The Best Feng Shui Colors for Your Dining Room
Photo by Carrie Hays on Unsplash
If you’ve ever spent time decorating your home, we would guess that you gave some thought to the colors you wanted to include. After all, color has a big impact on how a space looks. But did you know that color can also shift your energy?
When designing a room using feng shui principles, we consider the energetic qualities of a color, in addition to its visual impact. It’s important to consider the type of energy you want to cultivate in your home, especially in a room that’s most often used for gathering with friends and family.
While formal dining rooms may not be as common nowadays, you can still apply feng shui principles to the dining area of your home. If you have an open-concept space and your dining table is adjacent to the kitchen, you may not want to add a new shade of paint on the walls, but there are plenty of ways to introduce color through art, furniture, textiles, and other accessories.
As you’re deciding which color(s) to bring into your dining room, consider your intention for the space. Would you like to invite more growth? Do you want to feel inspired? Would you like this to be a nurturing, grounding space?
One more thing to keep in mind is that it’s important to choose colors you love! Just because a certain color may be the “best” from a feng shui standpoint doesn’t mean it will be the best fit for you. If you hate something, it won’t bring good energy to your space. Notice what you’re drawn to, and pay attention to that.
Read on to learn our favorite colors for dining rooms, what they mean in feng shui, and our suggestions for introducing these hues into your home.
Green
Green is connected to the wood element, which has to do with growth and flexibility. The color green is also related to the Family area of the feng shui bagua, called Zhen in Chinese, making it a great color for a room where you tend to spend time with family.
If the color green is calling to you, it can be a beautiful choice for your dining room walls. Try a fresh springlike hue, or a deeper forest green. If you don’t want to paint, you can also bring in fresh greens or a houseplant to use as a centerpiece.
Red
Red is a very warming, energizing color. It’s related to the fire element, which brings to mind the warmth of a fire or hearth where people gather to eat. Red can also be helpful when something just feels a bit “off,” thanks to its protective, revitalizing energy.
If you love the color red, you might try painting your dining room walls in a rich burgundy or brick red, which can feel especially fitting in homes with a more traditional style. We wouldn’t recommend this for everybody, though, because a little red goes a long way! A great alternative would be to bring in small punches of red, like a tablecloth, artwork, or even red chairs.
White
According to traditional feng shui rules, white isn’t the best color for a dining room because it is related to the colder metal element. Metal has more to do with completion and efficiency, and isn’t the best for creating an atmosphere that encourages sticking around after a meal for a lengthy chat.
However, we still love white as a base in dining rooms because it allows you to bring in pops of other colors. You may want to keep your dining room walls white, and introduce colors like red or green through your centerpieces, artwork, or table settings. This is a great way to play with different colors and make changes according to the seasons or your mood.
Brown
Brown is connected to the earth element in feng shui, which is grounding, nourishing, and supportive. Think about the stable, steady feeling of the earth beneath your feet. Brown is a great color for your dining room when you want your guests to feel grounded in the space.
One of our favorite ways to bring brown into a dining room is by adding wood furniture in a warm brown stain. (Note: Wood as a material is not generally related to the wood element—instead, pay attention to the color of the wood to find out what element an item represents.) More subtle ways to bring in earth energy could be adding a plant in a terracotta pot, or using brown serving dishes.
Blue
Like green, mid-tone blues are connected to the wood element and the Family area of the feng shui bagua. If you want to cultivate movement and growth, try bringing in shades of medium blue, teal, or aqua. We would recommend sticking to blues that are not too dark; deep navy blues are related to the water element, which is not usually our first choice for a dining room. Blue can be a great option for walls. If you don’t want to paint a whole room, you may want to consider a blue accent wall. You can also look for artwork that includes shades of blue and teal, or add a tablecloth or vase in one of these colors. We hope this gives you some ideas of how you can use color to invoke different energies in your dining room. Will you be adding one of these colors to your space? Let us know over on Instagram!