Feng Shui 101: How to increase positive energy in your living room

Are you a believer of Feng Shui? In an ideal situation, you’d get a property which is aligned with all the best practices of Feng Shui. Realistically speaking though, it’s not easy to change the direction your rooms are facing, or to change your orientation to your neighbour. ButFeng Shui isn’t just about that – it’s also about proper furniture placement that will maximize the flow of good energy in your home.

In terms of Feng Shui, your living room is exceptionally important because that’s where most of your social and family gatherings will take place. Follow these simple rules to make sure that you’re doing it right!

1. Position your couch properly

Your couch should always be resting against a solid wall, so that it will give support to the occupants of the house, and encourage stability. Go one step further and activate what practitioners term the ‘four celestial animals’ – your couch against the wall being the Black Tortoise, and the other three being:

• A one-seater on the right of the sofa, which is the White Tiger
• A two-seated on the left of the sofa, which is the Green Dragon
• A coffee table in front, which is the Phoenix

This arrangement is said to attract good fortune and create a protective energy for the occupants of the house.

2. Avoid decorative items that perpetuate negative energy

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The list includes:

• Weapons such as vintage swords and intricate letter-openers
• Decor with sharp edges, which create ‘killing’ energy
• Paintings/art featuring lions, tigers or any other ferocious-looking animals which may ‘prey’ on the occupants of the household

Putting these items in your living room will increase the negative energy, making occupants more quarrelsome, easily frustrated, and prone to illness.

3. Stick to neutrals

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It might be on trend to have an accent wall which is painted in a bright, bold colour – but according to Feng Shui, that’s a no-go! Your living room is supposed to be a place of ‘Yin’, meaning that the feeling it should evoke is one of calmness and serenity. Steer clear of overly loud colours like bright red, orange, and purple, and go for neutral shades instead.

4. Adorn your sitting area appropriately

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To energize your sitting area,  experts recommend usingFeng Shui coins. Tie three coins together with a red ribbon, and place them such that the Chinese symbols are facing upwards. You can choose to put them under your chair (make sure the floor is clean, though!), on your coffee table, or both. The idea is that the coins will energize the area you’re resting in, and bring more wealth to you.

5. Activate the energy in each sector

Each sector in your living room corresponds to a different element – the north element is water, the south is fire, the east and southeast are wood, the west and northwest are metal, and lastly, the northeast and southwest are earth.

A simple way to activate the energy in each sector is to add elements that correspond to and can nourish the ‘main elements’ described above. Here are some ways of doing so:

Water

• Put an aquarium here
• Use the colour blue here
• Place a water fountain here – but make sure the water flows into the room, and not towards the door
• Put up art of waterscapes – but choose ‘gentle’ water such as meandering streams and waterfalls, instead of stormy and turbulent waters

Fire

• Display candles here
• Use wood furniture and/or decorative items made of wood
• Use red, pink, orange, and green colors here – but in measured amounts! Don’t paint an entire wall red, as that will disrupt the yin energy of the room.

Wood

• Put your house plants here
• Use wood furniture and/or decorative items made of wood
• Use green and brown colours here

Metal

• Use metal furniture and/or decorative items made of metal
• Use blue, gray, gold, tan, and bronze colours here

Earth

• Display crystals and other minerals here
• Display cut glass and hand blown glass knick knacks here
• Display pottery or ceramics here
• Use earth tones colors including mustard, clay, brown, tan, and russet here

Also be careful not to have excessive ‘contrasting’ elements in each sector. For example, if you have too many water elements in your south, or fire, sector, this will lead to the water ‘flushing’ out your good energy. In the same vein, an excess of wood will curb earth, an excess of earth will curb water, and the same goes for fire curbing metal, and metal curbing wood.

Got your living room all good to go? Look out for our subsequent articles on how to maximise Feng Shui in the rest of your rooms!