Feng Shui Blog - The House of Light and Harmony

FENG SHUI AND BUYING REAL ESTATE – REMODELING THE HOME YOU NEED :: Case Study by Joseph Barry Martin, Ph.D.

Recently I was asked by a lovely couple who are business friends of mine to come and do a Feng Shui assessment of the older home they had just purchased. As the possession date was still a month away, they wanted home and garden decorating ideas to implement before they moved in. The challenge was the felt stale and even negative energy blockages in various parts of the space. These were so severe that they were having second thoughts – even Feng Shui buyer’s remorse – chilling thoughts of living there!

After a full assessment on and in the property, the blockages with lack of Qi flow were identified. Most often, anyone can kinesthetically feel these while walking through a space. Imagine the detriment and negative effects on health and happiness if you were to live in such a space.

The front yard was opened up energetically by suggesting a chain link fence be removed that blocked the visual and energetic flow of natural Wood and Air Qi. Luckily, the garden design layout of trees, shrubs and perennials was very suitable to the gentle accumulation of life-giving Qi on the front yard.

Fully forty per cent of the flow or blockage of Qi is representative of the layout of the front door and inner hallway. This is termed the “mouth of the house.” All positive energies need to be drawn towards the front door and allowed to enter easily and then circulate in natural spiral formations throughout all the spaces in the home. In this case, a suitable Georgian style front door brings the Qi from the street, the sky, the trees and gardens to the door and is allowed to enter into the vestibule. However, the two double doors from the vestibule to the inner hallway and home centre take the Qi up a straight staircase on the left. In Feng Shui, it is best if there is no stairway facing the front door. Rather, Qi needs to flow in spiral patterns onto the main floor and afterwards up to the second floor. We resolved this issue simply by keeping the left of the double doors closed, so that Qi could circulate through the right-hand door into the main hallways and thence around the rooms of the main floor.

Natural light filtering into your home is essential in Feng Shui, and so we took down all the lace curtains that shrouded and blocked the sunlight from coming in. Instantly, we all felt better, even the men present and the other listing REALTOR®.

Being built in the 1970s when there was not as much glazing built into homes, we felt a need to brighten up the interior. Old painted walls and darker colours have the visual and psychological effect of diminishing the space and making it feel even a bit claustrophobic. To remedy this diagnosis, we decided to paint the interior rooms. I work well with many painters in town who are always pleased to learn more about Feng Shui and its effects on people in houses. I go over colours very carefully, noting the new residents’ Gua numbers from the years of their birth, the Flying Stars for 2010, and other pertinent assessments such as personal uses of space, life style needs, plants, pets and visitors staying.

Carpets will be pulled out for various reasons – residual cat pee smells and stains, health-hazardous chemical off-gassing of new carpeting, wrong colours, and the need to replace with oak floors. All this is done within a harmonious and balanced design of personalized colours, and a balance of the Five Elements – Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water. Now the spacious living room with stone wall and insert fireplace will be balanced with an outdoorsy feeling of hunter green walls. Typically, we use the 3 to 1 principle of one deeper-toned accent wall with three paler toned walls. After removing a wall from the dining room, putting in oak floors after carpet removal, and placing a wider slider onto the outdoor deck, along with burnt sienna (orangey-red-brown) walls, one will feel joyful, bounteous and alive in a room that suits for all four seasons.

Other remedy recommendations were made to take out doors, repaint dark stained doors white, repaint hallways, rooms and ceilings much brighter and with lighter colours. All this is done to give the feeling of enhanced Qi flow throughout the house, and to create a warm, inviting, much more liveable feeling in the home.

By the end of the Feng Shui consultation, both partners were much happier and more optimistic about the possibilities for the older house they had bought. All their questions were answered, and their fears, anxieties and concerns allayed and remedied through the Feng Shui changes to be made. There was a sense of joy and even excitement of making the changes and being able to sense how good it will be.

Posted by Jose Albis Friday Jun 18, 2010 10:00
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