Is the outside of your home dirty, or dilapidated? Is the paint peeling? How do you feel when you approach your driveway? Optimistic and energized? Or a bit defeated, and perhaps even ashamed at the shape of your house?

If the latter describes your feelings about your home, it's a great time to plan outdoor home improvement projects, with spring right around the corner. You can improve your fortune by changing the color of your home.

Some people who have implemented the five-element color cycle on their homes exterior began experiencing improved health, greater energy, and even more visitors. The owners of homes who employ these five important colors on their house's exterior often report that their houses became local landmarks and focal points within their communities.

What is the Five-Element Color Cycle?

The five-element color cycle corresponds to the colors which represent the five elements. They are:

Red --> Fire

Yellow --> Earth

White --> Metal

Black --> Water

Green --> Wood

The Destructive and Creative Cycles

You can employ the colors in a "creative" or "destructive" sequence. In spite of its name, the destructive sequence is quite effective in balancing the chi of a space; it merely refers to the elements' destructive effects on each other, just another aspect of how the Universe recycles everything in an endless loop.

In the creative cycle, one element feeds another -- fire produces earth, earth creates metal, metal produces water (through condensation), water feeds wood (plants), and, of course, wood feeds fire.

The destructive cycle is just as important. Wood disrupts earth (as in, trees growing from the land), earth obstructs water, (an island separating a body of water), water puts out fire, fire melts metal, metal destroys wood (such as an ax used to chop down a tree).

Using the Five-Elemental Cycle for Better Feng Shui

Once you understand how these colors interact, you can use them on your home's exterior to create a perfect balance in the space. Use the five elements beginning from the ground (your driveway or lower level trim) and work your way up. You can use either order: the destructive or creative cycle.

You may start with a driveway the color of earth, for instance, beige gravel. Since earth creates metal, you can paint the main walls of your house white. Window shutters or trim might be gray or black, since metal creates water. Finally, a deep green roof will complement this decor perfectly and take its nourishment from the water (trim).

Don't Neglect Your Intuition

Since your house's main walls are the part people will notice first, you may wish to start with your color choice for the walls (selecting from one of the 5 elements) and then build the rest of your colors around that. Make sure the walls either feed (creative cycle) or destroy (destructive cycle) the shutters or trim, and, working the opposite way, the roof, and that the rest of your color choices correspond in order.

Once you understand the five-elemental cycle, you can use it in Feng Shui decorating in a number of ways to improve the chi of your home and the health and fortune of its residents.