DESIGN CONNECTION

As a designer I’ve been acquainted with the ancient Chinese practice of Feng Shui for a long time, and have often thought about what an inherent role it seems to play in good design. It calls for the use of color, for a lack of clutter, and demands clarity and light while always seeking harmony and balance—all fundamentals for a great environment. But there are many interesting facts about its history and derivation that I was unaware of until researching its ancient background for this article.

First of all, the proper pronunciation seems to actually offer a choice between “fung-shway” and “fung-shwee”—you decide. And the words “feng shui” literally translate as “wind-water” in English.

Its history covers 3,500+ years before the invention of the magnetic compass which was actually invented for feng shui and, of course, has been in use since that time. Until this invention, the practice of feng shui seems to have apparently relied on astronomy to find the connection between man and the universe.

In Chinese culture, gentle wind (feng) and clear water (shui) have always been associated with good harvest and good health, and so “good feng shui” came to mean good livelihood and fortune and “bad feng shui” came to mean hardship and misfortune.

Feng shui is based on the idea that the land (earth) is alive and filled with “chi” or energy—the life force that emanates from and radiates through all matter—and it reveals to us just how to balance the energies of any given space to promote health and good fortune for the people living in it.

Proponents of feng shui absolutely believe that it has a profound effect on health, wealth and even personal relationships, and as of late, there are those who define it as “the practice of arranging objects (such as furniture) to help achieve their goals.” So you can see that the term “feng shui” encompasses many facets of our lives and surroundings, with a profound correlation between it and design.

Tamara Tyrbouslu is a Las Vegas REALTOR® with Realty One who also teaches classes on feng shui. Tamara says, “Feng Shui is an art much like interior design where the artist intuitively senses the balancing spatial dynamics between asymmetrical objects, contrasting textures, and complimentary colors. The essence of feng shui is environmental science—it is the practice of feng shui that is an art.”

From the feng shui use of aquariums to attract prosperity to its use of crystals and fountains, and from the right feng shui use of colors to the feng shui use of clocks, there are so many ways to improve your home energy with feng shui.

Color seems to be one of the easiest ways to influence the energy in the home. And each color is an expression of one of the five feng shui elements: fire, earth, metal, water and wood. The elements are used in specific areas according to the feng shui energy map of your space, or “bagua.”

It’s up to each of us to choose the feng shui colors for the energy that we specifically need in our lives, and these can be brought into our homes through wall color, art, photographs, and even fabric choices.

Feng shui teaches us not to be afraid of bringing vibrant colors into the home; color is a very powerful thing because it is light, and light is our most important nutrient. The more colors that you harmoniously absorb throughout the day, the higher your sense of well-being will be.

Tamara encourages designers to embrace their inherent abilities with feng shui. “Interior designers have a keen sense of how people respond to environments, how they will feel in the space,” she says. “Feng shui takes interior design to a level of intentionality, creating in the environment a specific desired outcome, so that over time, whatever that positive change is, it will manifest. Sometimes it is a birthing process through which there are labor pains before there is success.”

And whether or not you are a believer in the powers of feng shui, it can’t be denied that its very principles, as I mentioned earlier, do seem to go hand-in-hand with good, basic interior design, with its emphasis on simplicity and a minimum of clutter.

For example, in the bedroom, as a designer it’s always been my belief that the bed is the most important object in the room and so it should be placed accordingly. It should be easily approachable from both sides, have two bedside tables (one on each side), and feng shui cautions us to avoid having the bed in a direct line with the door, which should be closed at night in order to keep in all that good energy or “chi.”

Further, there should be several levels of light in your bedroom (always a good design idea in almost any space, by the way), and use of a dimmer (of which I’m a big believer) is certainly encouraged in order to adjust the energy or light levels.

Soothing colors should be used in the bedroom in order to achieve a good feng shui balance, which will go a long way to bringing on restorative sleep as well as sexual healing. The best colors to be used are colors of the human skin which will vary from pale white to a rich chocolate brown. However, Tamara says, “Peach, as a color is a no-no in the bedroom because it leads to infidelity. The effect of the color is referred to as Peach Blossom Luck. It can be used for a single person to attract love interests. For married people it continues to attract this energy from outside of the relationship and will eventually lead to adultery.”

And finally, the kitchen is the feng shui part of the home that nourishes and sustains life, and so it’s probably considered the most important part. It’s also a feng shui symbol of wealth, by the way.

Again, it’s recommended that the kitchen also have several levels of the right kind of light and at the same time be airy and spacious, clean, bright and welcoming. It should be simple and not overloaded with gadgets, keeping the clutter to a minimum. Fresh flowers are encouraged in order to bring an uplifting energy along with a bowl of fruit. Yellow is a wonderful color for this space as it is said to be good for the digestion. All of these are great decorating tips to be sure.

You may be curious as to how my own home stacks up against the feng shui recommendations. Well, our bedroom, center hall, family room and kitchen are all in various shades of yellow. There’s always a bowl of fruit and flowers to be found in the kitchen, and several of the rooms are in shades of red with our powder room featuring touches of green, which is also our choice for carpeting. We have a number of water features in our lush yard along with a pond filled with goldfish and koi.

Tamara Tyrbouslu can be reached by calling (702) 682-3989 or e-mail her at TamaraT@RealtyOneLV.com.

Stephen Leon is president of Soleil Design Intl. Inc. and has been designing and manufacturing custom furniture and cabinetry for more than 25 years, along with his accomplishments in interior design. He has served on the board of directors of the Central California/Nevada Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers. Stephen can be contacted at soleildesign@cox.net.