Feng Shui Interior Design

Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese school of thought based on
the concept that how we position furniture and other items
in our home has an impact on our health, our work and our
relationships, in fact every area of our lives. Feng Shui
in the home is all about achieving harmony between the
elements and is translated literally as Wind Water. The
water element represents the visible or physical and what
we can see with our eyes and the wind represents the
energy, it is invisible but we can still sense it.

If we apply Feng Shui to Interior Design, then the
objective is to create an interior space that is both
harmonious and aesthetically pleasing, that is comfortable,
practical and that "feels" good.  Obviously this brings in
careful arrangement of the furniture and how colour schemes
are used, what is on the walls and floors and even the
lights, sounds, and smells in a room.  It makes sense that
if our home environment is harmonious, then we will
naturally feel more comfortable and at peace with ourselves.

Water, fire, wood, earth, and metal all figure in Feng Shui
as these are natural elements existing in nature.  The idea
is to put right anything within the home that is
contributing to negative energy, to maximise areas that are
already contributing positive energy and to only implement
new features that will create positive energy.

Feng Shui tips for the home

. Have no clutter lying around as this will interrupt the
flow of energy around the home, particularly around doorways
. The placing of mirrors is important, for example, it
isn't wise to position a mirror where you can see it from
your bed or facing a chair
. Open windows often to allow fresh air and energy to come
into your home and purify the stale energy
. Furniture should be arranged in such a way that they back
on to the wall and do not have their backs to the door
. As much as possible, windows should look out onto natural
views but if this isn't an option then you can improve the
energy by adding, for example, window boxes or by treating
them in other ways following the philosophy of Feng Shui

The Bagua chart can be used to identify which area of your
home corresponds to the main nine aspects of your life. The
chart is arranged with eight of the nine aspects in a
circle round the outside and the ninth one in the middle
and should be viewed from the position facing your front
door. By looking at each area in your home and relating
each area to the Bagua chart and identifying how the five
elements are interacting in these areas, you can identify
which parts of your life are functioning well and which
ones need improvement. The following list represents the
nine aspects of your life featured in the Bagua chart:

. Wealth and prosperity
. Respect, fame and recognition
. Relationships and love
. Family
. Health
. Children and Creativity
. Skills, knowledge and Learning
. Business, Career and life path
. Helpful people and Travel

Each of these nine areas should correspond harmoniously
with the five elements of Water, Fire, Wood, Earth and
Metal.  For example, water can be represented by little
water fountains, fish tanks, transparent materials like
glass, windows and mirrors or even a painting depicting a
water scene. Fire can be represented by candles, fireplaces
and of course the colour red, lamps, cookers and heaters.
Wood can be represented by wooden furniture or ornaments,
plants, wooden photo frames and even books. Earth can be
represented by earthy colours and stones like terra cotta
pots or soil in plant pots, stone tiles, and statues.
Finally, metal can be represented by metal fixtures and
fittings or furniture, silver and brass ornaments, iron
railings and so on.

If all five elements are working in harmony with each
other, then the energy in your home will be positive and if
not, the energy will be negative. It might help if we look
at the creative and the destructive cycles. In the creative
cycle water feeds wood, wood fuels fire, fire creates earth
(ashes), earth produces metal and metal feeds water. In the
destructive cycle, water put outs fire, fire melts down
metal, metal chops the wood, wood consumes the earth and
the earth absorbs water.

If it all sounds too complex and you want a complete
overhaul of your home then you could always consider
enlisting the services of a trained Feng Shui practitioner,
however, by using your own intuition and tuning in to how
certain parts of your home make you feel, you can determine
what areas of your home need to be addressed and can take
the necessary steps to remedy this. According to the
principles of Feng Shui, even relatively small changes can
have a big impact on your life.


----------------------------------------------------
David McEvoy is an expert in interior design. If you are
looking for a leather sofa to give the finishing touches to
a newly decorated room then please come and visit our site
http://www.leathersofa.uk.com