Have you ever heard that it is "good Feng Shui" to paint the front door of your home red? A common Feng Shui misconception is that a red door can bring success and prosperity to any home or business. Feng Shui is a complex science; what is true for one house is not true for all. Let's take a look the concept of color in the exterior of the home and find out what color is most supportive to your home or business.

There are actually eight different house types that correspond to the eight trigrams. The eight trigrams are the basis for Feng Shui analysis and calculations and come from the ancient Chinese book the I'Ching (sometimes called The Book Of Changes) and yin yang theory. Each trigram is representative of one of the eight compass directions and also corresponds to one of the five elements; wood, metal, fire, water and earth.

How do you find out which color is best for your house? The first thing you do is determine which side of your house is the front. In older houses or houses with traditional floor plans, this is easy. The side facing the street with the front door would be the front or facing side. The opposite side or the back of the house is called the sitting side. If your house has a complicated contemporary plan, I would suggest seeking the help of a Feng Shui practitioner to help you determine front and back.

Now you will need a compass. Stand outside at the front of your home, with your back against the house. Which of the eight directions does your house face?

Below is a list of supportive colors and the directions to which they are linked. Since Feng Shui compass readings need to be exact to be correct, I will list the degrees in with each of the directions should fall.
• South facing (157.5 to 202.5 degrees) is a water element house; blue or black are supportive colors.
• East and southeast facing (67.5 to 112.5 degrees) are metal element houses; white, gray or gold (yellow) are supportive colors.
• West and northwest facing (247.5 to 337.5 degrees) are wood element houses; shades of green would be supportive colors.
• Northeast (22.5 to 67.5 degrees) and southwest (202.5 to 247.5 degrees) are earth element houses; earth tones like browns and tans would be supportive.
• North facing (0 to 22.5 degrees and 337.5 to 360 degrees) houses are fire element houses; red or purple are supportive colors.

Now that you have found your home's most supportive colors, where do you use them?

The best place is in trim and door paint, this will highlight the colors. You can also carry these colors into your landscaping by picking flowers and shrubs that support this. Be creative! How about bright blue chairs for your south facing house or bright yellow pots in the front to accent your east facing house?
Have fun with color in your landscape.

Matching the colors on the outside of your home to its element may not bring prosperity. What it will do is match the energy of the home and give it a more calm sensible feeling.