Bring a bit of feng shui into your home

featured last month on SheKnows.com, article by Sherri Kuhn 

The entryway to your home sets the tone for your whole living space, but what about the effect it has on your career success? Feng shui suggests that black and other dark colors have an impact on your success. We spoke with feng shui experts to find out how we can incorporate these concepts into our own homes — and boost our careers at the same time.

How does feng shui relate to your career?

The Kan Gua is located near the front entry, and is the career area of a home. "The colors of the Kan Gua are black, navy blue and dark blue," says Diana Hathaway Timmons, color expert at About.com, interior designer and author of Sell Your Home Without Losing Your Zen. "Decorating with these colors in the Kan Gua of your home can enhance career opportunities." She stresses that while using these colors is beneficial, it is important to approach it in a balanced way, or it will create the opposite effect. "Feng shui is all about balance, and that includes the use of colors," she adds. "Using large amounts of dark color in the room traps the chi (energy) and will defeat the purpose of using color as a career enhancement."

Your face to the world

Visualize the front entry to your home, which is what people see first when they approach your home or enter it. "The entry and front door of your home represent your face to the world, how the world sees you and how easily opportunities can come to you," says Anjie Cho, registered New York State architect and feng shui interior designer. "The entry is also related to your path in life as well as the season and energy of winter," Cho adds. "Using black to emphasize water and career will increase your career success. The colors black and dark blue, the number one, wavy shapes and the element of water symbolize this area."

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by Anjie Cho


eHow.com Video: How to Decorate A Room With Water Fountains and Plants

How to Decorate a Room with Water Fountains and Plants

How to Decorate a Room with Water Fountains and Plants

Water fountains, available in a variety of styles and sizes, add beauty and harmony to a space while improving air quality and mood. Pair with plants for an ideal design.

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Video Transcript:

Hi, my name is Anjie Cho, and I would like to share with you tips on how to decorate a room with water fountains and plants. Since I’m a feng shui designer, I will also share with you the feng shui applications and meanings.

Water fountains are a great way to add beauty, sound, and humidity for a tranquil and harmonious space. The soothing sounds of water trickling can relax your mind and lower stress levels. The circulating water also releases negative ions which help to purify the air, just like with waterfalls and the ocean. The negative ions produced by the circulating water improve mood and feelings of well-being. The water also creates humidity that moistens the air for humans and for plants – it’s a natural humidifier.

There are different types of fountains that you can have in your home. There are floor fountains that are often tall – they sit on the floor. They are nice to locate next to a wall. There’s also wall-mounted fountains that you can hang on the wall. Be sure to get them installed by a professional with the correct tools and wall anchors, because the wall-mounted fountains can be really heavy.

What I have here is a tabletop fountain. It’s the smallest and easiest way to incorporate a fountain into a room. The tabletop fountains fit easily on a shelf, desk, side table, or anything with a horizontal surface near an electrical outlet. This one is made with resin, stones, and a black metal base. It’s in the shape of a lotus flower, which is a metaphor of beauty coming forth from any situation.

There’s also fountains made with different materials, such as stainless steel and copper. Stone and ceramics are also frequently found. And, sometimes they’re made of resin like this one, that it could be made to simulate different things like natural stone. The style depends upon the décor of your home. Some have lighting, others do not.

In feng shui, water fountains add the element of water to a space, which represents wealth, abundance, and cash flow. An ideal location is near an entry, which is said to stimulate cash to flow into your home from the outside. If used in this manner, it’s better to have a fountain that has a water flow up, and then down. If it’s directional, the flow should be into the home. That way, the wealth flows into your space and not out of your space.

Be sure to maintain them well – nothing’s worse than a fountain with funky water, algae, and slime. Many manufacturers suggest that you use only distilled water. Most tap water has minerals in it that will develop deposits on your fountain and clog the pump. If they do develop, scrub them as soon as they show up so they don’t become permanent. You can also add hydrogen peroxide to the water to inhibit the growth of algae, slime, and other microorganisms. It will keep everything running smoothly. Also, placing the fountain away from sunlight helps prevent algae growth. Never let the pump run dry, so be sure to check the water levels regularly. If it does run dry, it will shorten the life of the pump.

Finally, plants pair perfectly with fountains. The fountain provides negative ions, and the plants provide oxygen. The larger fountains can house plants within them. If you have a small fountain like this, it’s really beautiful to surround it with potted plants, and you can have stands to create a tiered effect.

I’m Anjie Cho, feng shui interior architect with Anjie Cho Architect, and founder of Holistic Spaces. And, this is has been how to decorate your room with water fountains and plants.

by Anjie Cho


Feng Shui 101: The Bagua Map

Above is the feng shui bagua map. You may have seen this before in an octagon shape with lots of weird symbols. The bagua map I’ve created is a modernized representation, but they mean the same thing. I’ll spend some time sharing with you how to use this map and go into some detail about each area.

The feng shui bagua map is a concept that feng shui practitioners use to look at your environment. This concept can be applied to your entire property, to the floorplan of the house or building, to the floorplan of your bedroom, and even the layout of your desk. The square is a three by three grid and can stretch and shrink to fit over your floorplan.

The first rule is to align the bottom of the bagua to the entrance wall of your space. An easy way to start is to use your bedroom. Stand in the doorway of your bedroom and look into the room. Then you hold this bagua so that the far right corner is Relationships. That would make the back left corner the Abundance area. If we were looking at your desk, you could divide your desktop into a three by three grid and apply the bagua similarly. The far right corner is Relationships, and the back left corner is Abundance.

Now I’ll share a little bit about each area!

New Beginnings:

This area is related to new beginnings of any kind: creation, family matters, and the season and energy of spring and is symbolized by the color green, the number three, columnar and tall shapes, and the element of yang wood. It has that magnificent burst of energy associated with a sprout pushing out of the ground and the excitement of the first beautifully sunny and warm day of spring. This is a great area to activate if you have trouble starting new things.

Abundance:

This area is related to wealth, abundance, prosperity and self-worth, represented by the color purple, the number four, columnar and tall shapes, and the element of yin wood. This is one of the “favorite” areas of the bagua. It’s not just about money though. Your wealth in the world is dependent and related to your self worth, so this area is also about having an abundance of the positive aspects in your life.

Health:

This area is related to your overall health, signified by earthy colors yellow-orange-brown, the number five, square shapes, and the element of earth. If you look at the location of this area, it’s in the center and is sometimes referred to as the “tai chi”. Because it’s in the center, the health area is affected by and affects all eight bagua areas around it.

Benefactors:

This area is related to helpful people, benefactors, the energy of heaven, travel and the father, all symbolized by the color gray, the number six, circular shapes, and the element of yang metal. Oftentimes we need the help of others (whether that be people or from the heavens) to move forward. Adjustments can be done in this area to activate the energy to bring supportive energy and people into your life.

Completion:

This area is related to completion, children, any sort of output or offspring, joy, and the season and energy of autumn. The color white, the number seven, circular shapes, and the element of yin metal relate to Completion. This area is about closure and the end of things. But the end of things brings new beginnings as well. This area would be great to activate if you have trouble completing projects.

Knowledge:

This area is related to knowledge and self-cultivation, represented by the color dark blue, the number eight, square shapes, and the element of yang earth. This area is also about our spiritual inclinations to grow and develop our inner lives. It’s also about your level of skill and knowledge in mundane areas of your life.

Recognition:

This area is related to fame, passion, recognition, reputation and the season and energy of summer. It is symbolized by the color red, the number nine, triangular shapes, and the element of fire. This is also an area for people who want to be seen and recognized. It governs your level of passion and how the world sees you and is a great area to activate if you are starting any new endeavors that require public support.

Path in Life:

This area is related to your career as well as the season and energy of winter. The color black, the number one, wavy shapes, and the element of water symbolize this area. This is the path you walk in life, and how you express your work in the world. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a traditional career, but it pertains to how you move through the course of your life.

Relationships:

This area is related to relationships, partnerships, the mother and marriage, symbolized by the color pink, the number two, square shapes, and the element of yin earth. This area is probably the second most popular because it can activate attracting a primary relationship.


The bagua is one of the most important aspects of feng shui, as it assists in determining what parts of your space relate to each specific type of energy. Without properly defining this, you cannot properly execute feng shui. Look into which bagua area relates to an area that you need to work on, and get started!

by Anjie Cho


If you’d like to learn more about feng shui, check out Mindful Design Feng Shui School at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com