SIMPLIFIED EXPLANATION OF HOW FENG SHUI WORKS
Feng Shui revolves around a major element: Qi. It's the energy that forms all living beings and flows around us. But it's important to remember that Feng Shui has to be assessed from the outside in. The surrounding mountains, waterscapes and streetscapes (within 1-2km radius) determine the type of Qi that flows into your homes. Qi can either be good or bad depending on where it's originating from. It is then up to the interior elements of your home to either maximize the good Qi or diminish the bad Qi before reaching you. Now that we've got this out of the way, let's begin.
1) YOUR MAIN DOOR COULD BE FACING YOUR BIGGEST NIGHTMARE!
One of the major 3 elements, the Main Door is the mouth of the house where Qi (either good or bad) enters. How it receives the Qi can be detrimental to the overall Feng Shui quality of your home... and even you. First, let's look at what your Main Door SHOULDN'T face. Stand at your front door and face outwards. If you see an obvious vertical pole of some sorts (tree, lamp post, column) directly in the path of the Main Door, you're screwed. These elements cause piercing negative Qi to enter your home which could severely affect the health and career of your household. But wait, the nightmare doesn't end there.
If your main door is directly facing an alley or T-junction, you're also inviting negative Qi that rushes into your home and has the potential to cause health problems or accidents. We don't want Qi to rush quickly into our homes, we want it to flow smoothly (imagine jogging) through our main door. Think this is over?
Nope. Your Main Door ALSO SHOULDN'T face any sharp elements (significant/numerous triangular roofs, electrical pylons) as this is considered a Fire negative Qi that deals the trifecta damage: bad wealth, bad luck (mishaps), and bad relationship.
For our past clients with situations like this, we would normally move the main door to a different location that fits the 8 Mansions (a Feng Shui formula) of that particular house or create a barrier that blocks the negative elements out of sight from the Main Door.
ONE SPACE SOLUTION: You're not just getting free Feng Shui tips, you're also getting a free interior Feng Shui consultation. Schedule a free interior Feng Shui consultation at the end of this article (first come first served!).
2) YOUR MAIN DOOR COULD STILL BE FACING YOUR BIGGEST NIGHTMARE. TURN AROUND!
Now that we've seen what your Main Door is facing outwards, let's see what it's facing inwards. Do you stay in an apartment where your main door directly faces the balcony? If so, then you're probably getting poorer because the Qi (good/bad) is rushing out of your home immediately upon entering without circulating. This also applies to landed homes where its main door directly faces the back door. As an interior designer, I've also seen many homes with Main Doors that directly face the edge of a wall or a column. This also cause the piercing negative Qi which could worsen your health and career.
Some landed homes also have main doors facing the stairs. If it's more than 5 feet apart then you're safe (phew). But if it's not... then the existing Qi that is gushing down from the stairs will be clashing with the new Qi coming in from the Main Door. This clash doesn't allow the new Qi to circulate which could lead to further disharmony in the household (now you have an excuse for your partner for future quarrels. It's not you, it's the Qi).
3) IF YOU HAVE A SMALL KITCHEN, YOU'RE PROBABLY MAKING THIS FENG SHUI MISTAKE!
Fire and water elements don't mix well together and by that, I'm referring to your stove (fire) and sink (water). The clash will cause an imbalance in the flow of Qi throughout the house, reducing the quality of Feng Shui. But who am I kidding? Every kitchen needs to have a these 2 important elements. Hence, what matters is that your stove and sink are at least 1-2 feet apart to avoid the elements clashing.
Having the stove and sink face each other is just as bad (if not worse) and you should definitely consider shifting it. However, rest assured that your newly purchased RM4,000 double door fridge is not considered a water element so it can technically be placed next to a stove.
4) FENG SHUI COULD AFFECT THE FOOD YOU'RE EATING. IF YOU'RE EATING NOW, READ THIS FIRST!
*If you're someone that can barely make a bowl of instant noodles and orders Grab food 5 days a week, ignore this tip but watch out for tip #7 because you're probably spending too much time there.*
The stove is the heart of the house and should be placed properly. Food that enters your mouth is cooked with the stove (hopefully not with the microwave) and hence should be protected from negative Qi because this significantly affects the health of the occupants. Your stove should have a solid and stable backing: the wall. It should never be placed on the island because it would be exposed to Qi on all sides affecting the food that's being cooked.
The stove ALSO SHOULDN'T be directly facing a door because this would create a similar T-junction issue where rushing negative Qi will affect the food. To be safe, make sure your kitchen layout is properly assessed by a kitchen planner that understands the basics of interior Feng Shui before fully committing to the renovation!
ONE SPACE SOLUTION: Is your kitchen facing a Feng Shui problem? Or do you just simply need a free consultation on kitchen planning matters? Then schedule a free Feng Shui / non Feng Shui consultation with our kitchen specialists as we're also the authorized dealer for Signature Kitchen.
5) IS THE FENG SHUI OF YOUR BEDROOM NIGHTMARE-PROOF?
Yin & Yang! Yin (ie: Mountain) represents stability while Yang (ie: Water) symbolizes dynamic movement. The bedroom, which is a peaceful place for you to rest and relax should have a strong Yin element (no one wants to rest next to a loud gushing river). Hence, the shape of your bedroom should be square/rectangle (which symbolizes Earth and stability) to allow a balanced flow of Qi and a good night's sleep.
But nowadays it's common to have L-shape rooms which is double the trouble. This means you have a missing sector which also means unbalanced Qi flow. An L-shape room also has an extra edge pointing towards you, causing negative piercing Qi to disrupt your rest which would inevitable affect your health and career performance.
A solution that we’ve always used in the past is to create a partition that closes off the additional sector of the L-shape, creating a rectangle and a square instead of a full L-shape, making the Qi flow balanced again. As a rule of thumb, avoid rooms with too many edges!
6) ARE YOU SAFE FROM BAD FENG SHUI WHEN YOU SLEEP?
If you think the ghost hiding under your bed is scary, wait till you see how bad Qi can affect your life in the long run. Sleeping is a Yin (stable/calm) activity and hence should be paired with Yin elements. Therefore, always remember to only sleep with a wall or a fixed window (Yin element) behind your bed to avoid excessive Yang energy from disrupting your sleep. A bad example would be to sleep against an operable window without thick curtains because excessive Qi would rush in and affect your health and career.
Having a beam or a similar protruding object directly above the bed will also cause suppressive Qi to affect your sleep. This is where a flat plaster ceiling comes in to save the day.
It's also a common misconception that if your feet face the door when you sleep, you'll be turning your room into a magnet for ghosts. The truth is, the ghosts probably have better things to do and the only real concern is Qi rushing in through the door will affect your sleeping quality, which will then lead to a decline in health and career again. If moving the bed is not an option, having some sort of a partition there would fix the problem.
7) BEWARE IF YOU’RE WORKING FROM HOME!
More of us are starting to work from our homes our career performance might be affected by that. The work space at home is often an afterthought and with the limited space we have in apartments, we’re left with little options.
When seated at your desk (or dining table), if your back is facing a window (Yang feature), you will not have a stable backing as you would get from a solid wall (Earth element). This would cause a decline in your performance which also means losing money.
Having your back face the door is just as bad because you still lack the stable Yin backing and the Qi entering through the door will be crashing into you which will lead to backstabbing at your workplace. As a rule of thumb, always have a wall behind your seat. With the added Yin support, your performance in work and studies will be improved.
8) WE’VE BEEN LIED TO ABOUT THIS FENG SHUI MYTH!
Our mothers have always told us that by facing the mirror when we sleep, our souls would be surprised by its own reflection and never return into the body again. The truth is (verified by Joey Yap as well), facing the mirror DOES NOT affect the Feng Shui of the bedroom. However, the myth does have some truth to it. Imagine waking up in the middle of night, still half-awake with your eyes barely opening to its fullest, then you see this monstrous-looking creature in the mirror staring back at you which is actually just yourself with bed hair and swollen eyes (at least that’s what I see every night, please don’t judge).
