What blue is your blue? Being one of the three primary colours, it sweeps down to deep petrol tones echoing the dark sea-green shades, upwards to a brilliant sky blue, through swirls of turquoise or aqua and then back to the formal, cool tones of navy. Now here comes your history lesson! Blue was one of the first real fabric dyes and the blue gemstone, lapis lazuli, was ground to create the lovely blue and white paint used in Asian ceramics. Prussian blue was created by a German pigment maker and it led to artists embracing the combination of dried blood and iron sulphides for paint. Fortunately, a synthetic version was created. Finally, Indigo blue was created in 1878 in Germany and now we have jeans and ink. Then, the further away an object is, the more blue it appears and blue eyes are not actually blue, I could go on but would lose readers!
The Psychology of Blue
Blue is said to give feelings of calmness and relaxation depending on the shade and strength and can actually reduce our heart rate. Dull grey blues are said to be sad and depressing, not surprising. Dark blues are said to offer a sign of stability or tradition and egg shell blue is one of the most popular paint colours. Blue is often associated with spirituality of many cultures and represents the throat chakra and communication in Eastern philosophy. Check out the different shades in your living areas and see how they make you feel.
Feng Shui Colour
Blue is associated with the Water element in Feng Shui practice. Dark blues are perfect for the Career and Life Path sector, often where a front door is, the primary entrance. Keep the area clean and uncluttered, the water needs to easily flow through this area. We have our laundry in this area and it is kept clean and as dry as possible. A lovely Obi of different blue panels hangs nearby. To the left is the Self Knowledge sector which has blue and green as the colour. Our bedroom is in this area and touches of green and bright blue can be found. Don’t forget, you don’t need to paint the whole room one colour although a blue room can look lovely with white and navy decor. Viewing the Bagua map, dark navy can be used for the Wealth sector and we have used lots of lovely Asian blue, green and white ceramics for this area. Then moving to the Fame and Fortune sector and around the map, it is recommended to avoid using blue or anything that represents Water. If you have blue in these areas, don’t panic, balance out with lots of stone and earth colours to ‘dry’ out the water representation or even balance with wood and fire, green or red, to also ‘dry’ out the presence of the Water element.
Final Thoughts
The shops are still full of beige, rattan and white decor. It now looks tired and the rattan has a strong odour and it is possible there will be many a rug, cushion and lampshade left in the rubbish! Usually blue and white comes out in full force for the summer but here we are with drab coffee tones. As Lou Gram, (lead singer of Foreigner, google him), said, “life is simple, it is either cherry red or midnight blue.”
