Feng Shui in Your Home: 8 Tips to Incorporate Feng Shui

Help your home escape chaos and welcome order and serenity with feng shui! By promoting calm, peace and tranquility, feng shui is the best defense in the battle against disharmony and imbalance in your home. Want to learn how to embrace this traditional Chinese practice? Keep reading!

What is Feng Shui?

Feng shui is an ancient Chinese practice that uses energy forces to create harmony between individuals and their environment. In your home, practicing feng shui includes arranging furniture and pieces and using different colors and materials. The application of feng shui in modern Western times is more or less limited to interior design, but its original purpose may have been used much more broadly.

One of the most important aspects of feng shui is chi (energy). In Chinese philosophy, chi must be channeled indoors in order to create balance.

The main elements of feng shui include fire, metal, earth, water and wood. Experts believe these elements should be incorporated in different areas in your home according to the bagua (an energy map), to bring harmony to your home and your life.

1. Start with the Big Three Energy Centers

To get started with feng shui, begin with your bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. Focus on these major energy centers to avoid getting overwhelmed when starting to transform your home. The bedroom, bathroom and kitchen hold significant importance in your daily life and are often the most-used areas in the home. By applying feng shui principles to these areas, it is believed you will begin to feel a major shift of energy and balance.

2. Create an Energy Map

In order to properly incorporate the five elements—wood, fire, metal, earth and water—you need to create an energy map of your home. The bagua is one of the most powerful tools when incorporating feng shui in your space. It includes eight areas focused around a center, that can be laid over a floor plan of your home. The map can also be placed over a single room to activate certain energies and promote balance. Here is a guide to start using the bagua and create positive chi.

3. Balance the Five Elements

Advocates believe balancing the five elements of feng shui promotes positive energy and supports your physical and emotional well-being. Each element has its own qualities and represents different aspects of life. By incorporating these elements in different areas of your home, you can produce positive chi and create a balanced, harmonious environment.

Wood:

The wood element is associated with family and wealth, and represents vitality, growth and new beginnings. Consider incorporating rectangle shapes, greens, blues and purples in your space to invoke this element, along with living plants and wood furniture.

Fire:

Fire corresponds to happiness, power, passion and illumination. To embrace this element in your home, use triangle shapes and different shades of red. You can also add warm lighting, candles or a fireplace to incorporate the fire element.

Metal:

The metal element is associated with creativity and travel, and promotes efficiency, clarity and strength. Use metal décor, like brass, silver or gold elements, along with circle shapes and colors like grey, white and black.

Earth:

To emphasize health, relationships and knowledge, incorporate the earth element. Using square shapes, yellows, oranges and browns in your home décor will help you feel more grounded and stable.

Water:

The water element is essential for your career and success, and can be incorporated in your home using wavy shapes, fountains and mirrors, along with the colors blue and black. You can also highlight moments where you were successful by hanging diplomas or awards.

4. Declutter

Decluttering is an important step to applying feng shui principles in your home. Experts say removing clutter from your home will help the flow of chi and also remove negative energy. Start decluttering one room or area at a time, and separate items into three piles—keep, donate and throw away. After deciding what items you would like to keep, be sure to organize them to create a tidy space.

If there are items you don’t want to get rid of, but don’t have space for in your home, consider renting a self-storage unit to help create positive feng shui in your living spaces.

5. Create a Warm and Welcoming Entry

According to the experts, your entryway is one of the most important areas of your home as it sets the tone for your living space. The entryway is how energy, or chi, enters your home, and creating a welcoming space helps ensure positive energy flows into your home and encourages a balanced environment. Keeping your entry free of clutter opens the space and prevents the blocking of chi (which invites negative feng shui).

Start by decluttering the space, removing any items you don’t need or want. It’s easy for items to accumulate in the entry, so be sure to use storage baskets, hooks, cabinets and more to keep the area tidy and organized.

6. Use the Commanding Position

The commanding position is an essential element of feng shui. It refers to the placement of furniture in certain rooms to create a sense of control, peace and stability. Practice the commanding position in your bedroom, office and living room, by placing furniture with a clear view of the door, but not in direct line with it. It’s also important to place these items against a strong backing or a solid wall. Be sure to apply the commanding position for items like your bed, desk, couch and stove.

7. Get plants

Potted plants are a great way to incorporate natural elements into your living space. Advocates of feng shui believe they add vibrancy, brighten up your home and introduce vitality. Plants also connect you to nature, and when strategically placed they can create balance and encourage positive energy.

Some house plants that promote feng shui include money trees, jade plants, pothos, snake plants, aloe vera and ferns. But remember to choose plants that will thrive in your living space—consider lighting conditions and climate, and check out our blog with ideas to inspire your indoor garden.

8. Yin and Yang

While decorating to embrace feng shui, harmony and balance are key. Many experts agree that applying both yin and yang energies is vital to create balance in your home. Yin is feminine energy that is represented by cool environments, quiet spaces and dark colors, and yang is masculine energy that is associated with bright colors and open spaces. Incorporate yin and yang by using both straight lines and round shapes, different colors, textures and levels of lighting.

FAQs: Feng Shui Tips in Your Home

Q: What are the basic rules of feng shui?

A: Many of the tips above are vital in order to incorporate feng shui in your home! Be sure to balance the five elements, declutter regularly, bring in plants, add natural elements and textures, use the commanding position and apply both yin and yang energies.

Q: What is bad feng shui for a house?

A: Direct front door and back door alignment is considered bad feng shui, as energy will flow in the front door and directly out the back door. Cacti and other spikey plants can create negative energy, and dead plants invite bad energy to the space. Clutter also prevents energy from flowing smoothly, so it’s important to declutter regularly!

Q: What brings wealth in feng shui?

A: In order to attract wealth using feng shui, incorporate water elements like a fountain or aquarium. You can also add plants and use shades of blue in your décor.

Q: Where should a mirror be placed in a bedroom according to feng shui?

A: Generally, experts suggest placing a mirror on a wall perpendicular to the door. If your bed is in the correct commanding position, a mirror will be placed along the side of the bed rather than behind it.

Wrapping Up: Feng Shui Tips in Your Home

Make your home a space that promotes balance, tranquility and positive energy flow by incorporating the common feng shui principles listed above. Advocates believe feng shui can transform your space into an environment that enhances your relationships, supports your goals and fosters a sense of peace.

You don’t have to feng shui your storage unit, but you should take advantage of more space! Self-storage is critical to achieving feng shui in your home or apartment to remove clutter and embrace chi. You can find your nearest Store Space using our storage finder.