Feng Shui Interiors for the New Year
Feng shui is all about creating the perfect flow with your interiors. It’s about sculpting a living space that is both beautiful and practical, but also has a clean and fresh energy. With this emphasis on freshness in mind, we think that the coming New Year is the perfect time to renew and reenergise your living space. Here are some simple tips for structuring your living spaces in a way that will encourage positive feng shui.
De clutter!
As feng shui is all about clean flowing energy, the first thing you need to be doing is de-cluttering your living space. You’re sure to have plenty of unnecessary clutter hanging around once Christmas is over. Those decorations have got to go, and any Christmas presents need to be allocated to their new homes. This can be particularly difficult for those of you who have children, as those little ones seem determined to make a mess. There are three questions that you need to ask yourself when it comes to clutter:
Do you really need it?
Do you really love it?
Do you have a good place to put it?
If an item can’t fulfil at least two of these criteria, it’s likely to be unnecessary clutter; perhaps you should consider getting rid of it?
Colour scheme
The principles of feng shui offer some interesting insights into living space colour schemes. All colours are considered to fit in with one of the five feng shui elements. These are; fire, water, earth, metal and wood. Each element is thought to harbour different types of energy. These principles aren’t just relevant to spirituality however; they’re also rules followed by advocates of interior design.
Fire: reds orange, purple, pink.
Earth: beige, cream, sandy, light brown.
Metal: grey, metallic, white.
Water: blue, grey, metallic.
Wood: brown and green.
We naturally use colours from the same elemental group together, without having knowledge of feng shui conventions. For example, the ‘metal’ element is associated with calming and soothing energy. We often choose to use the ‘metal’ colours together in bedrooms, as they are thought to promote rest and tranquillity. The ‘fire’ element is thought to be associated with passion and high energy – as you could probably guess. Feng shui connoisseurs suggest that we use these colours sparingly, and indeed we often choose to add just a splash of bright red or orange to our interiors, to avoid them being overbearing or dominating.
Furniture alignment
Are you tired of your current furniture arrangement? Maybe some of the principles of feng shui could give your living spaces a positive shake up. Feng shui dictates that the main piece of furniture in a room should be in a ‘command position’ – this is usually the space facing the door, but slightly to the side. This makes sense from a psychological perspective, as humans naturally feel more at ease when they have a good view of their exits. No furniture or objects should be blocking the entranceway or walkways throughout a room. Feng shui also prefers a balance of different materials to be used. Try a combination of soft furnishings, glass, wood and metal.
Positive picture frames
As we love all things picture frames, we couldn’t resist looking at how they relate to feng shui. The general consensus is that picture frames and their contents should be positive. Try filling your frames with happy and smiling photos of your family members – however, missing out any members of the household is considered to be bad luck. Besides, it’s nicer to include everyone. It is also considered good feng shui to use frame materials that fit in with the general style and feel of your home. They should compliment and work with your interiors, not clash or distract.
Go with the flow
So there you have a brief introduction to using the principles of feng shui in your home. Though the idea of balanced and flowing energy may be quite novel to most of us, it is undeniable that feng shui relates to our instincts about what works in regards to interior design. These conventions are based on tried and tested wisdom, but they can nevertheless be used to shake up your interiors in a positive way this coming New Year.
