Feng Shui stems from the ancient wisdom of flowing qi- a universal binding force that regulates the physical and spiritual world. It’s commonly associated with optimising your way of life through a set of rules that aim to promote prosperity and longevity. It is a very complex topic of discussion that ranges from the elements of the objective world to the simplest act of placing house plants within your interiors- everything matters a lot!
Hence getting the feng shui of your home correct before you set out on your interiors is definitely very important. We will leave the complex relationships to the experts, but it is definitely manageable to navigate within the realms of your interior design feng shui as we will highlight below!
Most Singaporean households begin with the front gate that leads to the living room, and this is the direct entrance where your qi flows in from. It is vital to keep this area of space well lit and clean because we want to gather and collect as much positive energy as possible.
Good luck cannot flow into the house if your door is cluttered! Many Singaporeans tend to jam their doorspace with bulky objects and ignore the lighting of their corridor, thus we should put as much thought into our exterior as we would in our interiors!
A well paced living room is imperative because it is the zone where families gather to converse with each other. There is a nuanced relay of energy and that can be chaotic if the living room is in a shambled mess. An easy way to manage this is to have a grounding sofa that draws the focus and keeps everything well-balanced. In feng shui, there is a concept of personifying objects as representations of certain segments of our lives.
The sofa in this case can easily be parallels of familiar relations and hence, we require it to be in a commanding position like “propping against the directional wall”. Apart from that, try adding some green plants into the living room as well, as certain types like the money tree or the bamboo plant helps to draw in the qi that they correlate to.
The kitchen is where we prepare food that feeds our family, and according to feng shui, helps sooth our soul too. If the kitchen is a mess, we are indirectly consuming the mess as well! (No offense to whoever cooks the food of course!) One of the most common rules to a kitchen’s feng shui is to avoid placing the stove right in front of the entrance.
The stove is vital because it is the engine that powers the physical functionality of the entire household. Popular choices of material within the kitchen are metal and marble because of its clean and sleek surface- which in turn inspires calmness in such a hectic spot of the house.
Another important factor to look at would be the sink as well, because it produces water that drives the heart of the household. Water, one of the namesakes of feng shui, is absolutely essential in the planning. As such, place the sink and stove in a commanding position where you can observe the entrance, while you cook for your family. We subconsciously project our own “qi” as we cook, and we wouldn’t want to bring negative nervous energy into the food.
As mentioned earlier, water is one of the elements found within the universal binding force of “qi”. This makes everyone think twice when they waste water because they are effectively losing good luck intentionally!
This mindful act of conserving water helps to redirect prosperity into other aspects of your lives. This can be as simple as building in water conserving taps, or even as mindless as having quick showers. Other meaningful acts include closing the lids of your toilet bowl or the toilet doors, because an open access means allowing “qi” to flow through.
Some techniques to counteract this issue of “loose flow” would be to install mirrors near the door or conceal the toilet with clever camouflage, such as fluted panelling. We always emphasize that the toilets are traffic heavy sites, thus they require frequent maintenance such as cleaning and decluttering- but ultimately keeping your toilet clean is always an easy answer.
The world of feng shui is dynamic and omnipresent, making the information that we shared above just barely a decimal point within the complex equation that is feng shui. Ultimately it emphasises on the essence of being mindful and practical in interior planning, as every little nudge helps to produce a seismic effect in another aspect. All in all, think of your interior designers as your personal lifestyle guru and they would be sure to bring in some feng shui tips for you as and when you need to!
