The Chinese New Year marks a grand celebration and an important Chinese holiday. Traditionally the festival honored deities and ancestors. Today it's somewhat different because Chinese New Year involves centuries-old rituals, home decorations, celebrations, food and social customs. It's customary for every family to cleanse their home, sweeping away the bad luck and making room for the good fortune in the coming year.
For the Year of the Wooden Horse -- a horse that's bright, intelligent, friendly, energetic and a good friend -- celebrations begin January 31, 2014 and end February 18, 2014 and you can improve your 2014 home Feng Shui with color combinations that connect the wooden horse to the five Taoist elements of Fire, Wood, Metal, Water, and Earth.
Living room
Cheerful and warm colors and accessories reflecting the element of fire help attract good luck and good health in 2014. Consider accents of purple, orange and red to bring brightness to the room and kindle closeness and conversation. Move and clean behind the furniture and if you have clutter, get rid of it.
Kitchen
The horse is a minimalist, so keep the kitchen clean and uncluttered. Green and gray colors and accents bring simplicity and coolness into this warm and energetic room. Simple framed art and live plants, such as orchids or bamboo introduce the wood element to this room. Make sure when first entering the kitchen it leaves an inviting, clean, and inspiring impression. The horse is not fancy and is happy to live with less, so pare down.
Bedroom
Don't over decorate your bedrooms or add more to your sleeping environment. But you can and should add healthy, live plants. Keep your bedrooms clean and soft with off-white and soft pastels, or white with accents of brown, beige, gold or silver to introduce the metal element. Avoid big prints this year, next year -- 2015, the Year of the Sheep will be the time to decorate and be fancy.
Bathroom
A horse is a strong, free-spirited animal. Create a cheerful and comfortable space with blues and white, and accents of black, wood, natural fibers and stone. If walls are white, consider painting this room, because this is a water element room and too much white is too much metal, creating conflict. Make this a reflective and bright space with large mirrors and clean counters.
Dining Room
Fresh design ideas and surprising combinations are ideal for attracting good luck in 2014. Bring a whimsical feel to your dining room with wooden furniture and art, interesting architectural elements, daring artwork and bold earth tones such as terra-cotta, burnt sienna, gold and yellow. Your dining room is not the place for red. This is an area for dining and relaxation and red creates excitement. Freshly cut flowers clear the air for New Year, especially if your home feels dark or musty. Live flowers and plants offer fresh oxygen, improve health and increase abundance.
Then sit back and enjoy the Year of the Wooden Horse!
For more ideas on how to prepare your home for the new year click here.