Feng Shui Tips for Beginners

How to Apply Feng Shui Principles to Your Home

If you're new to Feng Shui, this guide with tips for beginners is just what you need. Find out about the five elements—earth, metal, water, wood, and fire—and how they can be used to decorate and design your home. Also, think about some tips for decorating that take Feng Shui into account.

Feng Shui Tips

• Five elements: Find out how the five elements of your space can work together.
• Commanding position: Find out where you stand in terms of power in the room.
• Main doorway: Don't put anything in the main entrance.
• Living room: People should be able to sit facing each other and not have their backs to the door.
• Kitchen: Keep things clean to stay healthy.
• Bathroom: Close the door.
• Bedroom: Don't put things under the bed.

Five Elements

TCM and Feng Shui both use a five-element system. This system looks at how nature's cycles work together to keep everything in balance. Earth, metal, water, wood, and fire are the five elements. Each element has certain qualities that go along with it, as well as colors and shapes that can be used as design elements to bring out those qualities in your home and life.

Earth

Earth is connected to self-care, limits, and being nourished. It has to do with dull colors like brown and yellow, as well as square shapes and heavy things. You can add an earthy touch to your home with a square yellow rug.

Metal

Precision is a quality of metal. Metal is represented by grey, metallic colors, and round shapes. Try putting in a round metal planter or light fixture to add metal to your space.

Water

Water represents deep wisdom. It has to do with black, very dark blue, and shapes with waves. You can bring water into your home with a fountain or pictures of water.

Wood

Wood is connected to growth, healing, and vitality. It is shown by green colors and tall, columnar shapes. Green houseplants are a great way to bring wood into your home, especially if you don't have a lot of space.

Fire

Fire is a symbol of passion, inspiration, and being seen. It has to do with triangles and fiery colours like red, purple, pink, orange, and bright yellow. Light also has something to do with fire. A great way to bring fire into your home is with lamps.

Commanding Position

One of the most important parts of feng shui is the commanding position. Your bed, desk, and stove are all important parts of your life, so it's important to make sure they're all in order. Your bed is a symbol of you, your stove is a symbol of your money and resources, and your desk is a symbol of your job and the way you want to live your life.

To put your bed, desk, or stove in charge, find a spot in the room where you can see the door while sitting at your desk, lying in bed, or cooking, but you're not directly facing it. The idea behind this position is that you can see anyone or anything coming in through the door, which makes you feel more at ease on a subconscious level. It also means that you have a better idea of what opportunities might be coming your way.

Room-by-Room Tips

Entry

The place where energy comes into your space is called the mouth of qi. It's also the first thing people see when they walk up to your house, so it's like your face to the world. Keep this area clean and free of clutter so that qi can move through it easily. It's also important that people can find your front door. Is it labeled clearly and free of obstacles? It should be easy for your friends and delivery people to find and get to.

Also, keeping this area clean is a good idea. Make sure to sweep your entryway often and wash your door as well. You might also want to add a light fixture to this area to keep it bright and add the element of fire.

Living Room

Living rooms are where family and friends get together, so they should feel warm and cozy. Make sure you have enough comfortable seating for everyone who lives in the house, plus a few extra seats for guests. Face chairs and sofas toward each other to get people to talk and connect. As much as possible, try to keep chair backs from facing the door.

Healthy green plants can also be a great addition to the living room because they add vital life force energy and the wood element, which represents kindness and compassion.

Kitchen

The kitchen is an important part of the house because it is where food is made and prepared. Make sure your refrigerator is clean and organized to improve the feng shui in your kitchen. Are there any old food items in the back of the fridge? Get rid of anything you no longer need and put it in the compost. Clean the inside with the goal of making a place where you can feed yourself.

Bathroom

Bathrooms can be a source of downward and depleting energy because they channel unwanted waste out of the house. It's a good idea to keep the bathroom door closed as much as possible. Since water in feng shui represents the flow of wealth and money, this can help keep money from flowing away from you.

Bedroom?

Your bed and bedroom are a reflection of you, so this is a great place to start when looking at feng shui. First, make sure that your bed is in a good place. Check under the bed next. You spend a lot of time resting and sleeping in this area, so it's not a good idea to store things here. Anything under you affects your energy. If you need to store things under your bed because you don't have enough room, make sure you only put soft things like sheets and blankets there.

You can also add the earth element for support and nourishment. A square earth-colored rug under your bed is a great way to do this.