The five elements and colour in furniture

Have you heard of five-element furniture? Most people choosing furniture think about budget, quality and how long it will last, and many also worry about color, afraid that a wrong choice will spoil the look of the living room. In the traditional Chinese view, color does more than that. Choose badly and, the theory goes, it can affect your luck, your health, your energy and the mood of the whole household.

The idea comes from the I Ching and the theory of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. Every color belongs to one of them. Metal is white, gray, gold and silver. Earth is yellow. Fire is red. Wood is green and blue. Water is black. So when you choose a sofa, leather or fabric, you can pick a color, material and style that suits the element you need.

1. Sofa colors and the five elements

The elements expressed by the colors in your home may either reinforce or conflict with the elements in your own birth chart. That interaction can be good or bad. Before choosing the color of a sofa or a whole furniture set, it helps to know your own element profile, which elements are strong and which are weak, and then choose colors and pieces that bring things back into balance.

2. Which colors belong to which element

Metal is white, gold and silver. Wood is green and light blue. Water is dark blue and black. Fire is red. Earth is the yellow family. The rule is to avoid adding more of an element you already have too much of. If metal is strong in you, go easy on white, yellow, gold and silver sofas. If earth is strong, use less yellow and red. If wood is strong, avoid black, green and blue furniture. If fire is strong, use less green and red. If water is strong, use less black and dark blue.

3. Working out your own strong element

How do you know which element is strong in you? A simple way is to go by temperament. Loyal, forthright and a little fierce: metal. Indecisive and changeable: water. Kind, gentle and unwilling to compete: wood. Stubborn and principled: earth. Easygoing, warm and quick-tempered: fire.

Once you know your own profile, compare it against the five elements and choose living-room sofa colors that balance it. That is the five-element approach to color in furniture. Bosheng makes furniture to order, so if you want a piece in a particular color to suit your home, get in touch.