When I am designing or building for a client, more than often there will be demands based on everyday life needs; like a Master bedroom, an en-suite for the girls, and one for the boys and a living room. Very rarely have I met a client who went ahead and wanted a personal connection with their house; In most cases we find ourselves failing to justify the forms on the buildings or furnishes or even the materials, most of which are place in for aesthetics purposes only.

I am not against aesthetics, but, a home is a place most of our lives are spent at; most for the entirety of it; a place we identify ourselves with and are identified by; should have a stronger connection, right?

An old Chinese philosophy, feng shui well establishes the hidden connection between our everyday spaces and everyday lives. The philosophy argues that our homes/spaces energize our lives based on the elements in the spaces we spend time in. Feng shui uses its essential principles of the commanding position, the Bagua, and the five elements to prove this statement. Here, I will only briefly explain these essential principles;

The commanding positions in feng shui don’t imply commanding others, but rather energizing you to be in command of your space. In a room, the commanding positions are the one furthest from the door, not indirectly line with the door and with a good view of the door. The principle is that this position is where the key piece of furniture should be placed such as a bed, sofa, or desk.

The Bagua is a feng shui energy map of the floor plan of your house. It has 9 areas; Family (Zhen), Wealth (Zhun), Health (Tai Qi), Helpful people (Qian), Children (Dui), Knowledge (Gen), Fame (Li), Career (Kan) and Partnership (Kun). So basically, there are guidelines on how to make your house energize any of these areas. The principle is you choose three of these areas to start with, not all at once, then apply the feng shui principles to energize your life. For example, if you want to encourage fertility, you may add a circular metallic table in the area on your house representing children.

The five elements from the Taoism tradition are earth, water, wood, metal, and fire. These elements work together every day in creating a working system, and feng shui through its principles balances them out in all areas of your life to fully energize you.

Feng shui has been around for about 5000 years and its gaining much popularity throughout the world. I hope you can map your house with the Bagua map and dig deeper into feng shui principles to fully utilize your spaces.