The Color To Avoid For A Balanced & Grounded Bathroom, According To Feng Shui

The color blue is often associated with calm and peace, with the potential to even lower heart rates and reduce anxiety. In some Western interpretations, blue is also representative of reliability and trust — all positive attributes that make blue a favorite among designers and decorators. It's no wonder, then, that blue is a popular color used in bathrooms to elicit that same calming response, for what is supposed to be the place in your home for rest and relaxation, and where you wind down for the day. However, according to Eastern traditions, particularly in that of feng shui, blue is a faux pas since it does the exact opposite of providing peace and tranquility.

The ancient art of home and building arrangement, feng shui is simple to implement in your home as long as you keep a few principles in mind. Within these frameworks, the bathroom is a space defined by the water element, as water is in constant motion in the room, whether coming out of the sink or the shower or flowing in the pipes behind your walls. Thus, the chi (life force energy) within the area is consistently at risk of being washed away and draining our fortunes, as it's flowing without end. Adding blue to the mix, a color representative of water, just exacerbates the negative flow of chi, doubling down on washing away energy, even the good kind.

Blue hues "are common in bathrooms but are not the best shui," explains Abby Magill Henry to Better Homes & Gardens. A feng shui expert, Magill Henry, elaborates on the color: "They add to the already present water [element] and can feel draining." When we coat bathrooms in blues and dark, moodier tones, we aren't just decorating according to Western ideals; we're potentially amplifying a dominant element to the point of negative effect. If you find yourself feeling tired, lethargic, or even financially insecure, the blue in your bathrooms may be contributing to these aspects of your life going down the drain.

While the water element normally symbolizes an increased flow in opportunities, knowledge, and clarity, it's true when they say there can be too much of a good thing. Instead of promoting optimal flow of the water element in bathrooms, using blue creates a flooded deluge that simply can't be absorbed by its occupants and instead drains out of the space in excess. The fear of fortune draining away in bathrooms is a prevalent one in feng shui practices, and there are quite a few rituals in bathrooms that help assuage this chi issue — for instance, you should keep your toilet lid closed to prevent fortune from flowing out of the bathroom. This room is a space that feng shui practitioners deeply focus on for placement and good habits, and it's a shame to counteract those practices with features that bring bad feng shui to your home, like that sky blue paint you've been eyeing for the tub alcove.

Instead of amplifying the water element with blues, opt for earthy tones like yellows, browns, terracotta, and tans. These colors represent the earth element, introducing balance into the bathroom to counteract the watery flow of your fortunes. Think of the colors that you would see most often occurring in nature — that's the ideal feng shui color palette for this space.

Yellow, in particular, increases mental fortitude and can help relieve fatigue; just be sure the shade isn't too vibrant, as this will contribute to restlessness and activity rather than peace and relaxation. Brown and tan hues also work in bathrooms, as they contribute a groundedness to a space that encourages stability. Introducing earth elements is like placing a stick upright into a stream; it disrupts the flow and slows water down, which in this case means you're not losing all your good fortune to a bath.

The fire element is also an optimal choice for balance in bathrooms as well. These colors — reds, oranges, and pinks — promote warmth and vitality and can be used strategically in the room to achieve optimal flow, not too much and not too little. Incorporate touches of burnt orange or subdued pinks in areas like backsplashes or floors to create gentle boosts of energy, warming up the harsher coldness of the metals in bathrooms, like hardware. Like with the earth elements disrupting the overflow of the water element, the fire element here serves as a counteracting balance to water's stark cleanliness. It serves as a metaphor for a global design truth: balance is everything.