Feng Shui Living Room – Feng Shui DIY

Do You Know Doormats and Rugs Could Bring Bad Feng Shui?

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Doormat and rug are commonly used in interior design. They serve both functional and aesthetically purposes. A good looking doormat or rug could help to keep your house clean and make it beautiful.

Yet, do you know doormat and rug could also bring bad effects in Feng Shui?

The effects of mats and rugs mainly come from the shape and colour. We shall examine these two factors one by one, but before that, let’s know a little more about Flying Star Feng Shui.

The Bad Feng Shui Flying Stars

Some shapes and colours could contribute to bad Feng Shui that could affect health. It is all related to the Five Elements (WuXing) attribute of the Flying Stars.

According to traditional Feng Shui theories, there are some bad Flying Stars that could affect people if they are located in some critical locations in a house, e.g. the main entrance, kitchen, toilet and bedroom.

These bad Flying Stars belong to the Earth element. If there is any stuff belonging to the Earth element that is co-located with these Flying Stars, the power of these bad boys could be magnified.

In addition, stuff of the Fire element could also have similar effect, since the Fire element generates Earth element.

Another element that may be bad in this context is Wood. If you have some basic ideas about the Five Elements theory, you may wonder why, as the Wood element depletes Earth.

Yes, in a sense Wood depletes Earth. Trees consume the nutrients in soil. However, wood could also penetrate into soil, which is seen as the Wood element adversely affecting Earth.

When doing Feng Shui, if we want to restrict the power of the Earth element, it is prudent to avoid the Wood element. Although Wood could overcome Earth, the vigorous battle between the two elements may cause undesirable effects. It is just like pouring water onto fire, the water may put out fire, but rapid release of smoke and steam, which are also harmful, may be resulted.

Shapes and Feng Shui

So, what are the shapes that could magnify the bad effects of the bad Flying Stars? The earthy shapes do, like square and rectangle.

Another shape that could add to the bad effects of the negative Flying Stars is triangle, which belong to the Fire element.

Since Wood could interact with Earth in an undesirable way, the long and narrow rectangular shape is not preferred too.

On the other hand, circle and shapes with curves and round corners are relatively safe.

Colours and Feng Shui

Similarly, colours of the Wood, Earth or Fire element could also build up the power of the bad Flying Stars. These colours are green (Wood), yellow and brown (Earth) and red, orange and purple (Fire).

On the other hand, white, grey, black, silver and gold are more preferred colours in respect of mats and rugs at home.

A Real Case

I have a friend who moved to a new apartment in 2012. He placed a lime-coloured rug in the living room. He chose this colour because it’s so refreshing.

Not long after he moved into his new home, his wife had started to develop eczema. Medical treatment was applied. At my advice he also removed the rug. The symptoms had finally improved.

The Take Away

I must stress that the above recommendations about shapes and colours could be considered together with an analysis of the natal Flying Star chart of the house. If a red rectangular rug is placed in the living room but there is no bad Flying Star in this location, bad effects may not be observed.

Yet, since most people do not have the ability to analyse Feng Shui by themselves, it is advisable to avoid the non-preferred shapes and colours.

In the case when you cannot completely avoid it, for example, the use of a rectangular rug under a rectangular tea table (it would be strange to use a circular rug here), at least stay away from the colours belonging to the Wood, Earth and Fire elements.

That’s all for this Patreon-only Feng Shui newsletter. See you next time, until then, stay health and happy!

Feng Shui Painting – What and Where?

Painting is a great choice for decorating your home, as well as a good tool for Feng Shui purpose. In Chinese society, people like hanging paintings with beautiful mountain and water scenery on the walls at home. They believe that such paintings could bring good luck to the family. But the use of painting in Feng Shui is not as simple as that.

In this article we’ll talk about Feng Shui painting, how to choose a suitable one and where to place it at home.

Feng Shui Painting – What Type to Choose?

For Feng Shui painting, we care about the content of the painting and what message it brings. Here are some general rules that you should follow.

Bad Feng Shui Paintings

I think you could easily tell that those with a negative message would not be a good choice. For example, a painting with a big black crow is definitely not good for use in the living room or bedroom. These places deserve an atmosphere of harmony and sweetness.

(Bad example: The sinking Titanic; Public Domain Image Source: Wikipedia)

Similarly, painting that shows a fall or winter scene with falling leaves is not good. Chinese believe that a flourishing spring or summer view is better, the cold and lonely fall and winter view carries a bad meaning.

A third kind of bad choice is violent wild animal. I once saw a large roaring lion painting in the living room of a house. The house owner thought that it looks good, but the problem is the strong power of the lion is not suitable for everyone. Usually only people who work in the military, police force, etc. should have such kind of painting at home.

Finally, according to traditional Feng Shui belief it is not recommended to hang the photo or painting of deceased people at home. I know it is very common for Westerners to put up the photo or painting of their ancestors on walls, but according to Chinese Feng Shui thing may bring negative energy to the house. If you really want to place the photo of your ancestors, choose a smaller one which stands on the table but not a big one on wall.

Good Feng Shui Paintings

On the other hand, there are some good paintings for Feng Shui purpose. Firstly, paintings that carry positive meaning, such as wedding, new year celebration, blossoming flower, etc. are Feng Shui paintings that you should use.

(Good example: Beautiful scene; Public Domain Image Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Secondly, beautiful scenery. Good choices include sun, sea and the beach, pool side view, winding river, etc. We believe that such paintings could calm us down and bring peace to our mind, so they are good Feng Shui paintings.

Feng Shui Painting – Where to Place Them?

Basically, if the painting is good for Feng Shui use, it does not matter where you put it in your house. However, I have a few recommendations for you.

(Image under CC Licence: Source)

For positive effects, you may consider placing the Feng Shui painting in the lucky directions of the year, such as where the Flying Stars 8 and 9 are located. If you are not sure where these stars are located, you should download my FREE yearly Feng Shui guide which tells you where are good and bad directions of a year. You can find the hyperlink on top of this web site.

On the other hand, we want to protect the paintings, so we should not place them at where there is strong Chi movement. Therefore, we should not place the paintings directly opposite to door openings or at the end of long corridors.

Finally, some people like placing wedding photos at home. This is not a bad idea. But remember not to place them at bad directions (again, refer to my FREE Feng Shui guide to know where these directions are). Besides, if you place them in the bedroom, put them near the end of the bed but not the head. This could enhance harmony and intimacy.

Feng Shui Interior Design (2) – Study Room, Toilet and Living Room [Master Class Lesson 6]

Hello! This is the second Feng Shui Interior Design lesson, also the sixth lesson of the Master Class. In the last class we learned the three critical elements of Feng Shui interior design – door, bedroom and kitchen. This time we shall learn the principles governing the interior design of other parts of your house/flat. Do you want to know how to design your study room/home office? Where should you pay attention to when designing the toilet? How to decorate the living room? We shall look at these topics in this lesson.

Feng Shui Interior Design – Study Room/Home Office

It is quite common nowadays to have home office in residential units. Many people who work freelance or even full time prefer and have the luxury to work at home. Even not, if you have a kid at home who goes to school, the study room is where you need to put a lot of efforts in when doing Feng Shui interior design for your house/flat.

To fully explain the requirements of a study room/home office, it would take the length of a whole book (in fact I have an e-book in this topic: Feng Shui Office – Your Quick Start Guide). Here we look at the essential elements that all Feng Shui masters consider when looking at the Feng Shui of a study or working place.

The above is a perfect setting of a desk for study or work. Because it conforms with all requirements. In regardless of directions and calculations, this is how an office should look like.

Firstly, there should be a solid backing support. Just like what we studied in the external Feng Shui lesson, it is preferred to have support at the back. The full height solid wall in the figure above meets this requirement. If the back of your seat is not firm and stable, e.g. an aisle, the sign of “flow” and “movement” would affect your career life.

Secondly, the left hand side is higher than the right hand side since the computer / cabinet is on the left. Why is this important? According to Form Feng Shui theory, left means benefactors (support) while right is bad person (challenge). In the past, when people find a location to build a house, they look for places where the mountain on the left is higher than the right.

We re-create the same in the office. The best situation is you have a full-height cabinet on the left hand side of the desk. If not, put the desktop computer or piles of documents on the left hand side of the desk. The ultimate goal is to have a higher-left and lower-right.

It is not difficult to achieve the second requirement, because you usually can decide what to put on your desk. But what if the back of my seating is not a wall? What could I do? Read the paragraph below.
Continue reading “Feng Shui Interior Design (2) – Study Room, Toilet and Living Room [Master Class Lesson 6]”

Feng Shui Living Room – The Do’s and Don’ts

To create a Feng Shui living room is one of the most common reasons for hiring a Feng Shui master. People spend a few hours a day in the living room, the Chi in this place definitely affects the well-being of the occupants.

How could you create a Feng Shui living room? Well there are many rules to follow and if you are serious about it, you’ve got to use a Feng Shui compass and do some calculations. Here in this article I will share with you some simple tips to create a a Feng Shui living room. Do not under-estimate the effects of these tips, although they are simple steps to take, doing all of them could bring you a good Feng Shui living room.

Feng Shui Living Room – Colors

You must have heard some other Feng Shui gurus telling you to use particular colors to create a Feng Shui living room. For example, some gurus say that red is perfect for all living rooms. On the other hand, I have seen other gurus recommending cold colors as the best for a Feng Shui living room. These universal advices may be true but I would prefer personalizing your living room according to either the need of your particular home or the birthday of yourself, since no two houses are equal, so as human being.

I wrote another article in this blog about choosing Feng Shui colors. These colors could improve your Chi and bring you luck. They are found according to your own year of birth, so they are more powerful in affecting you. You should consider using these colors in your Feng Shui living room.

Another simple way to choose colors for your Feng Shui living room is to follow the flying stars (飛星) of a particular year. According to the flying star theory, the most popular and powerful Feng Shui theory, there are 9 flying stars that relocate to different directions every year. Each of these flying stars carry different meaning and power. By using the appropriate colors you can absorb the positive energy of good flying stars. On the other hand, if you wrongly used some colors that trigger the bad effects of bad flying stars, you may attract bad luck.

To find out these colors and the locations of the flying stars of the current year, you need to know the flying star theory and five-element (五行) concept. If you do not have relevant knowledge or experience, I have prepared a handy Feng Shui 2013 Guidebook that teaches you how to do the best Feng Shui in year 2012. Simply find out in which direction your living room is, follow the instructions I gave about that particular direction, you can easily make a Feng Shui living room. You can download this book from the previous link or by registering using the form at the end of this article.

Feng Shui Living Room – Dynamic v.s. Static

Some people believe that the living room is where you watch TV and listen to music so it must be noisy. Some other people believe that the living room must be calm and silent so that people in the room could enjoy peace and harmony. Which one of these arguments is correct?

Both of them are true and false. It is illogical to mute your TV simply to ensure you have a silent living room. On the other hand, it is definitely not good frmo living science point of view to have a noisy living room. We need a balance here.

This is the dynamic v.s. static theory in Feng Shui. A Feng Shui living room should have a balance of both elements just like the Yin (陰) and yang (陽) of a Tai Chi (太極) symbol. What really matters is how you locate them. Generally speaking directions with bad flying stars should avoid all dynamic elements. On the other hand, you can use dynamic objects such as a clock, water fountain or TV to maximize the positive effects of good flying stars. Again, you can refer to my FREE guidebook for more information.

Another paramount rule to follow is timing. Obviously the living room could be a bit noisy and dynamic in day time but at night it should be calm and silent. Very logical, right?

Feng Shui Living Room – Mirrors

Mirror is the love and hate of Feng Shui masters. If used correctly they could magnify the positive effects of good flying stars. Conversely, mirrors could also be bad if placed wrongly since they could also and power-up the bad effects of bad flying stars. You should take great care about mirrors if you want a good Feng Shui living room.

It is quite common to find mirrors in modern day living rooms because many interior designs love using mirrors to create an illusion that the living room is enlarged. Make sure you check the directions before placing mirrors in the living room (and bed room, study room, etc… toilet is a different issue we may discuss separately).

Feng Shui Living Room – Lighting

A Feng Shui living room must have abundant lighting. Light is the source of energy. Believe it or not, a dark house may attract spirits according to Feng Shui theories.

Photo via Nicola, CC Licence

The best source of light is the sun. Natural daylight is far better than artificial lighting but if there are physical constraints in your house that the living room cannot get sufficient daylight, use artificial lighting. What does it mean by “sufficient lighting”? You can test by trying to read a book in the darkest corner of your living room. If you can easily read all the words, the living room is OK. The is a basic requirement for a Feng Shui living room.

Want more tips for your Feng Shui living room? Want a luckier and healthier year? Download my FREE Feng Shui guide book and subscribe to my FREE Feng Shui newsletter now!