HAPPY NIU YEAR – CHINESE NEW YEAR AND INTERIOR DESIGN
HAPPY NIU YEAR – CHINESE NEW YEAR AND INTERIOR DESIGN
It’s not a typo, Happy Niu year is the newly coined catchphrase to wish people a happy lunar new year with ‘Niu’ being Pingyin (written Chinese) for cow or ox. It’s going to be the year of the Ox. In the Chinese zodiac every year knows another animal (12 in total) and every animal comes with its own characteristics. Some years are better for business, others better for marriage etc. Last year was the year of the Rat for example which is typical for bringing opportunities, dilemmas but it can also push us out of our comfort zone. This describes mildly what happened in 2020. The Year of the Ox will be a year of hard work but also of discipline, planning and traditions. It also has a discernable taste for tangible reality. Perhaps not a bad thing after the year we just wrapped up.
Colors play an important role in the Chinese zodiac. Some are lucky, some unlucky, some bring fortune and others despair. This year will be a metal Ox year (various elements are assigned to the zodiac animals signed based on what year it is) and metallic grey (basically silver) and aqua blue seems to be the colors with the best effect on well-being and bringing in all the good stuff. This goes for clothing but also interior colors. Feng Sui is very clear in keeping things light and cool in the interior this year. Another color we should be looking out for this year is green. In the Chinese culture green is normally regarded as an unlucky color (‘wearing a green hat’ is an expression for a woman who is cheating on her husband) and in China on the stock exchange rising stocks are marked red while falling stocks are marked green.
Feng Sui is about the relation between human and his living and working environment and focusses on the relation between natural and man-made forms. Looking for balance and harmony being its primary goal. I doesn’t come as a surprise that this quest for balance has gained in popularity over the last couple of months internationally. With the world in a lockdown and homes being virtually the only place where we spend the majority of our time, balancing work and private life - kids and spouses –things like yoga, Zen, clean and clear spaces moved to the top of our priorities. Marie Kwondo – the organizing guru – became a superstar, we saw the return of Zen inspired posters, an increase in Buddha figurines and even variations on the stone piles have been spotted.
Feng Sui is more than just the placement of furniture in a space or the use of some decorations to help the proper flow of energy but despite its complexity, we are seeing an increase of interiors with elements of this ancient teaching. It seems that people are really trying to find some peace in the daily chaos.
Feng Sui also assigns meanings to colors. Aqua blue represents youth, new beginnings and inspires confidence. Green also stands for new beginning but also new growth as well as healing and freshness. Two more colors which are connected to the year of the Ox are (plum) purple which inspires spirituality, adventure and prosperity and silver gray invited helpfulness. Whether you believe this or not, all these colors seem to represent very positive things which we could surely use to start rebuilding our world after the pandemic.
It can be safely put that we will keep working at home for quite some time more and the need to manage and balance our most important space of residence will also be at the top of our priority in the new home décor season. Gong xi fa cai (happy New Year).
(sources: Wikipedia, inmyownstyle,com, karmaweather.com, thechinesezodiac.org)