6 Simple Steps to Feng Shui Your Home

You may have heard of the term feng shui before, but when we get into the finer details of the concept what does it truly mean and how exactly can it be used within the home? At Furniture Village, we have 6 simple steps for you to follow so that you can invite this aspect into your home.

Firstly, what is feng shui?

Feng shui is an art and science originating from China and has been in development for over 3000 years. The fundamental essence of this idea is to balance the energies and their flow within a room to assure good fortune for the people living there.

Dependent on which area of your life you wish to experience good fortune, this affects the details of how to feng shui your room. There are many tips that are dedicated to specific aspects of a person’s life, for example a successful career, better health or love life. One of the key purposes of this technique is to align your environment to who you are as a person, to harmonise the energies that everything has (yes even the inanimate objects within the home).

There are 3 key factors to consider according to feng shui, which are the following:

• Qi – (pronounced “chee”) Our life force.
• Yin and yang – These represent the continuous change and interconnection of nature and its balance e.g. light and dark, inner and outer, movement and stillness etc.
• The five elements – These are water, wood, fire, earth and metal. Each of these has specific qualities associated with them, expressed through colours, sounds and flavours. These are the building blocks to help create vibrant energy within a space.

How can feng shui be used?

So now that we know what feng shui is, how can we utilise this within the home? Using a bagua (a motif regarded as a pattern determining the weight and favourable qualities of spatial relationships) and the 5 elements, you can help to improve the energies within your home. These are our 6 simple steps to feng shui your home.

1. Understand the bagua. Once you understand how the elements are mapped out within the home, the better your feng shui. Decide on which elements you wish to increase in good fortune and find out which pieces of furniture will help you to do that with a matching life force.
2. Clear out any clutter within your home. The beginning starts with getting rid of all the energy-consuming objects within the home that are of no value, to create a much more open and freeing living space so that the energies can flow. This is an essential aspect for anyone who desires a greater harmonising of energies. Hide away all the non-regularly used items in sideboards and cupboards if you don’t feel like you can get rid of them just yet.
3. Let in light. Allow ample amounts of natural light to enter your home, to ignite the energies. If this isn’t possible, then use beautiful pendant lights or floor lamps to emulate the brightness. If there are areas left dark, then this is considered neglecting which reflects non-certain aspects of life.
4. Invite in colour. Colour can be rich and energising, so look to add plenty of it to invigorate the area. Try to incorporate vibrant reds and soothing blues. Yellow is cheerful, uplifting and can also create the illusion of sunlight and a welcoming energy wherever it is used. Don’t be afraid to play around with colour!
5. Try using mirrors in your home. Mirrors are very significant in feng shui, helping to bounce back natural light within a room and rebound an energy’s flow so that it circulates. As they also have the ability to draw attention to anything they reflect, be sure that the mirror offers a pleasant view of the room.
6. Bring the outdoors into the home. Bringing nature into the home has been said to help with anxiety and anger. Decorate your living space with bamboo in beautiful vases and statement pieces crafted using wood or wicker.