How to Decorate Using Feng Shui

By Danielle Chapman

Need a boost in your health, wealth, finances or career? You need to Feng Shui your home or office! (Or both!) Before we ask what it is, let's ask- how do you say it? Like so: fung shway

Now- what is Feng Shui? It's the ancient Chinese art of arranging your surroundings to attract positive life energy, also known as chi (say: chee) so that it can flow smoothly and unblock any obstructions in your body and environment. When you arrange your home or office in a certain way, you are telling the Universe exactly what you want in your life. It's all about positive energy-you will attract what you put out or as it is said, 'reap what you sow'.

Sounds great! Are you ready to Feng Shui? First, before you can Feng Shui your home or office, you'll need a Bagua Map(say it like this: bah gwah). It represents the eight building blocks of life – health, love, wealth, career, wisdom, reputation, children and helpful people plus the center area of chi. The Bagua Map applies to your home and/or each room or office you plan to Feng Shui.

To make your Bagua Map, look at the basic structure of your home. The four basic shapes of houses are square, rectangle, L-shaped and U-shaped. The goal here is to turn the dwelling into a square or rectangle. On a large sheet of paper, draw a map of your home, including any areas that stick out (such as a garage, etc) and note where the front door of your house is located. Remember, the goal is to draw a square or rectangle, so fill in any area missing from your L-shaped or U-shaped drawing with dotted lines. (If you live in an L-shaped or U-shaped home, you may not be fully experiencing some area of your life. Adding landscape, sculpture or windchimes symbolically fills in these missing spaces.) If you already have a rectangle or square home, you don’t need to do anything to complete your drawing. Once your house sketch is in the form of a square or rectangle, divide it into nine parts, splitting the length into thirds, then split the width into thirds (like a Sudoku puzzle).

These nine parts are called Bagua areas:

1. career
2. wisdom/knowledge
3. health/family
4. wealth
5. fame/reputation
6. love/marriage
7. children/creativity
8. helpful people
9. center/chi.

The Baguas of your home will be determined by the location of the front door of your house, which will also be the baseline of the Bagua map. Imagine looking into your home from the threshold of your front door. The area to your right is 'Helpful People', the area to your left is 'Wisdom/Knowledge' and in between the two, (middle center where you are standing) is your 'Career' Bagua. The upper left area is 'Wealth', the upper middle area is 'Fame', and the upper right area is marriage. In the center is 'Chi'. The area left of Chi is 'Family' and the area to the right is children.

*wealth         * fame       * marriage
*family          * chi           * children
*wisdom      * career     * helpful people
            --------front door----------

(With two or more floors, just match the areas downstairs to the areas upstairs. If your kitchen is your wealth area and your upstairs bathroom is over the kitchen-then they're both your wealth area!)

With these areas determined, now you can place symbolic objects that correspond with the area you need to enhance! In your Wealth Area, you can place a bowl filled with coins or hang a round clear crystal on a red cord- the red cord representing wealth. Place your wedding picture in your marriage area. In your health area place items that represent long life, such as statues of elephants, etc. The chi area should reamain as uncluttered as possible.

Color is also important in Feng Shui. Use these colors in the area you want to enhance:

Career- Black, Blue & Brown
Wisdom- Black, Blue & Green
Health & Family- Blue & Green
Wealth- Blue, Red & Purple
Reputation & Fame- Red
Love & Marriage- Red, Pink & White
Creativity & Children- White & Pastels
Helpful People- White, Gray & Black
Center or Chi- Yellow & Earth Tones

Meaning Of Colors:

Red- Attraction, Warmth, Strength (Too much red can cause arguments! Use it sparingly.)
Green- Health, Potential
Purple- Spiritual guidance
Yellow- Energy, Life
Black- Mood, Perception(Too much black can be draining! Use it sparingly.)
Pink- Love, Romance

And there you have it! You can get as creative as you want with it. When using the art of Feng Shui in your home or office, it is recommended that changes are made gradually-increasing the flow of energy too quickly may be hard to handle. In no time, you'll be seeing these areas of your life get a much needed boost!

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