#1 feng shui rule

I want to emphasize again that feng shui has to be practical. While accompanying a friend to see an Interior Designer, I cannot believe my ears when I heard the ID say that a feng shui master insisted that a client sleep with his head pointing towards his favourable direction – which is diagonal to the orientation of the bedroom!

The ID’s mind must have gone blank when she heard that from the client. I would have stared right into the client with mouth open, thinking “What the crap have I got myself into?!?!”

How can an apartment be in harmony with the environment when it is not in harmony with itself. Its like the saying

“How would you be able to take care of others when you cannot even take care of yourself”

Yes. According to the text, a house can be considered feng shui. But it really grabs me like a level of resignation that these “masters” are so text book.

Yes. 11 individuals on a pitch obeying the rules can be considered a soccer team. But a great team gels and knows when and where to foul, where to attack, when to pass to feet, who should take free kicks, who to play keeper, and all that.

I shook my head in disbelief when I heard the ID’s encounter.

It’s a good thing my friend believes feng shui … . … is full of crap. It allowed me to keep an open mind to the ID’s proposals without interrupting with my feng shui principles. She particularly wants her whole place to have light effects blended with warm colours to bring out a natural feeling of warmth. This requires a false ceiling for the whole apartment as proposed by the ID. I have to say, the portfolio was impressive.

A lot of IDs play with false ceilings and down lights. From a feng shui point of view, whole ceilings without any significant depressions or L-shapes are fine. A ceiling with depressions as sometimes designed by IDs creates a downward force on the apartment. Beams take shape focusing these energies in specific areas of the place. if these designs are really desirable, it is best not to carve out walkways where the beams hang overhead. You can also designate cabinets below the beams to even out the walls.

In the event that your Mother-in-law insists on depressed ceilings, and you can’t kick her out of the house, you can segment up areas as an alternative. I don’t recommend ceiling fans, but if you must, give it a colour that is exhausted by your wall colour.

I’ve seen false ceilings built around air-conditioners. The air-conditioner will half protrude out from the ceiling. Very ugly sight. Don’t do that. Get your ID to design wholeness. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these small issues are insignificant. Feng shui is after all, making small big.

If many light points are used, it is best to keep them within your control. Do not have a switch that would turn on ALL lights. That sounds stupid, but there are people who do that for whatever reason. And for environment’s sake use more energy saving lights.

As I left the condusive ID selling environment, I cannot help but take a dig at the ID

“So how did you handle the challenge of designing diagonally oriented beds?”

“Oh I told them to fuck off!”

What a passionate designer

practical
fengshui