association with communication and speech. Surrounding yourself with this color can help you speak your mind more, calm you (or anyone else) down when angry, and even bring relief from headaches. Blue in feng shui is connected to the water element (no surprise there), which relates to money, business growth, career, and opportunity. Place this color in areas of your home where you work to attract success. You can also wear more blue colored clothes to work, or even blue and black jewelry (black is also considered a color of water and wearing both will enhance your success). Great rooms to incorporate blue in are study areas, either for children or yourself. Try painting just the ceiling a light blue to create a beautiful sky energy vibe. You can feel free to incorporate other blue accents in various shades throughout the room as well. This will help increase concentration because of how calming blue can be.
Brown
This color is extremely practical and grounding. It's the color of wood, so it's not surprisingly connected to the element wood in feng shui. It’s connected to stability, seriousness, loyalty, strong friendships, and tight knit family. It can also be used to enhance knowledge and skill sets, making it a very versatile color. Since brown is a color very readily found in nature, it screams frugality, which in feng shui is a good thing. Simplicity is stressed in feng shui to promote a deeper sense of calm and focus only on the necessities. That said, brown can also be very elegant and create a cozy atmosphere, if used right. Try pairing it with different shades of brown, blues, yellows, and greys. The best areas to include brown in around the home are in the living room, entrance of your home, bedroom, or even the kitchen. A few popular color pairings would consist of dark chocolate brown and robin egg blue, or cacao brown and warm tan. Feel free to incorporate some brown into your wardrobe, too, to create a down-to-earth vibe. Browns are great in the workplace too, so see if you can invest in some brown work clothes: You can pair them with other warm colors (think autumn colors) to create an outfit that'll keep you relaxed (but focused) all day long.
