Feng Shui and furniture have had a close connection for thousands of years. So if you are a serious Feng Shui believer, be sure to consult an expert before buying any furniture. But if you are not overly serious about it and saving some money is more important you can follow some of the simple Feng Shui furniture suggestions and tips we have gathered from several authoritative sources.
1. Feng Shui Is For Everyone
Feng Shui does not have to be religious and is applicable for everyone, not just for the Chinese. Today a growing number of people of different ethnicities are applying Feng Shui in their lives and reaping its benefits. Feng shui is an ancient wisdom with clear applications in the home.
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2. Mirrors and Dining Sets Go Together
Mirrors and dining tables have always gone well together in the world of feng shui. A wall mirror that reflects the food placed on the table doubles your wealth and luck. The abundance of food is a statement of wealth and good luck. When choosing a mirror for this purpose, get one that is wider than it is tall.
The mirror must reflect the entire tabletop. A partial reflection means that your luck will be reduced as well. A large heavy mirror will require proper installation for safety reasons. Unless you are a real DIY guy, get your contractor or supplier to do it for you. A large mirror also brightens the room and energizes the diners gathered around the table.
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3. Change Your Luck - Shift Your Furniture
Shifting your furniture once in a while is also good feng shui practice. The shifting of furniture releases stale chi that has been trapped unknowingly and may cause you to experience a loss of energy and luck. Chiis the dragon's cosmic breath, our life force.
A smooth flow of chiwithin the house is important. It cannot be too strong or too weak. Long corridors and aligned doors accelerate the flow of chi and are considered unhealthy. To reduce the speed of chiyou can place a small piece of furniture to break the flow. Mirrors that increase the appearance of a long corridor or extra doors should be avoided.
4. Configure Your Home for Luck
Have a bagua or Lo Shu configuration for your living room for good luck. If you have a large hall, a bagua (octogonal) arrangement is possible. There is also an octagon in our Singapore dollar coin. You can have eight chairs or four two-seater sofas or a combination of different types of seating gathered around a large coffee table.
For the Lo Shu configuration, the furniture follows a 3 by 3 grid. This configuration is suitable for smaller homes. Two low stools or a bench facing the main sofa with the coffee table in between is ideal. A stool or bench will not block the grand view of your sofa.
L-shaped sofas are not good for feng shui configurations because of their odd shape and inability to harmonize with the rest of the furniture. L-shaped sofas also resemble axes. This is inauspicious and more suitable for office feng shui.
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5. Keep the Family United
TVs have a bad effect on feng shui in the home. Most living rooms today are arranged with the television as the focal point. With TVs getting increasingly larger, the situation is getting from bad to worse. The purpose of a living room is to increase communication and discussion at home among family members and act as a place for gathering after a hard day at work or school. With the TV as a powerful distraction this becomes difficult.
TVs Are Bed Feng Shui
To reduce the deleterious effects of the TV, try the following.
- Get a smaller TV or just use an iPad.
- It is also more comfortable for sitting nearer to a smaller TV.
- Place the TV in the corner away from the front of the living space or in a position that is not prominent. This will allow the sitting arrangement to form a complete circle or oval. This allows the chi to flow around the living zone without escaping.
- Get a ceiling mounted projector with a motorised screen. This allows you to have a larger screen (up to 100 inches) to watch your favourite movie but has the benefit of allowing the “putting away” or “lifting” of the screen when it isn’t in use. The ceiling projector is always out of the way. The space that was occupied by the entertainment unit can now be used for a loveseat, a double armchair, a 1.5-seater sofa or a bench. This will allow you to achieve a complete circular seating arrangement with maximum feng shui effectiveness.
The bagua configuration also applies to your dining set. A 6-seater with a square table is the most practical. Most feng shui books will recommend a round table but in today's apartment, a round table to seat eight takes up too much space. You can enhance your round table by having a lazy susan placed in the middle of it. This is practical and helps share the wealth among all of the people seated around the table.
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6. Mirrors Cut Both Ways
Mirrors are complicated pieces of furniture in feng shui. Positioned correctly they can help "fill up" missing corners of oddly shaped rooms or even double your luck with the right placement in your dining room. However, when used incorrectly, they can cause very bad luck. There are many schools of thought concerning mirrors and feng shui. We recommend that you follow the safer and simpler rules.
- Avoid mosaic-ed mirrors. This type of mirror breaks up your image into pieces- definitely not an auspicious thing.
- Get a full length mirror that will reflect the entire height of your body for dressing yourself. A partial reflection that does not show your feet can reduce your luck and energy.
- Do not place a mirror facing a doorway. The mirror will bounce back the chi entering the room. The lack of chi in a room will disrupt the flow of good luck as well as cause the occupants’ energy levels to drop.
7. Wood Elements Bring Happiness
Wood is the only one of the five elements that is considered to be living. Wooden furniture brings happiness and growth during spring. Wood is especially good for homes in tropical countries. Metal and fire elements damage wood, so don't get wooden furniture that has lots of steel and plastic.
Leather is a living material and matches wooden furniture more. Choosing the type of wood is also important. The cutting down of old trees whose life forces have attained a certain spiritual level is very bad karma. So, avoid beds made from old teak or any rare woods.
Your luck can turn negative on a dime. A good conscience leads to good karma. Hence, it is best to stick to plantation, reconstituted or recycled wood. Based on current technologies, the properties of such woods have well surpassed those of teak. Picket&Rail specializes in eco-friendly, high-quality solid wood furniture.
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8. Negative Elements May Bring Unhappiness
Avoid plastic and steel furniture in your bedroom. PVC is plastic. There are many PVC-covered bed frames on the market today. PVC is produced from heat and hot rolling and is a product of fire. Steel is also a product of fire. Fire as an element does not match the bedroom environment. The bedroom must be conducive to sleep. The fire element has the opposite effect. The most desirable materials for beds are wood and fabric. Picket&Rail carries an extensive range of beds with solid wood frames.
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9. Zodiac Animals
Avoid furniture with animal engravings if you are unsure how these animals affect your luck. Certain animals will clash with your zodiac and cause bad luck. A safe bet is the combination of a green dragon with a single white tiger. Green dragons create good fortune and white tigers sustain it, thus giving you a steady flow of wealth. Fish and horses are also auspicious animals that are commonly engraved on furniture.
10. Bedroom Rules
The location of your bed in a room is very important in feng shui. The doors, the bathroom and windows all govern the position of the bed. A few simple rules to follow are as follows.
Feet Direction
Do not allow your feet to point directly to the door while in your sleeping position. If this is absolutely not possible, get a bed with a footboard to help prevent your positive chifrom exiting via the door.
Headboard Position
Place your headboard against a solid wall. The wall is like a mountain that will imbue you with strength. In ancient China, they would build their houses in the south with mountains behind. This protected them from the harsh north winds of the Gobi. If your room is a little small with limited options and your bed's headboard is pointing to a window, there are two solutions. The first is to cover the window with a thick sunscreen and curtains to shield the room from the light. Adding strong cast iron grilles behind the curtains will also afford greater protection and strength. The other option is to get a bed with a tall headboard covers the back of your head when sitting upright. This headboard will act as your strong wall.
Avoid The Beam
Do not place your bed under a beam. The beam will "weigh down" on you and suppress your luck. Four-poster beds with connecting beams are considered by some feng shui gurus to be inauspicious. For even better luck, choose beds with tall, thick and round posts. Tall rectangular columns will direct "poisoned arrows" to the occupants of the bed.
Avoid The Toilet
Do not place your bed against a wall with a toilet behind. In today's tight apartments this may not be possible but you can mitigate this problem by placing a large heavy object on the flush tank, such as a big stone. This is to suppress any bad luck that may be emanating from the toilet. You can also hang a picture of a mountain (without any waterfalls) above the headboard. The picture signifies strength. Avoid any elaborate frames. Large frames will act as beams that suppress your luck. A frameless and light picture mounting is best.
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Good Bedroom Feng Shui Practises
In the bedroom you should also try to practise the following tips for better sleep and a better love life.
- If possible everything should be in pairs or even in number instead of in odd numbers. For example: two nightstands, a two-seater sofa, a loveseat, two dressing areas, two cushions, a 2-door cabinet, a picture of you and your partner, two pillows or a 4-door wardrobe.
- Avoid books and computers. For a better love life, move the study table, book shelves and entertainment unit out to another room. Building a good marital relationship where the focus is on each other is easier without these distractions in the bedroom.
- Do not have a mirror facing your bed nor bright windows. Street lights can be very bright. When you sleep at night, the chi within the room helps energize you. Mirrors and light disturb a sound restful sleep for the occupants of the bed.
- If you only have three bedrooms (the norm today), get all your children to sleep in one room. Your spouse and you get the master bedroom and the remaining room should be used as a study and library. Books, toys and computers should not be in sleeping rooms. They affect sleep, your children's growth and your love life. If you have three children, get a double-decker bed with a trundle bed. There is also a side benefit: you save on electricity for air-conditioning.
This strategy will improve your sleep along with that of your children. The relationship between your children will also improve. They are forced to communicate with each other and cooperate in maintaining the neatness of the room. Neat rooms mean less clutter and improve the flow of chi.
11. The Study
The study room or library or home office is fast becoming commonplace. This is especially so with the advancements in communications and internet technologies. A place where you can work efficiently in is important. The key furniture requirements for such a place are a worktop and storage space.
If you use the room for business it is important to have good furniture. A strong desk is a must. A solid wood table of at least 30mm thickness is ideal; a shaky table will result in a shaky business. Unless you have a lot of visitors to your study, the direction of the table is not overly important as it is in office feng shui.
Facing a bright window or a wonderful view is more important. This will energize you and improve your productivity. If you have a hutch on your table, get one with thick shelves. Thin shelves act like blades or poisoned arrows and will hurt your chi.
Storage Furniture Feng Shui Matters
Storage is very important in the study. The study is usually the library and home office as well. Open shelves are convenient and allow quick and easy access. Closed shelves hide the clutter and improve the chi flow. The best solution is actually a combination of both.
Have a section of open shelves for your commonly used items. Keep the shelves full- empty shelves are bad luck. For open shelves, make sure they’re constructed using thick and strong wood. Glass and chipboard shelves are weak and will act like poisoned arrows.
Closed shelves with wooden frames and glass doors are good for managing clutter. The glass doors will allow you to see your belongings while protecting the contents from dust. However, open glass doors without frames are very dangerous and cause very bad feng shui. Such poisoned arrows are the most deadly. Wooden frames are best as they soften the sharp edges of the glass.
Hopefully this article has given you a better appreciation of feng shui and will help you to buy the right furniture to help maximize your luck!
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