Tips for a fengshui-friendly home
Fengshui is the art of balancing various energies (qì), aligning good energies and getting rid of negative ones to achieve the best results for life. Its origins are from China, but has become popular in the western world as well.
Using various fengshui elements, one can accumulate “good” energy to assure health, good fortune, and meaningful relationships. At the same time, it is possible to channel negative energies elsewhere to create harmony in a space.
An eight-sided map called Bagua represents the eight different elements that are vital for life. These are
Finances
Relationships/romance
Fame/recognition
Career/ambition
Rewards
Health
Travel
Creativity
Fengshui Master Yu Gui Feng told Property Observer it is important to first determine the “qi” of a property owner before assessing which elements need to be balanced out in their home.
“The house is a reflection of the person’s body energy. We spend more than one-third of our time inside the house. People’s environment will always have an influence on their energy,” he said.
However, there are a few general rules of thumb:
For a home, it should ideally be built on flat land, or land that is slightly elevated towards the back of the property.
“This is so the surrounding energy is supportive, and positive energy is evenly distributed to all parts of your life,” Master Feng said.
When building a home, Master Feng reiterates the importance of its front entrance for good fengshui.
“When we divide the eight sections of energy inside the house, it influences the body and life. It starts from the front entrance,” he said.
He advises that homes should be symmetrical in shape.
“Two sides of the house need to be relatively similar. Even if one side is narrower than the other, it should be too much (narrower),” he emphasised.
This is so the energies in the home are not imbalanced.
Additionally, he advises building staircases away from the front entrance.
“When we open the front door, we cannot walk upstairs straightaway. A staircase near the entry, that’s one of the biggest problems. The stairs need to be stationed at the back part of the house. That is ideal. Otherwise, the health energy, relationship energy, and money energy is easily drained,” he said.
His advice on fengshui-friendly colour schemes: do not use dark colours as a dominant colour for your home.
“If the entire exterior or interior is all black, that will cause some problems. Usually, I put a mixture of different colours – that will be all right,” he said.
He added that while popular fengshui-aligned houses like the famed “Butterfly” home in Sydney are have only rounded edges, “normal” houses with corners can also have good fengshui once good energies are aligned together.
Master Feng adds that it is important to consult an expert before purchasing a property to avoid making “expensive mistakes”.
“These are generalised guidelines. We need to relate it to specific situations. Just like investment, everyone’s circumstance is different. We need to tailor suggestions to each family’s situation, and their property. We need to look at the building, the person, and the energy patterns,” he said.