One of the things upmost in your mind today may be the change of Period. Feng shui enthusiasts likely have poured over the various Period 8 charts to see if they can transform their present homes in order to enjoy the lucky stars of the new period. But what happens when you are unable to perform the major renovations needed to change your home into a Period 8 home?
CHRIS YEO walks us through a typical terrace house that happens to face Southeast 2/3 and points out what we need to look out for to ensure it enjoys the best feng shui given the circumstances.
Looking at a typical terrace house facing a SE 2/3 direction (i.e. one that faces between 112.5 – 142.5) where the owners either cannot renovate (due to it being a rented home) or cannot afford to renovate (due to the extensiveness of renovations needed to change a home into a Period 8 building) the first thing you need to do as a feng shui consultant is to identify which sectors within the house are ideal for living in, and which should be remedied or avoided.
Below is the Flying Star chart for a Period 7 SE 2/3 house. Take note of the water and mountain stars in each sector to spot the lucky sectors and the unlucky sectors. The lucky numbers are generally combinations that include 1,4,6 & 8. The unlucky combinations usually include one of the dangerous stars: 2,3, 5 or 7. Note that number 7, which was auspicious in the period of 7, is now a dangerous star and should be remedied or avoided when doing a feng shui makeover for a home or building.
Identifying How Our Living Environment is Affecting Us
Toilets & Maindoors 
First, look around your house and identify the few elements deemed inauspicious. One of the most important things to watch out for are the location of your toilets and main door. Make sure not to ever have the main door to your house sitting under the sector that houses your upstairs toilet.
If you happen to live in a pre-built terrace home that has been designed such that the main door is underneath a WC, strongly consider moving your door to the side to avoid this. If you can’t renovate to move your front door, use a bright light on the ground floor shining upwards to dissipate the negative Chi energy from the toilet upstairs.
Kitchen Taboos
In typical terrace houses, the kitchen is usually located towards the back of the house. In this example, this would place the kitchen in the North, Northwest or West sector(s). If the kitchen has been unfortunately pre-built in the Northwest sector, which will symbolize the dangerous “fire at heaven’s gate” condition, you need to at least ensure the cooker and any open fire is located away from the NW sector of the kitchen.
In this example, although the kitchen takes up the Northwest and North sectors, all the cooking stoves should be located in the North, and NOT the Northwest, as far as possible. When you have fire energy in the Northwest, this causes the patriarch’s luck to dry up and can even be dangerous.
Staircases & Living Areas
Avoid exposed staircases that tend to be so typical of mass developed terrace residential communities. Either build a low skirting to cover the jagged edge of the stair profile, or even better, build a high wall to cover this all together. Once you’ve built a high wall, you can even use this wall to frame your entertainment area in a classy way, or to hang paintings of auspicious symbols.
As shown in the image above, the living room settee set has been placed in the center of the house to enjoy the auspicious set of flying stars (8,6) present there. Because the Southwest sector contains the quarrelsome star combination of 5,3, the entertainment area has been designed to veer more towards the Northeast wall rather than the Southwest wall.
Large cabinets can also be used to trap any unwanted inauspicious stars such as the quarrelsome stars in the South and Southeast.
Don’t Waste Lucky Sectors
The dining room should ideally be placed in the West corner of the house, in order to enjoy the money #8 water star. However, in most SE facing terrace homes, this sector is usually reserved for either the maid’s room, storeroom or even worse, the toilet! In this example, this area of the house has been opened up to be used as the dining area. It is important to regain this sector to use as a yang space such as a dining or living room; else the money luck of the family will dry up.
Use plenty of lights to create a vibrant environment throughout the home. Introduce plenty of plants and soft furnishings to create an ambient soft feel. For those unable to change your house from Period 7 to 8, what you need to do is to revitalize the energy of your home and be aware of the few key elements that can affect the luck of the family.
Points To Remember
- Watch out for the toilets on the floors above.
- Make sure the edges of the staircase are not exposed
- Find out where your mountain and water star #8 are located and make this the #1 priority to do small renovation works to regain these sectors as living/dining areas
- Make sure the kitchen is not in the NW sector and if it is, relocate the stove to another location.
- Use plenty of lights, plants, paintings, photos and furniture to create a soft ambient feel of your house.
