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.