Colour harmony in a painting involves the relationship of one colour to another. Colour harmony in our homes and workplaces is about balancing colour with the personality of people and purpose of a space. For Mette Keating of the Toronto interior-design firm InDeVision, Neo-Feng Shui is the road map to getting it right.
Before she moved here from Denmark, Keating was helping corporate clients make their offices more functional, but discovered that it wasn't just better space planning and nicer furniture finishes that made the difference. She began studying Neo-Feng Shui and the power of colour to affect positive change. Developed in Denmark in 2000, Neo-Feng Shui is a modernized version of the traditional Asian practice. It holds to the belief that we read our spaces holistically with all our senses and that colour, materials and shapes can all be used to correct bad energy and turn even the most banal place into one that supports rather than thwarts us.
Neo-Feng Shui has five colour groups, each linked to one of the five basic natural elements (fire, earth, metal, water and wood) and five qualities associated with those elements. Red is fire and fire is action, energy or drive. A board room, a dining room or any space that would benefit from an energy boost can get it by adding either candles, a red wall colour or extra light or lighting. It can also be achieved metaphorically by adding images of living things (employees, family, friends or animals) and is supported by the use of animal-like fabrics and finishes.
Neo Feng Shui would explain why builders love to use beige, why designers love their taupes and why so many people gravitate toward neutrals. It is less a fear of colour than a desire for comfort and grounding, qualities essential to feeling at home. Keating describes a client whose son was never settled in their house. He came home and always closed half of the living room curtains. When brown went on one wall he stopped the habit and relaxed. The sofa was repositioned next to that wall and everyone started to hang out there.
And with white, grey and metal linked to structure and clarity, is it any wonder that so many architects love their white walls and hard structural surfaces? Keating says that many homes have an overabundance of the wood element, but office, schools and hospitals have too little. She has seen firsthand how adding a mix of green, wood material and plant life elicits a positive response from employees that results in better productivity.
Through most of history, blue was considered to be light black. But in Neo-Feng Shui, black is the darkest blue and the colour of deepest thought or wisdom. When teenagers want black, it's because they're experiencing a time of deep searching and change; they know what colour they need. Keating suggests that not all walls be black or they might loose themselves too completely. A white ceiling could balance the black because white ceilings, she says, introduce the colour of clarity.
So where do colours like purple and orange fit in? They are the hybrids. Purple brings a fire-water blend. Orange straddles fire and earth, which could explain why it is the most sociable hue.
And does it matter how dark or light the colour is? Neo-Feng Shui practitioners believe that colour has three levels. Pale colours affect our mental or spiritual side, medium ones affect our emotions and dark colours effect us physically.
On some level, Neo-Feng Shui is intuitive.
Janice Lindsay is a Toronto-based colour designer whose book, All About Colour (McClelland and Stewart), was released this month.
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The elements of Neo-Feng Shui
FIRE (DRIVE)
Colour: Red
Materials: Light
Decor: Candles, photos of people and animalsEARTH (GROUNDING)
Colours: Brown, beige, taupe, muted yellow
Materials: Clay/brick
Decor: Exposed brick, clay pots, beige carpetingMETAL (CLARITY)
Colours: White, pastels, grey
Materials: Stone/metal
Decor: Metal furniture frames, metallic finishes, stone countersWATER (COMMUNICATION)
Colours: Blue/black
Materials: Water/glass
Decor: Windows, water features, crystalWOOD (GROWTH)
Colour: Green
Materials: Wood, plants, flowers
Decor: Wood floors, floral patterns, house plants
Information courtesy of Mette Keating of InDeVision. To enroll in a one-day Neo-Feng Shui workshop, contact Keating at 416-666-2847 or mette@indevision.com.
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