Feng Shui Made Easy
July 7, 2010 
If you have ever explored the concepts behind Feng Shui, you already know that the design principles are based on harmony. Water, air, fire, and earth are important when designing rooms based on Feng Shui, and the way you incorporate the various elements will reflect on the flow of the room. For those new to Feng Shui, there are several guidelines you must know before you start to plan new rooms. 
The Bagua map is the way that spaces are planned out with Feng Shui. With the Bagua map in mind, each part of your house is connected to a different part of your life. For example, if you divided your home up into slices on a map, each part would be devoted to a certain area of your life such as family or finances. If your goal is to have a happy family life, you should pay close attention to that area of your home. When money is worrying you, you should focus on that area of your home. In all, there are nine life aspects that correspond with your home, and each has it’s own elements. You may a life area such as fame, relationships or love, health, children and personal creativity, skills and knowledge, people or travel, career, family, or prosperity.
When bringing the characteristics of Feng Shui into each area of your home, you should focus on the elements associated with that specific area. The elements - earth, fire, water, and wood - are brought into play in varying degrees depending on which area you are working on. If you wish to work on your family, the element is mainly water. An example of bringing water into your family area would be adding a fountain or an aquarium. Alternately, if you want to work on your health area, you would add earth or fire elements. An example of an earth element would be a plant. To add fire, you could have candles. 
Color is a huge consideration when decorating your home using the principles of Feng Shui. Although you may not wish to use all of the colors that are associated with Feng Shui, adding a touch of that color through the use of accessories is a good idea. Family colors are green, black, and blue. If your family area corresponds with your living room and your couches are chocolate brown, add a blue rug or green rug.
One of the main principles in Feng Shui is to position your furniture in each room so that you are able to view the doors. This allows chi (energy) to flow freely within your space. Mirrors should be placed in key areas to deflect any bad chi that threatens your home or to purposely reflect good portions that you wish to highlight.
Keeping the principles of Feng Shui in your mind as you decorate your home ensures a comfortable, welcoming space that is both natural and well balanced. A well designed home utilizing Feng Shui is a happy, prosperous home.
Reader Comments (1)
Ever since I moved out on my own, Feng Shui has been a huge part of how I choose to decorate. I have found that a good polypropylene rug is a great way to work in some of that color that you might have neglected in the furniture.