FENG SHUI DESIGN

Enhance Your Home, Improve Your Life

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice of architectural design and interior decorating dating back to 1000BCE. The art of Feng Shui is intended to enhance our lives by acknowledging the flow of energy in our personal environments. Feng Shui promotes balance, harmony, and peace of mind to endow your home with overall comfort and a sense of security. This article focuses on home design and is the first in a three-part series to help you apply the art of Feng Shui to build, decorate, and landscape your home and garden.

FENG SHUI HOME DESIGN

A practical way to apply Feng Shui to the design of your home is to follow the guidelines of the Bagua Map. According to the Bagua, all homes are divided into nine general sections that correspond to different areas of our personal lives. The strategic location of the rooms in your house will help you take advantage of the energy associated with each section of your home. Rooms farthest from the front entrance, in the back of the house are best for serene activities such as resting and relaxing, whereas the front of the house is great for exercise, work and other active pastimes. Ideally, you will want to design a master bedroom in the rear right “Love and Marriage” corner of the house, children’s bedrooms in the middle right “Creativity and Children” area, a guest room in the front right “Helpful People and Travel” zone, a den with a fireplace in the rear middle “Fame and Reputation” section, an exercise room, kitchen, or family room in the middle left “Health and Family” area, a dining room in the rear left “Wealth and Prosperity” section, and a home office in the front middle “Career” area of the house—all surrounding a central great room in the middle of your home. When using Feng Shui to design your home, comfort and harmony are of utmost importance. Take care to avoid sharp angles or protruding corners, opting for rounded designs and curves whenever possible. The ideal ceiling height is 8-10 feet and staircases should not be too steep or located directly in front of the door. The garage should be detached from the house and bedrooms are not to be built above it. Skylights are recommended in the active areas of the house only and never over restful areas such as couches, beds, or dining tables. Windows should be large and single-paned, and not located directly across from the door. Rooms and bathrooms should be designed with the interior-decorating in mind such that beds, couches and toilets should have a view of the door but not be situated directly in front of it. Finally, building materials are important, and a Feng Shui environment is harmonized by integrating five main elements—water, wood, fire, earth, and metal. The Bagua recommends water features in the front of your home, fireplaces in the rear middle, metallic accents in the middle right section, and wood floors or paneling in the middle left. The proper integration of these materials throughout your living spaces will optimize your environment by enhancing the flow of energy through your home. The next feature in this series will extend the principles of Feng Shui philosophy to interior design and decorating, helping us enhance the flow of positive life energy while promoting comfort, beauty and organization in our homes.

For more information on using the Bagua Map and Feng Shui philosophy to design your home, visit our website at REMagazine.com