Feng shui – How interior design can create balance and flow
Do you want to be more able to unwind at home? Or just feel more relaxed? Then you should implement feng shui! In this blog, you’ll read what feng shui means and how implementing feng shui leads to less stress and more flow. You’ll get practical home furnishing tips based on feng shui, so you can make your home a source of energy.
Feng shui and flow
For ages, Chinese people understand that we can manipulate energy forces (Qi), so it can flow harmoniously. Harmony between natural and created forms can change negative influences on happiness, welfare and prosperity to positive influences. The right design of the environment (feng shui) stimulates flow. Chinese that implement feng shui report better health, better marriages and better careers. So, they go from stress to flow.
Iffy or legitimate?
In 2010, feng shui home furnishing wasn’t scientifically tested, and it looks like it is still not researched with experiments. What I did find was a scientific comparison between feng shui home furnishing and proven environmental psychology with interesting results (Bonaiuto, Bilotta & Stolfa, 2010). These feng shui-methods to furnish a room are proven by scientists multiple times:
- Looking at nature, like trees and plants, restores the body and the mind. Read more about how nature heals and energises us..
- Being in control of the room or the workplace lowers stress. Make sure you are able to:
- close curtains or untransparant doors to create privacy
- change the temperature using a thermostat, heater, window or door.
- see the door or the entrance from your where you are. Your desk chair, sofa or bed should always be opposite of the door and facing the door.
Dijkstra, Pieterse and Pruyn (2006) also conducted a metastudy on the design of healthcare settings, and they also found positive effects for windows, seating arrangements, sunlight and odour on wellbeing.
Unwind at home with feng shui
The essence of feng shui is a balanced use of all five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal and water. They correspond with colours, materials and shapes.
- You can implement the wood element at home by placing plants, forest paintings, rectangle furniture and accessoires, and green and dark brown colours.
- You can create fire by adding candles or a fireplace, triangles, red, orangle, purple and copper.
- Earth is according to feng shui not round but squared. You can use chrystals, stones and terracotta, and earth colours like beige and ocher.
- Metal, silver and gold are good materials and colours, but if you don’t like them you can choose shiny surfaces, white, grey or pastel colours.
- You can implement water literally with a fish tank, aquarium or small fountain, but mirrors, glassware and curved or wavy shapes also count. Black and blue are the colours of water.
When balanced right, these element can create positive energy. However, it does matter what you place next to each other, because the combination can create òr suppress or destroy the energy flow.
- Wood feeds fire, fire creates ash (and thus earth), earth offers metal, metal carries water and water feeds wood.
- Wood divides the earth, earth absorbs water, water extinguishes fire, fire melts metal, metal cuts wood.
This means that you need to be careful and think of home furnishing. For example, water and fire colours should not be used next to each other; a metal worktop on wood kitchen cabinets does not just look weird, and a plant above your fire place is not a good idea.
Other feng shui home furnishing tips
- Unblock the flow: don’t storage things under the bed or the sofa
- Use layers of light : general, ambient and task lighting. Read here how to make a light plan
- Provide shelter: position your sofa against a wall or place a table to your sofa.
- Put only things you absolutely need in the open: live minimally with no distractions.
- Clutter: Clear clutter to create space for energy to invite and create new things.
These were the most practical tips from feng shui. The most important thing I left out are the corresponding compass points (5, including the center). Those guide in which location your house should point, and where the elements should be placed in your home. This is much more complex and I think it’s only relevant for people who are looking for a new home or are rebuilding their home.
Ready to make your home a source of energy with feng shui
Are you not feeling quite comfortable enough to relax in a specific room, then you should really make the effort to implement the tips from this blog.
Do you also have (feng shui related) advice or a link to new scientific research on this subject, please comment on this blog. You would also make me super happy with pictures of your own home furnishing!
Read also:
How to banish tidying up from your to-do-list forever
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