Here’s what colour you should paint your room, based on your star sign

“The right bedroom colour acts as an environmental anchor.”

If you find yourself astrologically inclined, then brace yourself because this coming retrograde carries extra weight. From February 26 until March 20, Mercury is set to enter into Pisces retrograde, bringing an onslaught of emotional confusion, blurred boundaries and decisions that are clouded by feelings, rather than logic.

In this period, Pisces’ dreamy, boundary-dissolving and slightly overwhelmed energy is going to feel particularly strong. In this time, it’s especially important than your home remains a space where you can go for clarity.

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Bedrooms in particular are a refuge from the outside world – a space of one’s own to tuck in and recover from any external stresses. It makes sense, then, that the colours of the room you spend so much time in will have an impact on your emotional state.

“We can’t control the cosmos, but we can control our immediate visual environment,” explains Dr. Eleni Nicolaou, an art therapist and the creative wellness expert at Davincified. “The right bedroom colour acts as an environmental anchor, helping your personality type manage emotional balance when the planets are working against you.”

While there’s a case to be made for wandering the aisles of your local paint shop collecting swatches, Dr. Eleni’s suggestion for tapping into your most-suited colours is through ‘chromotherapy shedding’. The idea is that tapping into specific colours tailored to the Zodiac sign will help regulate your retrograde symptoms.

Below, Dr. Eleni breaks these down, grouping the fire signs, earth signs, the water signs and the air signs, each matching them with different shades. For the renters among us, you’re not entirely exempt. You typically need to grab permission from your landlord before taking a paintbrush to your walls. Just explain to them that we’re in Pisces retrograde, I’m sure they’ll get it.

But, if the idea of painting your entire bedroom feels like too much, Dr. Eleni’s suggestion is to create a ‘retrograde corner’, comprising of either an accent wall, painted nightstand or even a large canvas in your sign’s designated shade.

“Place it where you’ll see it first thing in the morning and last thing at night, as that’s when retrograde confusion tends to peak,” she adds. “This visual anchor helps you recalibrate before the day’s emotional fog begins and decompress before sleep.”

According to Dr. Eleni, even a small dose of the right colour in the right place can make a notable difference in how you navigate the emotional waters of Mercury.

The Fire Signs (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius): The ‘Cool-Down’ Hues

As the name suggests, fire signs are notorious for their fiery passion. At one end of the spectrum, this can mean they carry a sometimes chaotic and disruptive energy, while at the other end, their excitement and charm is hard to say no to.

Fire signs are likely to respond to Pisces retrograde’s emotional fog by becoming impulsively reactive, or uncharacteristically paralysed by feelings they don’t know how to process. Dr. Nicolaou solution to combatting this, in an interior sense, is through soft sky blue or pale aquamarine hues.

“These cooling water-toned colours counteract the heat that fire signs generate when they feel emotionally confused,” she says. “Blue and aquamarine have calming psychological effects that prevent fire signs from making rash decisions when Pisces retrograde clouds their usual confidence.”

According to Dr. Eleni, these shades can help fire signs access the emotional sensitivity that Pisces retrograde is trying to teach them, without feeling overwhelming.

The Earth Signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn): The ‘Structure’ Hues

Earth signs on the other hand, gravitate more towards practicality, grounding and structure. Comprising of Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn, these signs typically prefer to have all the information in front of them before making any big decisions.

When Pisces retrograde dissolves these boundaries and logic, earth signs feel like they’re in a free fall. The dreamy, ungrounded energy of this period can make them feel adrift and frustrated. When this happens, Dr. Eleni’s recommendation for earth signs is to surround themselves with soft greys and warm taupes, colours that “that provide subtle definition without harshness”.

“These structured neutral tones give earth signs the visual boundaries they need when retrograde makes everything feel formless,” Dr. Eleni explains. The neutral palette prevents earth signs from becoming too rigid and resistant to the fluidity that this period demands.

“Gray and taupe provide gentle containment that helps a Virgo feel secure even when clarity is temporarily unavailable, or helps a Taurus stay grounded when Pisces energy wants to dissolve all their carefully built structures.”

The Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius): The ‘Grounding’ Hues

Air signs are the ultimate conduits, able to operate without physical boundaries, seamlessly moving between all groups of people. Air moves between all the other elements, making them naturally gifted communicators and leaders.

Often seen as Mercury’s children, Pisces retrograde tends to hit the air signs the hardest. Where they’re known for their mental clarity, this period can create “anxiety spirals and decision paralysis”. As these emotional currents threaten to sweep them away, warm terracotta and deep sand shades can provide the antidote.

“These earthy tones offer necessary ‘weight’ to signs that live in their heads,” Dr. Eleni explains.  The warm, clay-based tones will create a grounding, physical presence, combatting the emotional waters of Pisces retrograde.

“When a Gemini is spinning out emotionally at 2am, unable to think their way through [their] feelings, terracotta walls provide a visual reminder to come back to earth.”

The Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces): The ‘Protection’ Hues

Water signs are famously sensitive and sentimental. Just as they’re emotional, they’re also inherently creative, preferring to rely on their intuition and hearts when making any big decisions.

Because water signs absorb emotional energy, Mercury retrograde in their fellow water sign Pisces creates an overwhelming landscape. In response to this, Dr. Eleni prescribes crisp white and soft cream neutrals as a way to establish clear energetic boundaries.

“Mercury in Pisces can completely dissolve water signs’ sense of self,” she says. “Surrounded by crisp white makes these signs less likely to absorb and carry everyone else’s emotional baggage as their own.” The brightness of these shades also provides necessary contrast, helping them access some objectivity when it comes to big feelings.

For more on Mercury Retrograde, try this.