Best Colors For Your Kitchen, According To Feng Shui

If you're into interior design, you've almost certainly heard of feng shui. An ancient, traditional practice that originated in China, feng shui aims to create harmony between individuals and their environments (via Crane and Canopy).

Proponents of feng shui believe that implementing the practice can help people find balance in life by designing their living spaces in a way that allows positive energies to flow. In Chinese culture, qi is the vital energy that connects all living things. By designing your home in a way that invites qi into your home — and tempts it to stay there — the philosophy of feng shui asserts that you can find luck and improve your overall quality of life (via House Beautiful).

There are many principles and concepts that make up the practice of feng shui. Rules govern the placement of furniture — never place a bed under a window, and always make sure the couch faces the front door (via Feng Shui Nexus). The yin and yang energies — yin is passive and soft while yang is aggressive and bold — should be balanced. And the bagua (a map that contains eight portions representing concepts like health, love, wealth, and creativity) must correspond with your floor plan and individual needs to achieve maximum harmony (via mindbodygreen).

One crucial and often-overlooked aspect of achieving feng shui in your home, however, is color.

For practitioners of feng shui, the kitchen is considered the heart of a home and represents the ideals of health, abundance, and wealth (via homedit). The color of your walls is also important to achieving feng shui in your kitchen. According to most feng shui practitioners, you can't go wrong with the classic white (via the Spruce). In feng shui, white represents purity, cleanliness, and clarity, and also works to contrast the vibrant colors found in healthy foods.

But if you prefer a colorful home there are several options for a colorful kitchen that work in harmony with feng shui. Aside from white, the most ideal colors for your kitchen are yellows, browns, and beiges, which represent the earth element. The earth element is complementary to the fire element, which — in the feng shui philosophy — controls the kitchen (via SpaceWise). Yellows, browns, and beiges are also correlated with health and relationships, and invite people to gather in the space.

If you're looking to create a lively, vicarious kitchen that lends itself to parties and gatherings, you might want to choose a dark blue for your kitchen, according to The Spruce. In feng shui, dark blue and navy colors are correlated with social connections and wisdom. And if you're a plant lover, green represents growth, flexibility, and vitality. In feng shui, green is thought to inspire decisiveness and action and can motivate personal growth (via HGTV). If you're looking for a transformation, green might be the right choice for your kitchen.