feng shui

I know the title probably caused a few raised eyebrows. I mean, we all know that Feng Shui is used in homes and apartments to improve positive energy and create a more comfortable atmosphere in the living space, but what does that have to do with a restaurant?

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese art that focuses on using aesthetics to improve the positive energy, or chi, in a space. It tries to bring harmony and balance to an area by using colors, décor, wholesome forms, locations, visuals, and furniture placing.

Despite the fact that we mostly connect Feng Shui with private homes, any place where people spent time can benefit from the calming effects of this ancient Chinese art. Restaurants in particular, with their large traffic of clients, can benefit from implementing a few Feng Shui ideas while decorating and designing the interior.

The following tips are a list of things to keep in mind when trying to implement Feng Shui ideas in your restaurant. In the next posts we will try to go in to deeper details about a few of the ideas.

Colors:

The different colors of the rainbow all have different meanings and we all react to them in different ways. Certain colors will evoke specific emotions or thoughts when seen. Red is a color that excites passion and love and increases appetites. It creates feelings of romance and sometimes lust. Pink is a calm, soothing color that is also associated with love. Yellow is a cheery color that promotes warmth and happiness. However, prolonged exposure to yellow can cause anxiety. (This is why fast food restaurants use red and yellow in their decoration and logos. This causes people to eat more but to leave faster thus promoting to a larger turnover.) Orange strengthens concentration and gives people a creative boost. Blue is a calming color that reflects peace, healing, trust, intellect, and wisdom. Black is not a color associated with depression—it promotes feelings of power, sophistication, modernism, and elegance. Purple evokes feelings of nobility and healing. White represents purity, cleanliness, poise, and confidence. Brown is a color associated with the earth. It represents comfort and health and wellness. Grey is a color that represents precision, clarity, and sharpness. (more…)