How do you react when you walk into someone’s home or office for the first time? Most of the time our emotions and subconscious register impressions before we have a chance to formulate a verbal opinion. Why is it that some rooms exude good feelings or positive energy, and a sense of well-being? And conversely, what makes a space negative and jarring, with indefinable feelings of being off-center emotionally? A home can inspire both types of feelings. Many years ago the Chinese recognized how important this energy can be, and developed a philosophy or art called decorating with Feng Shui.
Feng Shui is an art that strives to achieve the creation of harmonious spaces. It is based on the principle that everything around us, living or nonliving, is filled with movement. This idea may seem a little elusive to some people, but in actual fact everything is composed of atoms and molecules that are in constant motion. The energy of this movement can actually affect and shape our lives to a much greater degree than is realized. Every living or working area has a flow of energy, and Feng Shui seeks to tap into the positive aspects of that flow.
When an interior is organized in a random, cluttered way it can negatively affect human emotions. Things may feel “not quite right, ” and create a sense of unease or confusion simply because the elements are not in balance. Decorating with the principles of Feng Shui begins with understanding why those factors are central to the creation of harmony. Traditionally this philosophy or art recognizes five elements, including fire, water, wood, earth, and metal. They are an integral part of the overall flow of life energy, known as Chi.
Each of these elements has its own properties. For example, water can be important to communications if gently flowing in a fountain. That same water in a leaky toilet, however, simply means poverty and waste. Stability and solidarity belong to the earth element, which symbolizes permanence. Fire is associated with high energy and passion, and metal transmits and conducts energy. The role of wood includes creativity and motivation. While each of these elements is important on its own, of more concern is the positive and negative influence they can create by interacting.
How are these elements of design incorporated into interior decorating? The arrangements of these five elements can affect human emotions and reactions, and amount to a great deal more than simply showing good taste. A beautiful room filled with expensive heirloom furniture can feel intimidating and cold if not correctly displayed. To illustrate how this works Feng Shui decorators create a diagram called a Bagua Map. This is an actual drawing which can point out the elements that should exist in any particular room. It is drawn in the shape of a square, and divided into the nine areas of living.
The Bagua Map starts with the knowledge that each part of a home corresponds to one of these aspects. Traditional Chinese thought symbolizes these areas in nine different categories, including career, wisdom and knowledge, health and family, and wealth. Additional Bagua areas are fame and reputation, love and marriage, children and creativity, helpful people, and the center or Chi. These aspects each have colors associated with them, and each color affects the flow of energy or Chi through that space.
For example, wealth is associated with the colors blue, red, and purple. Red itself means strength, warmth and attraction, and is a very energetic color that should be used sparingly. Another category, health and family, is denoted by blues and greens. Likewise, the career area should have black, blue or brown decorative elements. Each part of the map has its own corresponding colors. Once you have determined an area of your house that needs better flow, or Chi, you can add objects or symbols in the color of that map region.
To some more comfortable with traditional Western ideas these may seem a little far-fetched, a kind of outgrowth of the flower child new-age area, with terms like energy, flow and the accompanying symbolism. The fact is that Feng Shui is not immediately measurable on some kind of meter, but it does work. There are many professional designers who have studied this philosophy and incorporate it into their own work, with very positive results. The truth is that nearly anyone can utilize these principles of harmonious design. Decorating with Feng Shui in mind can be a liberating feeling, a process which opens up your rooms and lets the good energy flow throughout the home.
Find out more about chinese feng shui and feng shui living at the author’s website www.101fengshuitips.com . Copyright 2010 101FengShuiTips.com . This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact and the links live.
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