Where Energy Flows

In the fashion world, brown is one of those transient colors: ‘in’ one year and ‘out’ the next. Two years ago, a search of at least a dozen women’s wear shops yielded exactly ONE dark brown cardigan. The following year, brown was ‘in’ and it was everywhere. I love dark chocolate brown. It is a versatile basic that has warmth and richness — a treasure for those who avoid wearing black. But what about the significance of brown, both in your wardrobe and as a home decorating colour?

Since the colour brown is not associated with chakras or is known for its healing uses, the focus for brown is on the Elements. Brown is primarily associated with the Element of Earth, however — especially when talking about home construction materials — there is an overlap with the element of Wood, since the colour of wood is brown or earth-toned. As we consider the effects of brown, we need to keep in mind both the Wood and the Earth Elements.

Wood Element materials include natural wood siding on the home exterior, unpainted wood floors, cabinets, tables, chairs and other furniture - all of which are earth-toned or a shade of brown. Earth Element building materials include brick, tile, adobe, terra cotta (roof tiles, plant pots), and tile floors - especially unglazed natural tile. Earth colours include beige and tan. Do you have either of these common neutral colours as walls or floor treatment? Both are pastel shades of brown.

A garden view will also bring the earth element into your home — through seeing the soil and trunks of trees, of course — but perhaps you also have: a wood or tiled patio or deck; terra cotta, wood or cement plant pots; or cement or clay garden statues and/or fountain.

Like green in nature, we often don’t really see brown - especially when it is wood, clay or earth — we read it as a neutral. Once you count up all the Earth and Wood Elements present in your home, there may be more ‘brown’ than you realise. The key with the colour brown - as with all colours and Elements is balance. In Interior Alignment we use the theory of five-elements to maintain a healthy balance of all elements. Take another look at my post Five Elements and the Wizard of Oz to learn more about the Five Elements. Stay tuned for upcoming posts when I will present each of the Five Elements in turn.

 © Copyright Deborah Redfern. All rights reserved.

Tags: decorating with brown, earth element, Five Elements, natural building materials, wood element

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