When you hear the words ‘Feng Shui’, what comes to mind? If you’re like most Westerners, probably not much. You might have heard some of your more bohemian friends mention it, and you might even know one or two principals.
Besides, Feng Shui is ancient Chinese wisdom—surely there’s no place for that in the 21st century, right? That’s where you’re wrong!
Having a good Feng Shui home layout can be the secret to living a more peaceful and harmonious life, even today. Likewise, if you’ve found yourself unable to sell your house, it might even help get your home off the market faster.
So how can it do all of that?
Keep reading to learn all about what a good Feng Shui home layout looks like, and also how it might be the secret to getting your home to sell faster.
What Is Feng Shui?
As you might already know, Feng Shui is a set of principles that stem from Ancient China. Feng (風) translates to “wind” in Chinese, while Shui (水) translates to “water”.
As the direct translation suggests, Feng Shui is all about how human life connects and flows with the environment around it. It seeks to harness energy in a way that creates a harmonious balance between humans and nature.
The ideas of Feng Shui come from Taoism (道), which in English means “the way”. This refers to the way of nature.
How It Can Affect Selling a Home
While some might shake their heads and claim that Feng Shui is nothing more than pseudoscience, it can nevertheless have a tangible impact on your ability to sell a home.
Many people look for elements of Feng Shui when they’re shopping for a home. In fact, according to a recent study, 86% of Chinese-Americans factor it into their home-buying decisions.
Aside from direct empirical evidence, the fact remains that Feng Shui tenets appeal to wide swathes of the population. If you apply its principles to your home, buyers might not realize why they like your home as much as they do.
What they will take away, however, is that your home layout is attractive, soothing, and aesthetically pleasing.
A Feng Shui Home Layout to Strive for
Okay, so Feng Shui is worth learning more about. But won’t it take days or weeks’ worth of rearrangements to get your home in order? What if selling your house fast is your main priority?
While Feng Shui is a complex topic, it’s not difficult to take its basic principles and apply them to your home.
Let’s take a look at some of the main elements that can have an actual impact on how people feel when they step into your house.
Good Flow
Feng Shui contains many different elements, but one of the most important ones is qi (氣), which refers to the flow of energy.
If someone’s energy can flow as it should, they have positive qi or energy. While qi exists on a personal level, our homes also impact whether energy flow. The best way to encourage a “good flow” is through furniture placement.
Here are some general tenets of Feng Shui to promote energy flow:
- Place your bed opposite the door, but don’t let your feet point directly at it
- Avoid constraining flow by having too much furniture
- Make sure your areas and rooms have natural pathways
- Avoid having furniture that faces directly at doors
- Don’t let your seats face one another—have them at angles or put something between them (like a table)
Almost everyone has the space necessary to promote good flow. It’s just a matter of rearranging!
The Right Colors
While you shouldn’t go lobbing paint at your walls and floors to ensure they adhere to Feng Shui, it’s worth using accents like pillows and artwork to promote the right colors.
The precise meanings behind different colors in Feng Shui is a topic in itself. For the sake of simplicity, here are some popular colors and what they represent:
- White: Promotes clarity, communication, and precision
- Black: Encourages contemplation and mystery
- Dark Blue: Wisdom and introspection
- Green: Freshness, growth, new beginnings
- Yellow: Patience, wealth, and wisdom
- Red: A general stimulator
Different rooms should have different colors. You’ll want your living room to be lively and energetic, whereas your bedroom should be soothing and restful.
Different Elements
Remember that Feng Shui means wind-water. Given that meaning, you’ll want to look for ways to incorporate the five basic elements into your home.
Those five elements, as well as easy ways to incorporate them, are as follows:
- Water: Mirrors, fountains, the color blue
- Wood: Plants, trees, the colors green and brown
- Fire: Lighting, candles, triangular shapes, the colors orange and red
- Earth: Landscape photos, pottery, the colors yellow or beige
- Metal: Stones, rocks, circles, metallic finishes, the colors gray and white
If you’re trying to sell your home, look for ways to create a balance between the different elements. For example, if you have a home that’s oozing in water, look for ways to balance it out with some wood, fire, or other elements.
Take Advantage of All That Feng Shui Can Provide
While Feng Shui might be the secret that gets your home off the market faster, it’s also something that can benefit your life even when you’re not looking to sell.
Use this guide as a resource to help you create the ultimate Feng Shui home layout. Don’t be surprised if you feel more harmonious and peaceful afterward!
Are you looking for more Home design and Lifestyle Tips? How about other tips to help your home sell as fast as possible? If so, make sure to check out some of the other great posts on our site.
Leave a Reply