Understanding Feng Shui: Core Principles and Their Application

While some may find the ancient Chinese practice of feng shui unconventional, many of its principles are practical and cost-free. This guide explains the fundamentals of feng shui, its core concepts, and how to apply them to your living space. An interior designer offers expert advice on integrating feng shui into your home, providing everything you need to get started.

What Is Feng Shui?

According to interior designer Catherine Brophy, feng shui operates on the belief that our living spaces reflect our inner selves. Translating roughly to wind and water, or "the way of wind and water," this practice originates from Taoism. Its goal is to synchronize your surroundings with your identity and aspirations, creating harmony between your energy and your home's.

Achieving this involves thoughtful decisions about what enters your home, the layout of your rooms, and how you maintain the space. Every object, even those without life, carries energy. Feng shui directs this energy, ensuring it moves effortlessly throughout your home.

Principles of Feng Shui

Feng shui is guided by four core principles, each addressing a unique facet of the practice, working together to create harmony in your living space. These principles form the foundation of feng shui design.

The Five Elements

Feng shui revolves around the balance of five elements: earth, wood, water, fire, and metal. Each element holds specific meanings and influences when applied to your home.

1. Earth symbolizes stability and is connected to knowledge and well-being. Its associated colors are yellow, orange, and brown.
2. Wood embodies growth and vitality, often linked to family. Natural greens and blues represent this element.
3. Water signifies movement and flow, often reflecting career aspects. Black is the color most commonly tied to water.
4. Fire represents passion and is associated with wealth and fame, with red being its dominant color.
5. Metal stands for precision and efficiency, emphasizing helpfulness. Its colors include white and metallic tones.

Chi

When applying feng shui to your home, chi—the vital life force or energy—is a key consideration. The arrangement of furniture and decor can either promote or obstruct the flow of energy. Achieving a balanced use of space is essential, as it allows chi to circulate freely throughout the room.

Commanding Position

In feng shui, the commanding position is the area in a room farthest from the door, offering a clear view of the entrance without being directly in line with it. This spot is ideal for spending most of your time and is typically where you place the room's largest or most significant furniture, such as a bed.

Bagua Map

The bagua in feng shui is an energy map that aligns with your home's layout. The term "bagua" means "eight areas" in Chinese, representing aspects of life to balance. You are the center of the bagua (the "ninth area"), symbolizing your overall well-being. The eight areas cover knowledge, family, children, wealth, helpful people, career, fame, and partnerships, with health represented by the central ninth area.

Incorporating Feng Shui in Your Home

To bring feng shui into your home, focus on its core principles. Use colors that reflect desired traits and ensure a balance of elements. Arrange furniture to enhance chi (energy) movement, identify the commanding position in each space, and refer to the bagua map for guidance. These steps address common feng shui concerns and help create a harmonious environment.

How to Arrange Living Room Furniture

A well-arranged living room ensures smooth movement without bumping into furniture. For instance, walking into the back of a sofa upon entering is not ideal. Clear pathways to other rooms are essential. A frequent feng shui mistake is designing an awkward seating layout that discourages conversation, such as placing the couch far from chairs or pushing all seating against walls.

While there’s no exact rule for seating proximity, aim for an inviting and intimate setup. Furniture should be spaced comfortably, not too close or too far apart. Ensure each seat has a nearby surface for drinks or books, enhancing the welcoming atmosphere.

Position sofas against a solid wall, preferably the one farthest from the entrance, with a clear view of the door. Allow a few inches of space between the sofa and the wall. If a wall isn’t available, place a console table behind the sofa with tall, sturdy lamps for a sense of security. Adding a mirror opposite the couch can provide a view behind you, fostering a feeling of safety.

Circular or oval coffee tables often feel more harmonious than square or rectangular ones, as they allow energy to flow freely. Avoid sharp angles pointing toward seating areas. A mix of shapes is key: squares symbolize earth, rectangles represent wood, triangles signify fire, and round or oval shapes denote metal. Incorporating all these shapes creates a balanced and harmonious living room.

While some believe a television disrupts the energy of a living room, feng shui distinguishes between private (yin) spaces, such as bedrooms, and public (yang) spaces, like living rooms. A TV in a public area is acceptable and can serve as a focal point, which is perfectly fine if that aligns with your intentions.

However, if the room is meant for family gatherings, consider concealing the TV in a cabinet or placing it in a less central location to prevent it from dominating the space. For a family-friendly area, replacing a coffee table with a soft ottoman allows children to be at the heart of the activity.

How to Use Light and Color in a Space

Illuminating dark corners is crucial in feng shui. Lighting energizes a space, so ensure each area of the living room has adequate light sources when in use. Dark spots symbolize neglected aspects of your life, so brighten them to maintain balance.

Colors in feng shui carry significant meaning. Vibrant, saturated colors work well in public areas, with red being especially stimulating. Deep blue and eggplant shades also bring energy and vitality to a space.

How to Decorate a Dining Room

A frequent feng shui concern is mismatched dining table sizes—either too small for a large room or too large for a small space, leaving guests feeling cramped. Ensure ample room to pull out chairs and allow movement behind them. People naturally seek safety, often choosing seats with their backs to a wall in restaurants or waiting areas. Similarly, dining guests should feel secure with a wall behind them rather than an open doorway or window.

Rectangular or square dining tables are suitable since their corners don’t directly face seated guests, unlike coffee tables. However, a circular or oval table is ideal if it fits the space. Natural materials like wood create warmth and stability, while glass tables can introduce tension and nervous energy due to their fragility and the sound of glass clinking.

The dining room and kitchen are vital spaces for nourishment and health, so their decor should align with the rest of the home. Avoid overly formal designs that feel disconnected. If a crystal chandelier suits your style, it works well, but reflective metals like nickel, brass, or bronze are also excellent choices. Balance reflective surfaces with warm materials like wood or linen for a calming effect. A large mirror reflecting the dining table is believed to enhance abundance and attract good fortune.

Avoid lighting fixtures that direct light straight down, concentrating energy in one spot. Ambient lighting creates inclusivity, while spotlights feel exclusive. Dining room rugs are a personal choice; they ground the space, foster intimacy, and encourage conversation. However, practicality should be considered, especially in homes with children.

How to Decorate Windows and Use Mirrors

Window treatments depend on personal preference. Some enjoy the view and activity outside, while others feel exposed. However, if a large window faces the front door, energy can escape. Address this by using curtains, blinds, or placing an object like a plant or decorative bowl to reflect energy back into the room.

If your window overlooks an unappealing sight, such as a brick wall or a neighbor’s old swing set, use sheer curtains to soften the view and shift focus. While Brophy isn’t fond of excessive decor, she recommends hanging a multifaceted crystal in the window to redirect energy and improve the sightline. Any clear, faceted crystal will suffice.

Mirrors play a vital role in feng shui: they can manipulate energy flow and amplify natural light. Since mirrors highlight what they reflect, ensure they don’t capture undesirable views. Hang mirrors at a height where seated guests aren’t forced to see their own reflections.

In the reference photo, the fireplace emits energy outward, but the mirror above the mantel reflects it back into the room. The circular frame of the mirror symbolizes the infinite flow of the universe, while paired items like the vases and figurines on the mantel represent love and care.

How to Arrange Your Bedroom

The ideal bed placement is against the wall farthest from the door, but not directly opposite it. Positioning the bed so that the feet point straight out the door is called the coffin position, as it resembles how the deceased are carried out in Chinese tradition. If this layout is unavoidable, place a settee, bench, or upholstered screen at the foot of the bed to redirect energy and break the alignment.

While children’s beds can be placed against a wall, adults should have space on both sides of the bed. Ensure both occupants feel comfortable, with equal access to lighting and the bed. For singles seeking a partner, leaving space on both sides of the bed is energetically advantageous.

A feng shui bedroom should feel safe and inviting. The bed is central to this: in the example photo, the headboard’s wings create a protective embrace around the mattress. Drawing the eye upward, such as with a beautiful overhead fixture, a calming ceiling color, or striking drapes, can uplift the mood. The bed should feel like a cozy sanctuary within the room.

To create a calming feng shui atmosphere, combine safety (with a snug bed), coziness (using soft materials), and symmetry (with matching lamps and nightstands). For instance, a sturdy yet luxurious bed frame with an upholstered headboard, or elegant silk drapes paired with a simple Roman shade, achieves a balance of energy and tranquility.

While it might appear that there are numerous feng shui bedroom rules, excessive active energy can disrupt rest. For instance, be mindful of electrical wiring behind your bed. Opt for a battery-powered alarm clock instead of an electric one to reduce energy interference. Although it’s challenging to eliminate plugged-in lights, use soft lighting unless you need focused light for reading. Ensure your phone is turned off and kept outside the bedroom, along with laptops or computers.