The kitchen represents the manifestation of the family’s well-being and wealth.

It is useful for pressing down bad luck caused by bad flying star number or personalized directions of bad fortune. According to the Eight Mansions and Flying Star formulas, certain sectors of the house are deemed to be unlucky. If your kitchen is located in an unlucky sector this is a good thing.

Two Important Elements feature in the kitchen:

Guidelines on the kitchen and stove

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The bedroom is where you get your rest and the importance of this part of the home cannot be stressed enough. While the living room is the go-to room to activate the small tai chi of your Home Feng Shui, most of us co-habitate; i.e we are not the only ones living in the house we live in. So unless you’re the head of the household with a free hand to design and decorate as you wish, chances are you’re not in a position to simply move furniture around.

Placing cures and enhancers perhaps is more doable, but completely overhauling your layout each month when the stars change position, for instance, may not be so straight forward. Your personal bedroom however is your own space for you to do with as you please.

Learning to achieve near perfect feng shui in your bedroom is especially useful for college or boarding school students who may be living most of the year in a room away from home, where the feng shui of that room may affect them more than the feng shui of their “family home”, where they spend only the holiday part of their year.

Here then are 10 useful things to remember when planning the feng shui for your bedroom.

1. POSITION OF BED IS MOST IMPORTANT

The first thing to remember is that in your bedroom, the positioning of your bed is THE most important. If there is one thing you can improve, it would be this – to make sure you sleep with your head pointed to one of your four good directions. Check your auspicious directions with our Kua Calculator and have your head point to a direction that’s good for you.

If you’re working, best to tap your Sheng Chi direction. If you’re a student, tap your Fu Wei direction. If you’re a full-time homemaker, your Nien Yen is best for you. Those with health issues should have their head point to their Tien Yi direction.

If you’re a student and having to pick smallish rooms where you have limited freedom to move the furniture within about, the first thing to do when picking your dorm room is to try to go for one where the bed position satisfies the good direction rule according to your personalized Kua.

2. COLOUR SCHEMES MATTER

Your bedroom colour scheme is the other important factor to take into consideration. The safest colour for the bedroom is white, or some other neutral colour like cream or beige which is soothing on your eyes. Remember that the bedroom is firstly your place where you recharge, so avoid large blocks of bright primary colours. If you want edgy, use your soft bedding like pillows, cushions or beanbags to give yourself a splash of colour. Don’t do it with the colours of your walls or other big surfaces such as wall-to-wall carpets or curtains.

3. HAVE A SOLID WALL BEHIND YOUR HEADBOARD

Don’t let your bed float in the middle of the room just to tap into a good direction positioning. Beds should also always have proper headboards, and these should be aligned with a solid wall. If you want to position your bed where there are windows instead of a solid wall behind the headboard of the bed, best if you can cover up the window with heavy enough drapes while you are sleeping, so you cannot “see” the window. Otherwise you will lack stability and support in your life.

4. WATER FEATURES IN BEDROOM CAN CAUSE “LOSS” ENERGIES

Avoid water features of any kind in the bedroom. This includes art featuring water like scenes of ponds, pools, the sea or waterfalls. No matter how restful such paintings may look to you, water of any kind in the bedroom can lead to money loss energies. And definitely avoid tabletop fountains, waterfalls and the like in the bedroom.

5. AVOID “DEATH POSITION”

Never ever have the foot of your bed directly facing the door. Better if your bed is placed diagonal to the door into your bedroom. Do not have your feet aligned with the door into your bedroom as this is the “Death position” and is extremely dangerous from a Feng Shui viewpoint.

6. STAY AWARE OF MONTHLY INFLUENCES

Check which sector your bedroom is located in, in relation to the whole house. Then stay aware firstly of the yearly flying star that occupies that sector, and also by monthly stars that fly in each month. When the month flying stars change position, the new stars of the month that have the greatest impact on you after your own animal sign sector will be the sector in which you reside. Whenever your bedroom gets afflicted by the negative stars of #5, #7 or #2, it is a warning to be careful. Such months, minimize the risks you take, and if possible, install the relevant feng shui cures to counter any ill effects of such stars.

7. ELIMINATE POISON ARROWS

Poison arrows are the other thing you always need to watch out for, everywhere in the home but especially in your bedroom, as this is where you are most vulnerable, since this is your place of sleep. Make sure there are no poison arrows aimed where you are positioned when you’re in bed.

This includes overhead beams, protruding corners or edges from structural beams, sharp corners of cabinets etc. If there are such poison arrows pointed at your bed, look how you can camouflage them or better still, move your bed out of the line of fire.

8. NO MIRRORS IN BEDROOM

Avoid exposed mirrors in your bedroom. Keep these within cabinets where you can hide the mirror when you sleep by shutting the door. Exposed mirrors can cause sleeplessness and will definitely hamper a restful night’s sleep.

9. KEEP TVs IN THE TV ROOM

Keep TVs and computers out of your bedroom. If you’re a student and your bedroom doubles up as your study, try to keep your sleep and study areas distinct if possible. If not, then in such cases, a laptop you can close during sleep hours is preferable to a desktop monitor which you cannot cover up during sleep time.

10. REMEMBER TO DECLUTTER REGULARLY

Lastly, and this point is important, remember to declutter from time to time! Really, clutter builds up so quickly and if you don’t make it a habit to schedule in periodic spring cleans, before long, such a lot of junk will have accumulated and this is definitely not good feng shui. If you find yourself scatter-brained, forgetful, stressed out or disorganized, a good way to snap out of that mindset is to clear and clean out your bedroom.

Clear out your closet of tee shirts that have gone grubby with too many washes, give away clothes that no longer fit you, clear out your desk of old receipts, clothes labels and outdated correspondence, dispose of old makeup and creams that are probably expired.

The mere act of spring cleaning is therapeutic and symbolically representative of making new space in your life for new things and new opportunities to enter.

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Roads are important purveyors of chi energy, especially for those who live in modern city environments. The approach roads to your home as well as major highways that surround your neighbourhood exert a far greater effect on your feng shui than you realize. Feng shui manuals that deal with the significance of roads are usually compass-based. This is because the direction of traffic flow is what determines the road’s effect – either benevolent or pernicious – on the feng shui of dwellings around it. In this article, Lillian Too offers some important pointers on the effect of roads on your feng shui.

First determine the “strength” of the roads around your home. When the road is a big one with plenty of traffic, the strength and potency of the chi generated is more powerful than if it were merely a small lane. City roads are said to exert great chi strength, but highways are usually even stronger. When the direction of the road is favourable to your home, then the stronger the road is, the more good luck it brings. Likewise, when the direction of flow is unfavourable, its negative effect is also greater.

Second, determine the speed of traffic flow. As a rule of thumb, when the traffic moves very fast, the chi created along the road is like a bullet bringing negative harmful energy. When the flow of traffic moves slowly, its chi energy is a lot more benevolent and therefore much more positive in its effects. Thus secondary roads (like those within suburban neighbourhoods, gated communities or housing estates) usually bring better feng shui than primary roads, ring roads or highways.

Thirdly, winding roads are generally more benevolent than straight roads. Roads that either “hug” your home or apartment building, or are winding in their approach towards your home usually bring better feng shui than roads that come straight at your entrance. In fact, when roads are straight and head directly towards your home or building, they take on the form of poison arrows. Such roads are generally considered bad feng shui.

Fourthly, elevated roads tend to be more harmful than roads that are on the same level as your home. Even when you live in an apartment building, unless you live on the upper levels, elevated roads can be very harmful when they seem to “cut” into your building. One can use element cures to counter the slicing effect of such roads, but generally they are hard to remedy. This is because roads usually carry very strong chi energy.

Fifth, when your home is sandwiched between two roads, the effect on your feng shui also tends to be negative. It is worse if one road is higher and another is lower. It is also worse when the road that is lower is behind your house, as this suggests there is absolutely no support. This is considered one of the danger configurations of roads.

Finally, take note of the direction of flow of the road and how it approaches your home, how it passes your front entrance, and how it flows away from the home. These compass directions offer detailed information on how the road affects the feng shui of your house or building. It also affects the feng shui of offices buildings. This is a compass-based formula that combines the information contained in the Yin and Yang Pa Kua arrangements of trigrams to reveal the kind of roads that bring different kinds of good or bad luck. The direction of roads is taken from the front of the house. If you have roads that pass your house, observe them carefully and take note of two important directions:

1. the direction that the traffic on the road is flowing
2. the direction of its incoming traffic and the direction of its outgoing traffic.

Stand just outside your house and take the direction of the road traffic coming towards the house and also the direction of the traffic leaving the house. Note that as long as you can see the road, it has an effect on the feng shui of your home.

1

Road bringing help from Influential People
Traffic comes in from the South and leaves in a Northwest direction.

This is regarded an excellent direction of traffic flow around your house or building. This road brings the luck of helpful people, wealth, success and continuous business luck. However, do note that traffic must move towards the house from the South and the road must then turn away from the house in a Northwest direction. It must not move in the opposite direction ( i.e. coming in from the NW and going away in a South direction.) When it moves in the opposite direction, the road brings loss, misfortune and sometimes even death, most likely to the breadwinner of the family. If the traffic of the road moves in both directions, the effect of the road is neutral.

2

ROAD BRINGING GOOD FAMILY LUCK
Traffic comes in from the North and moves out in a Southwest direction.

This road brings great family luck which includes love, romance and marriage luck. Residents living in such a house enjoy harmony within the family. This road comes from the North, goes past your front door, then moves towards the distance until it disappears from view in a SW direction. Traffic on the road must come from the North and move away in a SW direction and not the other way around. If the traffic flow is the other way around, the house suffers loss of the family unit, ending in misfortune and sometimes even early death to the matriarch of the family. When the traffic is moving in both directions, the effect of the road is neutral.

3

ROAD THAT BRINGS GOOD HEALTH
Traffic comes in from the Northeast and goes out in a East direction.

This road brings good fortune to the eldest son of the family as well as robust health to all residents of the household. This road direction – coming from the NE and moving past your front door, then going towards the distance until it disappears from view in an East direction – is a good fortune direction. However, the flow of traffic must not be the other way around. If it is, it results in loss, misfortune and sometimes even death to the eldest (or only) son of the family.

4

ROAD THAT BRINGS WEALTH
Traffic comes in from the Southwest and goes out in a Southeast direction.

This road brings wealth and prosperity. It is also a road that tends to favour the women of the family, bringing them the luck to accumulate assets and property. Here the traffic on the road comes towards the house from the SW, goes past the front door then goes out towards the distance until it disappears from view in a SE direction. However, the road must not move the other way around. If it does it has the potential to bring misfortune luck and loss of wealth.

5

ROAD THAT BRINGS ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Traffic comes in from the Northwest and moves out in a Northeast direction.

This road favours the youngest son and brings academic success to the children of the family. Here the road comes from the NW, moves past the front of the house, then moves towards the distance until it disappears from view in a NE direction. If you have this kind of road, it brings knowledge and wisdom luck. It also brings recognition and scholastic achievements. However, the road must not be moving in the opposite direction as this will bring bad luck to the youngest son and to other young boys living in the household.

6

ROAD THAT BRINGS GOOD DESCENDANTS LUCK
Traffic comes in from the Southeast and moves away in a West direction.

This road brings excellent descendents luck to the family. It comes towards the house from the SE, moves past the front door, then goes towards the distance until it disappears from view in a West direction. However, the road must flow towards the house from the SE and flow away from the house in a West direction, and not the other way around.

7

ROAD THAT BRINGS RECOGNITION AND UPWARD MOBILITY
Traffic comes in from the East and moves out in a South direction.

This road brings recognition luck to the residents of the household. It comes from the East, moves past the front, then moves towards the distance until it disappears from view in a South direction. The road must not move in the opposite direction. If it does it can cause the family to lose its good name, and fame then turns to notoriety.

8

ROAD THAT BRINGS EXCELLENT CAREER LUCK
Traffic comes in from the West and moves out in a North direction.

This road brings excellent income and career luck and favours those in working life. It comes from the West, moves past the front door and moves towards the distance until it disappears from view in a North direction. The road should not move in the opposite direction as this brings bad career luck for the residents.

The post The Effect of Roads on Your Feng Shui appeared first on WOFS.com.

When we analyze the Feng Shui of a home, one of the key areas to look at is the kitchen. The kitchen is believed to be the source of a family’s wealth due to its function of producing food. This is where food is prepared and is often also where family and friends gather. As such, the energies within this space have an important bearing on the overall luck of the family and household.

Here are some guidelines to follow when designing your kitchen.

1. BACK OF THE HOME IS BEST

It is best for kitchens to be situated at the back of the home, as those located in front are believed to weaken the family’s wealth luck. You need to avoid the SW or NW of the home as well. When a kitchen is located in the SW, it negatively impacts the luck of the Mother; while in the NW, it badly afflicts the luck of the Father. If your kitchen happens to be in one of these sectors, make sure that, at the least,your stove is not located in the SW or NW sectors of the kitchen itself.

2. AVOID HAVING STOVE UNDER A BEDROOM OR TOILET

When planning the layout of your kitchen, the location of the cooking stove is very important. Having the cooking stove located under a bedroom or worse, directly under a bed, brings bad luck to its occupants as it signifies being burnt by extreme Fire chi. Apart from repositioning the bed, you can also place a piece of natural crystal (Yang Earth) under the bed to weaken the shar chi.

The toilet is where unwanted waste and dirt is washed away, thus having your cooking stove below it severely impacts the health of your family. This also holds the symbolic meaning of flushing your wealth away.

3. BEDROOM & TOILET DOORS SHOULD NOT FACE KITCHEN

Bedroom and toilet doors should never open out directly into the kitchen as this feature puts you in the line of shar chi, weakening everyone’s health. When it comes to toilet doors, the reasoning is as much about feng shui as it is about practicality. After all, it is a terrible idea to have a toilet in the same vicinity as your food preparation!

4. DON’T HAVE MAIN DOOR FACING KITCHEN ENTRANCE

The main door of your home should never face the entrance to the kitchen as this leads to unnecessary bills and expenditures. This is also why having an open concept home where the kitchen shares the same space as the living room is not considered lucky.

5. AVOID EXPOSED OVERHEAD BEAMS

Exposed overhead beams are not encouraged in any part of the home because they bring “pressing down” chi, creating undue pressure and emotional stress in those who spend time beneath them. If you are feeling down all the time and unmotivated, have a look up at your ceiling. There just may be some exposed beams causing problems. This can be fixed by installing a false ceiling.

6. SEPARATE YOUR STOVE & SINK

Placing your stove right next to the kitchen sink leads to disharmony within the family, not to mention risk of injury due to splashing of hot oil when you cook. There should be at least a 3-ft gap. This also applies to ovens, electric kettles, rice cookers and deep fryers in relation to the sink.

7. KEEP STOVE & FRIDGE APART

The refrigerator represents Yin chi as it helps preserve food; the stove emits strong Yang chi which we use for cooking. There is thus a clash of Yin and Yang when they are placed right next to each other. Keep them apart for a more harmonious flow of chi.

8. MAINTAIN A CLEAN & WORKING KITCHEN

Declutter regularly. Keep the kitchen clean and organized. Broken countertops, leaking faucets and cabinets in disrepair bring obstacles. Fix them as soon as they get broken or stop working. Drinking and eating from chipped plates, bowls and cups likewise impacts very negatively on the luck of the user, so make it a point to get rid of broken dinnerware immediately. Kitchen knives and cutlery should be kept in drawers when not in use.

9. THE MORE BURNERS ON THE STOVE, THE BETTER

When deciding on a stove, go for those with more than one burner, as a single burner means having only one source of income. Chinese families always emphasize the importance of having many sources of income, so the more burners on the stove, the better!

10. BEWARE MIRRORS

While mirrors signify abundance when they reflect food on your table and multiply happiness when family members eat together, do not have mirrors reflect the stove or oven. Doing so generates excess Fire chi, which brings danger of accidents and disasters.

11. AVOID PLANTS IN THE KITCHEN

Never decorate your kitchen exclusively in green or place too many plants or flowers there. This introduces too much Wood chi, which can overly strengthen the Fire chi of the kitchen.

The post 11 Feng Shui Tips for Creating the Perfect Kitchen appeared first on WOFS.com.

Creating a balanced and positively energized home is the essence of living with good feng shui. The living room, in particular, is exceptionally important, as that is where the family congregates, where a lot of home entertaining is done, and thus a space that gets constantly energized with activity. For a household to enjoy good feng shui, this part of the home must be welcoming to all who enter it and be filled with good chi.

Here are some easy steps to instantly improve the feng shui of your living room.

1) DECLUTTER & KEEP IT TIDY

Remove all clutter and give the living room a good spring clean. Clutter creates stagnant energy, retains negative chi, and blocks the flow of good chi. By removing old, damaged or unwanted items, you allow new energies to permeate the space. Clear tabletops and wipe down figurines, photo frames and any memorabilia you want to keep, and throw out those that you don’t. Open your curtains, windows and doors at least once a day, to allow fresh air and sunlight in.

2) SPACE CLEARING

Burn some incense and use ringing bells or singing bowls to clear the living room of any stale chi. This is especially helpful if there’s been a recent argument that took place in the space.

3) BALANCE THE 5 ELEMENTS

The five elements – Earth, Metal, Water, Wood, and Fire – represent the cycles of nature that determine our health and well-being. When the elements are in balance, it allows good fortune and happiness to manifest for everyone at home. When out of balance, they bring emotional turmoil and conflicts between residents. Make sure you have all the 5 elements in your living room. You can use the elements themselves, or shapes and colors that represent the 5 elements.

• EARTH colors are earthy brown, yellow and beige.The shapes that represent Earth are squares. Natural crystals are a wonderful enhancer of Earth chi.
• METAL colors are white, purple, gray and metallic.The shapes that represent Metal are spheres and circles. Furniture and decorative items made from brass, copper or other metals can be used to strengthen the Metal element.
• WATER colors are black and all the shades of blue. The shapes that represent Water are curvy and wavy. Water features such as aquariums and water bowls can be used to enhance the Water element.
• WOOD colors are all shades of green. The shapes that represent Wood are rectangles and columns. Indoor plants are great for strengthening Wood chi.
• FIRE colors are red, maroon and orange. The shape that represents Fire is the triangle. Lights, lamps and candles are fabulous enhancers of the Fire element.

4) GET THE RIGHT SEATING POSITIONS

The direction each family member sits in when gathering in the living room is also important. If possible, everyone should sit facing one of their lucky directions. This will help to ensure family harmony within the home. You can look up your lucky and unlucky directions with our KUA CALCULATOR.

Orientate your sofa set, chairs and TV so that family members can sit facing one of their 4 lucky directions. There should be a comfortable seat for each member of the household. Have extra seats for guests as well, as everyone should feel welcome and accommodated. Ideally, seats should face each other to invite conversation and interaction. Remove clutter or any obstructions that may prevent you from walking comfortably around the seats, and minimize having people sit with their back towards the door.

DO’S & TABOOS FOR THE LIVING ROOM

• Create a collection of items that are meaningful such as mementos of family trips and family photos. Make sure what you choose conveys happy energies. When you see these items, they should bring a smile to your face.
• DO NOT display paintings or photographs of fierce animals such as tigers in the living room. Weapons like guns and swords should be avoided as well.
• While live plants bring life-giving chi, not all plants are equally lucky. Avoid plants with thorns or sharp leaves such as cactus or anything that looks threatening.
• A Laughing Buddha in the living room is a great addition to enhance happiness and togetherness energies.
  
• Longevity symbols are excellent, especially for the elderly generation living within the home. Display cranes, peaches, the God of Longevity, or Fuk Luk Sau to represent a fulfilled life with everything you need.
• A wonderful activator for the SOUTH part of the living room are the 9 Rainbow Horses or Rising Phoenix. These bring fame and fortune to all the family, and new opportunities.
• A Ru Yi or pair of Dragon Horse in the NORTH part of the living room enhances promotion and career luck.

The post Creating Good Feng Shui in the Living Room appeared first on WOFS.com.

We spend about one third of our day in our bedrooms, so the energies here are of utmost importance. Positive feng shui features in the bedroom can enhance your wealth, protect your health, improve your relationships and bring happiness and career success, while negative feng shui features do just the opposite. Use the list below to set your sleeping arrangement up in a way most conducive for attracting good fortune.

1. Never float your bed in the middle of the room

Always have your headboard firmly against a wall.This way, you sleep with proper support, which ensures you get better quality sleep through the night. If unable to do this, place the Great Magic Tortoise on the floor beside your bed. However, note that your headboard must not share a wall with the bathroom on the other side.

2. Avoid sleeping under exposed overhead beams

Sleeping beneath an overhead beam signifies carrying an immense load or burden on your shoulders, making life more difficult, and success much harder to achieve.This becomes worse if you live in an apartment with many floors above you, as then you symbolically have the weight of every structural beam from the floors above pressing down on you. The best solution is to move your bed. If you cannot, then at least try to “cover” them up with ceiling boards.

3. Watch out for sharp corners

Sharp corners from vertical columns and support pillars that point towards your bed are “poison arrows” that send out shar or “killing” chi. When pointed towards you as you sleep, this can be extremely dangerous, and can cause illness, mishaps and bad luck to hit you. Wrap these columns up or place a tall piece of furniture to block them,so that the sharp edges are no longer pointed towards you.

4. Never sleep with your feet pointed towards the door

This is known as the death position, as coffins leave homes feet first. When your feet are pointed directly towards the door as you sleep, you are also directly in the line of fire of chi as it enters the room. This can cause illness, and also fertility problems. If you cannot position your bed in another way, install a partition between your bed and the door, to redirect the flow of chi so it does not come directly at you.

5. Sleep with head pointed to a lucky direction

Sleep with your head pointed towards one of your lucky directions. If you are trying to conceive, or if feeling unwell, you should sleep towards your “Tien Yi” direction (the “Heavenly Doctor” direction) and display a Wu Lou on your bedside table. If you are single and looking for love, tap your “Nien Yen” direction and activate for marriage luck with your Peach Blossom Animal. If looking for career success and advancement, sleep with head pointed towards your “Sheng Chi” direction.To find out what your best directions are, use our online Kua Number Calculator.

6. Follow Husband’s Directions

For married couples, it is customary to follow the husband’s lucky directions. However, if the wife is the breadwinner, her lucky direction will work just as well. Husbands should sleep on the right side of the bed while wives should sleep on their husband’s left.

7. Keep plants out of bedroom

Live plants and all forms of water features have no place in the bedroom. Also avoid hanging photos or paintings of lakes, rivers and waterfalls here, as this can bring severe misfortune and bad luck to occupants.

8. Beware Mirrors

Mirrors in the bedroom should never reflect the bed. Doing so introduces“third parties” into the marriage. Either remove, reposition or cover up the mirror when not in use.

9. Breakfast in bed not great

While it can be romantic, having breakfast in bed is actually very bad feng shui. You can try this when on holiday in a hotel but never do this in your own home. Eating in bed creates the kind of negative energies that represent being physically, mentally or emotionally unwell.

10. Avoid setting up altars in the bedroom

Ideally, as a sign of respect to the heavenly deities, prayer altars should never be placed in the bedroom. But if you have no other option, place the altar in a cupboard with proper doors. This way, you can open them up when performing your prayers, and keep them closed at all other times.

11. Declutter regularly

Clutter is a big no-no in any space but especially in the bedroom. As a place for rest and recuperation, you should keep it as neat and tidy as possible. A well-organized bedroom lets you focus on winding down at the end of a long day.

12. Better not to have work desk in bedroom

Best not to place your work desk in your bedroom as well, as this will make it harder for you to mentally disengage from work matters, affecting the quality of your rest and sleep as a result.

13. Separate bath and bedroom

Bathrooms should always be separated from bedrooms by a proper wall. Using glass walls or windows opening to the bathroom can cause marital problems and can bring about 3rd party interferences.

14. Let fresh air in

Open curtains and windows daily to allow fresh air and sunshine into your bedroom. This allows healthy Yang chi to permeate the space and dissolve any negativity.

15. Space clearing

A good way to keep the energies in your bedroom from going stagnant is to perform a space clearing ritual using incense and a singing bowl. Once a month is sufficient to refresh the energies there.

The post Best Practices for Good Bedroom Feng Shui appeared first on WOFS.com.

Everyone knows now that WATER is the key to unlocking prosperity in feng shui, that the shui in feng shui brings the exciting results everyone wants – enhanced wealth. There are so many different formulas one can follow, so many ways to build the Water Dragon, and all that Flying Star stuff, as well as focusing attention on water stars and water flows – that it can all get a bit confusing, especially since not everyone who installs a fountain or pool in their home instantly gets richer. Why is this ? LILLIAN TOO explains smart ways with WATER and reveals some hidden taboos that sometimes block rather than bring wealth luck.

I have often explained that WATER in feng shui brings enhanced income luck and there are different ways of building water features and designing water flows in and around the home to attract this very sought-after result of using feng shui. For sure, when there is a view of water, the feng shui of any abode instantly improves and the best is to have one’s home built near a natural body of water – a lake or a river – and then creating an orientation to the home so that the cosmic forces help one to harvest the riches from the river or to tap into the wealth of the lake. This is where a skilled feng shui master can really help you to capture the luck of the water.

Natural fresh water lakes and rivers that have their source in the high mountains are the most potent in bringing good wealth luck, especially if these waters have been flowing for thousands of years. It is when one can build near such a flow or body of water that it really benefits to get a feng shui master genuinely skilled in the ways of the COMPASS to make sure your home is tilted exactly right to capture the water.

To get this orientation correctly requires the feng shui expert to engage the cosmic forces of that particular environment. Believe me, the orientation exercise can be tricky. It is easy to make mistakes. One needs to know exactly how to use the compass and precisely how to create the facing direction of the home (or building). But get it right and riches should flow to the residents of the home easily and effortlessly. Usually this exercise is best done with the help of the third dimension i.e. engaging the help of the landlord spirits of the land.

But we do not all live near lakes or rivers… people like us must create our own water flows and our own bodies of water – ponds or pools of water that are near enough, deep enough and yang enough to simulate the prosperity-bringing properties of natural water. This is possible only if you live on landed property; only then is it possible to create auspicious water that benefits your home.

The good news about water is that there are probably four or five SPOTS around your home where its presence would either enhance prosperity luck for you or subdue afflictive luck coming from harmful structures in the surrounding environment. Learning to position your water correctly is part of what good feng shui is about.

Thus for instance the front of the house where the front door is located i.e. what we in feng shui term your facing palace, is where the presence of a body of water is most helpful. In this part of the house, having yang water here would definitely enhance your growth luck and increase your net worth. This is based on the sheng chi energy located in the facing palace, and since sheng chi is of the Wood element, Water here helps the Wood grow and expand. So water at the front of the house is always a very beneficial feature.

Then comes the difficult part…

Do we create the water inside or outside the house? Here, different feng shui experts recommend different things. Some prefer the water to be outside gathering the chi and then wafting into the home through an open door or window, while other experts firmly maintain that having water inside the home, in the vicinity of the foyer area, is what will get the prosperity chi moving.

For me, I have water both outside as well as inside the home… and inside the home I prefer to place the water on the left side of the main door, as water in the middle (very good for period of 8) is not convenient for me, while water on the right will cause me too much headache in case my husband develops a heightened libido for sweet young things! To avoid this problem, I have made very sure my water is on the left side of the main door. But definitely I want water also inside the house.

Water inside the home near the foyer area, near the main door and if possible placed in the facing palace of the home is very auspicious. This is also something that can quite easily be built; and APARTMENT dwellers can also have this kind of prosperity-bringing water. The only problem is that water is most effective when it is dug into the ground. There has to be at least some kind of depth to the water – and according to the old Masters I consulted with in the old days, the deeper the water at the front of the house, the deeper will be your wealth luck! That is why building wells in the backyard or near the front of the house in the appropriate Compass location is simply so beneficial.

But while water that fills up a hole dug into the earth is the most auspicious, this is not something that can be done carelessly. Note that to have a pond of water inside the house YOU MUST INCORPORATE THIS INTO YOUR PLANS WHILE BUILDING THE HOUSE. You must not dig inside your house once you have moved in. Digging a hole in a ground inside the home especially if you or your family are living within is so BAD, and is such a TABOO, that it can cause the family to lose the house altogether and to become bankrupt.

Now that’s the secret taboo! If you want to build water inside your home, make sure it gets done before you move in. You cannot and must not dig inside the home. This disturbs the EARTH SPIRITS of your home – and the repercussions can be extremely severe.

ANOTHER SOLUTION. Or you can do what I did!

I had a very nice pond outside my house in the Seventies when my house was first built. That time my knowledge of feng shui was quite inadequate so we kept the water outside the house. It brought me luck but small luck! After I returned from my nine years in Hong Kong, I was armed with more serious knowledge of feng shui. I decided to expand my home by building around the pond, hence wrapping it around and bringing it into the home.

This signified bringing the wealth represented by the water into the home. The effect of this simple move and of the renovation did wonders for us in terms of enhancing our feng shui. Basically I had successfully brought the lucky water inside without digging.

The post Water Smarts: Wrapping Round Rather Than Digging appeared first on WOFS.com.

One of the key elements in feng shui is the understanding of the concept of space. Through the use of formulas, directions and charts, we can identify which areas of the home are suitable for each of us. However, to maximize the potential of these areas, we need to be able to create a ‘space’ which evokes a positive emotional response. How we feel, how we act and even how we live is directly attributed to what we see and experience in our environment.

THE OPEN PLAN

Through the Space Dimension of feng shui, we look into ways of creating spaces that help promote a sense of freedom and harmony. One of the key elements in the space dimension technique is the open space plan concept. Through an open plan concept, we are able to locate different areas (living, dining, entertainment or reading) of the home within a single space, thereby allowing each area to stand independently from one another, yet be held together by the overall space.

This enables the room to ‘grow’ exponentially, giving an illusion of a space that is larger than it actually is. This allows us to breathe more easily and to experience the true concept of abundance and growth. It helps promote family values and allows each individual family member to do their own thing yet be interconnected to one another, making any everyday task a social family event.

Another major advantage of an open plan is the ability for the energies of the home to flow from one corner to another freely and unobstructed. It is therefore important to identify which areas of the home are deemed auspicious based on the Flying Star natal chart. By organizing your open living right, auspicious star combinations can be magnified further, thus the household may reap maximum benefits from its potent energy. For example, look for sectors within the home that contain either the water or mountain star #8 and make these sectors the center of the open plan layout. This allows the energies of the #8 stars to overwhelm the other corners, thus strengthening its influence over the adjacent flying star combinations.

Another method in designing an open plan is to break the spaces up through the use of partition walls to highlight a sense of privacy from one room to another, yet leaving it open enough such that the seamless energy flow is maintained. In the example here, the living and dining areas are divided into their own zones with a feature cabinet, yet the window façade and floor patterns accentuates the open plan concept to link both areas together as one.

USING CEILING HEIGHT

If we are limited by the footprint we are given, another method is to play with the vertical element of the space. By designing your living area to accommodate for a double height volume, it allows you to experience an explosion of space through its volumetric effect. In this example, the upper sitting area provides a more private experience, while the lower living is more open and public. This energetic setting allows the family to interact at different floors of the home, yet allowing the architecture to create a visual barrier between private and public zones, all without the use of walls or partitions. This design method captivates the concept of a fluid energy flow, to resonate throughout the house, and spatial freedom.

BRINGING THE OUTDOORS INDOORS

Another way to expand your space is to borrow from the exterior landscape. In scenarios where we are limited by our physical space, we can consider enveloping the exterior views into the home through the use of floor to ceiling windows. This technique allows us to bring the exterior landscape indoors, thus giving the spatial experience we require without compromising on our physical footprint.

One thing to remember is that space is 3-dimensional. In homes that do not have the luxury of physical space or exterior views, we can always look up into the sky. By creating a powerful skylight effect, it allows our visual experience to be drawn up into the sky where the sky itself becomes our landscape palette. This not only allows us to bring in vibrant sun yang energy into the home but also creates an emotional experience of living where nature plays a vital role in setting our moods in the room.

5 ELEMENT OPEN PLAN LIVING

Another aspect of the space dimension to highlight is the balance of elements in the home. To create a balanced home, it is important to balance out the elements of the finishes within the living space. You do not want to have too much of one element that overwhelms any other, else it may create an unsettling effect. To adopt a 5-element design concept, we would need to introduce the element of Wood through plants and greenery. With Fire energy, the living space should have ample lighting to create vibrancy to its atmosphere. Earth energy, is represented through the flooring material to give a solid base and effect. Metal energy is introduced through the colour of walls with further accents added using the window and door finishes. Water energy is created through physical water, where the sounds and feel of water help create a soothing oasis for the space.

In designing your space, always look into the Space Dimension of Feng Shui to understand how space itself is a living entity and how it can help enhance our lives as well as the energies of our home. Look into the physical aspect of space and how you can use that to expand your home. Or capture the exterior views into the home to create the visual illusion of space and finally, understand how the elements we introduce the space can find balance in the energy of the home.

The post Design and Feng Shui: The Space Dimension appeared first on WOFS.com.

To integrate Feng Shui with Design as a 3-dimensional entity, we need to learn how to visualize space and imagine our experiences. It is through our imaginations that we are able to see the world in our mind in a 3-dimensional spectrum and create a sense of visual experience. And it is this visual experience that gives us the excitement and creativity to transform our homes.

Visual Awareness

Visual aids such as 3-dimensional renderings and models, offer us a glimpse of what a space may look like, but it doesn’t give us the sense of what a space may feel like. Remember that ‘Experiencing’ a space is different from ‘Seeing’ a space. How a space feels like is determined by how we arrange our interior décor, from the type of furniture designs we select, to the fabrics and paintings we decide upon.

For example, refer to Scenario 1, the type of furnishing we select in our living areas affects our visual awareness and experiences. Close your eyes and imagine what a space would feel like in these two scenarios. The first, includes a modern-style sofa set in beige calf-skin leather, complimented with a dark brown central carpet. Design accents on the walls help to create a dynamic approach to the space, but what ultimately is experienced is a collision of visuals. The reason: the settee set is trying to organize a flow within the room, but the wall motifs exuberate their own authority in the space, thereby creating a confrontation. What happens is that our initial glimpse and feel of the room is torn between these 2 elements, thereby causing us to feel some discomfort when entering.

The next scenario allows the furniture set to take focus in the overall space, whereby the play of light and dark tone colours between the sofa, carpet and flooring helps to create a distinctive yet pleasing environment for living. It is how we select and arrange the different tone issues between the furniture and architecture that affects our visual awareness of any space.

Volumetric Change

One of the key elements in the 3-dimensionality of a space is the change in height and volume. When we move from one space to another, any change in levels will have an effect on our perception of the space and our mood. For example, when we move from a single to a double volume space, our initial reaction is a sense of volumetric explosion which translates into a sensation of freedom. However, if this change in level is too great, this sense of freedom turns into a void as we start to shrink within the space. Similarly, when we shift from a higher to a lower level space, we tend to experience a sensation of comfort and intimacy, but if not controlled, it may cause our moods to turn sour and claustrophobic.

Sound

Sound plays a vital ingredient in creating energy within the home. It may be considered one of the hardest visualization elements in experiencing space, as we need to identify the type and location of the source of sound, and how we want this sound to resonate through the home. In reality, the main source of sound tends to be noise from the roads, and other exterior elements. So the concept of sound plays two major roles in our home experience.

The first category is to block off noise, but to do so in balance with your internal environment. To block off noise, a few techniques may be employed, for example, by planting tall tower trees to help disperse sound as well as provide vital shade from heat. Another way is to install an efficient glazing system such as a Fascina window, which not only helps to insulate sound but provides solid protection from pollution. It is however imperative to control your space, as too much sound insulation may take a negative yin effect, as total silence will cause our bodies to feel disoriented and discomforted.

The next category of sound is sound that you want to hear within the home; whether a water feature, or music, the location of the source in relationship to your useable areas plays a vital role. For such features, the ideal scenario is to locate such features a stone’s throw away from your place of use, such as the living or dining areas. By doing so, it allows such features to stand out by themselves, nicely complimenting your space. Having it too close or too far away may allow such sounds to overwhelm the space or to become too inaudible to experience. The ideal level to achieve is by controlling the sound levels such that it acts as a background sound to compliment the overall atmosphere.

Touch

When we talk about ‘touch’, we refer to the physical interaction with your building materials. The choice of material plays an important role in setting up the mood for the room. That is why material sample palettes play a vital role in allowing us to select which materials go where. The common mistake is that many people tend to select such materials based on the look. While it is not wrong to look at a material and select it based on aesthetics, we should take a step further and select the material based on the mood you are trying to achieve.

For example, timber texture tones tend to set a ‘homely’ feel, as it allows the design to adopt a warm look, yet a colder feel. As such, timber textures tend to be the preferred choice of materials for the bedroom. However, when we combine materials together such as timber and stone, or timber and carpets, or even stone and carpets, we are able to create an array of mood transitions for the different areas of the home.

Timber and stone works well for more public areas such as the living and dining areas, so with a timber border and stone inlay concept, the timber acts as a bordering pattern that helps bring out the beauty of the stone, and also eliminating any monotony in the overall design. Furthermore, the tactile nature of these materials allow our inner psyche to identify that any change in material means a change from one area to the next, thereby enhancing our anticipation through design.

Colours

Finally, colours play a vital role in guiding us through the home. When employing the use of Feng Shui concepts, we may consider the use of colours based on the individual sectors of the home as a basic guideline. In this manner, we can select colours that are beneficial to such areas. However, the application determines how we make a space look good or bad. This is the basic concept of Yin and Yang, whereby we need to strike the right tone and balance to achieve the right look.

Depending on the space and flow through the home, we use colours to draw attention towards key areas of the home, either a picture frame window, a feature wall or even a vignette into another part of the home. Similarly, we use colours and wall covering textures to hide certain areas of the home such as the utility zones or storage areas. By doing so, it helps to lift the experiential appeal of the home to a different level, as it not only de-clutters the visual outlook of the space, but lifts the design standard to a new class of its own.

When we start to design a space, don’t look at it solely from a planning or utilitarian point of view. Look at it from an emotional viewpoint and try to visualize what you see (and how it affects you), how you feel (what you hear and touch) and where you move (what draws your attention).

When you start to experience the space, you will be able to create a home that is truly a Designer Home.

The post Visualization & Imagination: 5 New Ways to Experience Your Home appeared first on WOFS.com.

The first step in juggling this balancing act is to know your audience. Understand what your client wants and try to find a solution that works for them. And there is no more personal space in the house than the bedroom, because this is where one has to literally ‘live in’ every day.

Tip 1 – Avoid Shocking Colours

Identify colours and tones that are suitable to the room use, and colour ranges that are acceptable to the user. One of the biggest mistakes is to select a colour scheme that may create the ‘shock effect’ by giving the sense of a sudden surprise, but then renders the space unlivable.

Take for example this room where the colour pink has been over-used. Our initial reaction would be the overwhelming effect of the colours. While “cool” in the beginning, this singular colour effect will ultimately dominate the room, making it difficult to accept and to live in on a daily basis. Once the personal paraphernalia goes in, the pinkness stops looking so Barbie-perfect and starts to have a gagging effect.

Similarly, another design element to highlight in this example is to avoid the use of wavy lines in the bedroom as these distract from any perceivable line of sight, causing a loss of balance. From a feng shui perspective, wavy lines also symbolize the element of water, which is not suitable for use in bedrooms.

Tip 2 – Avoid Plants and Sharp Corners

In this example, there are a few elements to highlight on what not to do. While the design concept is to adopt a more oriental theme with the colours of the space in zen balance, the use of the furniture and the interior accents immediately set off warning bells.

First, you should always avoid any sharp or protruding corners. In this case, the zigzag design of the bookcase breaks two major taboos. 1) You should never have anything above your head when you sleep; and 2) you should never have anything sharp above your head.

Second, the use of plants, while they add to the “oriental theme”, has no place in the bedroom.

Third, you should always think about the proportions of space. Look at how different design elements affect our perception of a room. In this case, the scale of the bed to the window and ceiling seems rather disproportionate as the space between the ceiling and the window looks ‘tight’ thereby making the window the tallest element in the room. By doing so, it forces the ceiling to be lifted even higher than it is, visually causing the bed to shrink in size and float around the room, and thereby losing the sense of intimacy and solitude which is what is needed for every bedroom.

Finally, avoid any eccentric patterns on the ceiling, as this causes a whole array of visual confusion, and forces the ceiling to push itself down onto the room, creating claustrophobia as if being trapped within the space.

Tip 3 – Avoid Odd Shaped Rooms

Everyone loves the attic. Attics are a great sanctuary to find privacy, gather your thoughts and be secluded from the rest of the world. But with attics with limited ceiling space, don’t try to make it your bedroom. In this scenario, the pitched ceiling has inadvertently created a poison arrow straight down the middle as if cutting the bed in half. And due to the limited space, light is brought in through the use of skylights, which then creates further shards as if cutting further into the bed.

While the idea of living in the attic is a cool idea, the reality is that if the space doesn’t fit, living in there would create further depressing issues and neglect for the room in the end. Always think of the practical aspects of a room before the accents of the room.

Tip 4 – Finding A Balance

When we design a bedroom, it is important to find the balance between all the design elements such as colours, heights, texture and furniture design in order to create the ideal setting. Remember, the bedroom is a place to relax and sleep. Don’t overwhelm the space with elements such as hot colours or ‘ultra modern’ designs. It is better to tone down the visuals to create a more homely feel.

In this setting, the use of an earth tone is highlighted through the different elements of the room such as the beige back headboard, carpet, furniture and drapes. This is further balanced with the neutral wall and bed sheet colours, which helps to distribute the colours throughout the room so it does not over-dominate the space.

The next design factor is to balance the proportions of the room. By using long drapes, this helps to accentuate the vertical element of the window wall, rather than breaking it up between the window and wall between the ceiling. By doing so, we are able to grab the sense of the space through the bed heights and occasional furniture such as the lamps and paintings, bringing the room to a more human scale of living.

When we look at our bedrooms, always take note that what is cool is not necessarily good for you. Always keep the design simple. Don’t introduce any design element that causes your attention to be focused as the key design intent if you want your bedroom to evoke a sense of peace and solitude. The moment we start to introduce these overly ‘cool’ design elements, our attention is too focused, which causes restlessness and agitation.

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