Integrating feng shui into your office environment can prove to be one of few instances you get to design a space specifically for you. Through use of materials and furniture layouts, all the way to the use of furniture pieces, we should not only introduce a new dimension of feng shui design but that of an ergonomic system. Taking the principles of feng shui and mixing that with the knowledge of interior design, we can select materials, colours and lighting schemes that suit you. The aim is to create a space that is not only beneficial to the user, but also envelops design flair.
For those of you with the opportunity to play around your work surroundings, here are some useful tips to consider for your home or office. Determining which directions are good for you is easy. Based on your year of birth, you can determine which group (East or West) you belong to and from there calculate which directions are beneficial for you.
Apply this with the annual and flying star charts to further analyze which sectors within the office are auspicious and how to arrange your work area for the year to come. Here is an example of how you can design an office situated within an East 1 facing Building for a West group person in 4 easy steps.
STEP 1
Determine your best direction
The first step is to determine your auspicious directions. You should always aim to sit facing one of your auspicious directions. In the case of a West group person, your good directions are West, Northwest, Southwest and Northeast. Once you have your good directions in had, find an area on your office floor plan where you can locate your worktable such that you sit facing your good directions at all times.
STEP 2
Determine which sectors are favorable based on the flying stars
The second step is to superimpose the flying star natal chart of the building onto your office floor plan to determine which sectors are auspicious. Based on a Period 8 East 1 chart, the double 8 star combination in the East corner is seen to be the perfect location for your worktable.
The center stars are of the 1,6,8 star combination, representing great intellectual and commercial luck, suggesting the need for an open plan concept to allow this center grid to be dominant. The ideal location for the door is the North sector with the lucky 6,1 star combination, where financial luck is identified.
Based on the small tai chi of the room, identify where the unfavorable star combinations are located and consider the use of interior furnishes such as cabinets or decorations to exhaust the bad luck effects of these stars. The 2,5 and 5,2 star combinations in the Northwest and South can cause extreme bad luck or misfortune and requires metal energy to exhaust these malicious earth stars.
Other areas to take note of are the sectors with the 9,7 and 7,9 combinations. In the new Period of 8, the number 7 transforms to its evil nature of theft and robbery. Other less favorable but not so severe sectors are the regions with the 3,4 and 4,3 star combinations, which symbolize stress-related problems if work is done there, unless appropriate solutions are in place.
STEP 3
Calculate how the annual stars may affect you
Double-check the annual star afflictions to make sure that your table arrangement is not in direct conflict with the direction of the annual Three Killings and Grand Duke Jupiter directions. This year, the Three Killings has flown to the South, so make sure you do not sit with your back to the South. The Grand Duke is located in the West-Southwest direction indicating that for 2004, you should avoid facing this direction when seated at your desk. Locate a Pi Yao in this corner to appease the Grand Duke Jupiter.
Note that the annual #3 argument star is placed in the East sector for 2004, so while sitting in the East corner is good due to the double 8 stars, the #3 annual star can pose problems at work. For the year, use metal energy to exhaust the #3 star or plenty of fire energy such as light to burn up this annual wood star. Lights will also help to create yang energy to activate your double 8 combination in the East.
The center grid contains the 1,6,8 combination which is lucky, but in 2004, the unfortunate 5 Yellow pays it a visit, so place elements of metal in the middle of the room. Use the 5-element pagoda or hang a 6-rod metal wind chime to not only exhaust the 5 Yellow but to activate the 1,6 flying stars as well.
By having your table placed in the East sector of the room, we are able to face all the 3 West directions (West, SW and NW) by having a curvilinear table form. The table seen here is ideal because it allows you to tap into not just one but three good directions, it also allows expansion of tabletop space.
STEP 4
Decorating your office
Use of Materials and Colours
When deciding on materials and colours in your interior decor, a good way to incorporate feng shui is to work with the 5 elements. You should aim to use the element that would either activate or exhaust a specific corner depending on whether the star combinations present are lucky or unlucky.
Furniture designs can range from contemporary to modern. Wooden furnishings can represent the wood element, while units containing glass can represent the earth element.
Frosted glass is a wonderful medium to work with if you want to incorporate auspicious or personalized motifs around your office. Or you could go with lacquer finishes for an oriental look. Stainless steel pieces represent metal energy and can take any form from your basic flower vase, cabinets to your main worktable.
If working with materials proves difficult, you can also work with colours. Determine which element you need in each space and paint that area in the colour you need, or introduce cushions, a painting or vase that incorporates the relevant colour.
Use of Lighting
Lights can also play an important role for both aesthetics, as well as usefulness, of the space. From a feng shui viewpoint, they represent a source of fire or yang energy. But our choice of lighting can affect the way we work. Light that is too harsh strains the eyes causing fatigue, while light that is too dim creates lethargy and laziness.
All these elements can be cross-referenced to the ergonomics of working environments. In creating a healthy office space, we need to understand that our experience within any space is determined by how our human form interacts with what is around is. Incorporating feng shui into any space thus does not have to compromise aesthetics, architecture or ergonomics. In fact, it compliments them.
