Platform beds are those that lack a traditional box spring. They have clean lines and are very inviting. A mattress sits on top of a wooden or other type of frame, allowing for an open area under the platform or adding to the storage of the space. However, when you consider feng shui, you might be happy to learn that these platform beds make one of the best additions to your bedroom. Avoid the bulky, hard lines of a traditional mattress and instead consider the benefits that a platform bed mattress and bedroom set can offer to your space.
Why Platform Beds Matter
Platform beds fit several ways well within the scope of feng shui. They provide you with gentle curves and simpler lines. However, the bed is only one element to this space to take into consideration. When you incorporate feng shui in any type of space, you need to know how the pieces create the whole picture. In other words, the color, bedroom furniture and virtually every other item in your bedroom will play a role in the feng shui of the space.
When you incorporate good feng shui in your bedroom, you are able to promote sensual energy that is nourishing to the soul. When properly incorporated, the bedroom will be inviting, alluring and calming, while still being an exciting place to be. Here are some tips to help you to incorporate this into the space.
• Remove all electronics, exercise equipment and other non-bedroom related items from the space. Another option for this is to hide your television within your bedroom furniture such as in a armoire.
• Allow your bed to be easily accessed from both sides. You also want to create a complete look. Choose a master bedroom furniture set that includes two nightstands, one on either side of the bed.
• Choose a solid headboard and a good quality mattress. Having the best mattress for your platform bed will add to the calming and rejuvenation of the space.
In choosing the right furniture, remember that modern platform beds are a good option, but if you want to add more feng shui to the space, focus your attention on oriental platform beds instead. These beds have more of the calming effect on the space. You will find numerous options on the market to select from, giving you plenty of choices in the color of the furniture, the design elements and even the curves and movements of the texture of the wood.
Keep in mind that the master bedroom furniture you select for this space should balance with the rest of the room. Choose those wood platform beds that incorporate skin colors in them, ranging from pale colors through rich chocolate colors, for an added feng shui benefit. You also want to incorporate quality sheets and bedding in the design since this too adds to the look and feel of the space. When you pull of these characteristics together, you will have a welcoming space ideal for restorative healing and good energy flow.
About the Author: Ben Weissman writes about decorating Bedrooms with Platform Beds and Prepac Furniture for Balance and Affordability. Make your Home a Personal Retreat
The five feng shui elements (also referred to as keys) are the basis of this teaching. These primary keys are: earth, metal, water, wood and fire. The golden rule of feng shui is to achieve harmony and balance between these five keys through adjusting the space in which we live.
When the five elements are properly balanced both, indoors and outdoors, the person can expect to gain numerous benefits. These include health, wealth, abundance, and improved interpersonal relationships. Ultimately, this leads to happiness in life. If the elements are, on the contrary, in chaos and imbalance, a person may find themselves experiencing all sorts of issues, including missed opportunities, hindered interpersonal relationships, declining health, and financial hardships. In other words, it’s unhappiness.
So, let’s talk about the five feng shui elements, learn their symbols, and see how they may interact with each other (both, positively and negatively).
The keys can interact with each other in one of the three cycles: enhancing, weakening, and controlling. Some of these cycles are positive, while others are negative. Let’s take a look at the cycles:
The Enhancing Cycle: This is the most positive cycle where all of the five elements are in harmony, which results in happiness, health, and abundance. Here are the steps of this cycle: wood boosts fire, fire boosts earth, earth boosts metal, metal boosts water, and water boosts wood.
The Controlling Cycle: This is the worst cycle where all of the elements are in chaos, and clash with one another. Here are the steps of this cycle: wood controls earth, fire controls metal, earth controls water, metal controls wood, and water controls fire.
The Weakening Cycle: This is a specific cycle that is neither positive nor negative. It’s a tool that can be used to eliminate negative energy. However, if it’s used improperly it can drain the positive energy. Thus, its use requires skills and knowledge. Here are the steps of this cycle: fire weakens wood, earth weakens fire, metal weakens earth, water weakens metal, and wood weakens water.
In order to be able to match the elements into balanced and harmonious energies, we need to know the symbols, shapes, and colors of the five feng shui elements. Here they are:
Water (symbols): glass, mirrors, stained glass, crystal, aquariums, marine landscapes, roads, lakes, and waterfalls. Shapes: serpentine and wavy. Colors: blue and black.
Fire (symbols): candles, lamps, incense, heating appliances, fireplaces, stoves, sun, animals, birds, children, wool, leather goods, articles made of feathers; paintings depicting fire, sunrise, and sunset; paintings depicting people and animals. Shapes: triangular and sharp edges. Color: red.
Earth (symbols): ceramics, bricks, crystal, porcelain, glazed tiles, stones, sculptures, globes, and pictures depicting terrestrial landscapes (mountains, cliffs, and desert). Shape: square. Colors: terracotta and ocher.
Metal (symbols): metal objects, bells, coins, swords, jewelry made of precious metals, and the pictures of metal objects. Shapes: oval and round. Colors: white, silver and gold.
As you can see, there is a lot that can be learned in order to harmonize the five feng shui elements, and balance your surroundings in the physical world. Balance your life, and you may become happier.
About the Author: James Brickman runs http://www.fengshuicrazy.com which teaches the ancient art of feng shui. Please visit his website to learn more about the five feng shui elements.
The name of the Chinese feng shui compass Lo Pan consists of two words – Lo (“all”) and Pan (“bowl”).
The Lo Pan compass reflects all of the earth’s circles and lines, and is used to obtain information about the landscape surrounding someone’s home and office, as well as to draw up detailed geomantic tables.
Lo Pan is made up of circles, the number of which can reach 36 in some cases. Each circle is used to study a particular aspect of feng shui. There are 3 types of Lo Pans: the San He School, San Yuan School and Zong He School (combined compass).
Any feng shui compass has a Heaven Pond circle with a sensitive hand in its center. The Heaven Pond is surrounded by the Early Heaven Bagua circle with protective properties. The rest are the circles with ancient feng shui formulas. All this is placed in a red square. The larger the compass, the more accurate the data is. The accuracy is very important if you use formulas where the difference of 1-2 degrees could change the whole feng shui.
Following are the requirements for a quality compass: The disk with formulas and the Heaven Pond should rotate smoothly. The crossing of the red threads must be directly above the needle. If you align the last disk to 0 degrees from one side of the thread, the opposite side of the thread should point to 180 degrees. If all of these requirements are met, then it’s a high-quality Lo Pan.
In feng shui, there are two main directions – the Form School and Compass School.
The Form School takes into account the landscape that surrounds a home, as a manifestation of four animals. A large black turtle (a mountain) is behind the building. A green dragon (mountains or tall trees) is on the left (if you stand with your back to the door). A white tiger (low trees) is on the right. A red phoenix (a stream or river) is in front of the house. The Form School for interior is based on comfort and security. For example, this school teaches us not to sit with our backs against a door, because we don’t see who is outside, which may pose a potential threat.
The Compass School is divided into two schools: the San He School (3 harmonies), and San Yuan School (3 periods). The San He School (3 harmonies – heaven, human and earth) believes that feng shui is always either good or bad. The San Yuan School (3 periods) takes into account the time and believes that feng shui of a home varies from period to period. The circles on the Lo Pan compasses of these two schools differ from each other, but both have a circle of “24 mountains”. Any feng shui compass divides each of the 8 directions (4 main and 4 intermediate) into three sectors, which make a total of 24 directions.
The Feng Shui practice often requires the use both compasses, so there is a combined Lo Pan that combines the formulas of both schools. Since it is impossible to accommodate all of the formulas on the same disk, they take only the most frequently used formulas.
About the Author: James Brickman runs http://www.fengshuicrazy.com which teaches the ancient art of feng shui. Please visit his website to learn more about the feng shui compass.
Jami Lin is an interior designer and a Feng Shui master.
Her love for art surfaced when she was merely three years old – she loved finger-painting and using color artistically. As a child, Jami was influenced by the artistic talents of her mother. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s degree in Design. During her summer vacations, she worked for a renowned interior designer in Miami. Today, her talent and trademark are colors.
Jami has practiced interior design for over thirty years. During this time, she designed over a million square feet. In 1990, Jami discovered Feng Shui. Over the twenty years of studying and practicing this ancient Chinese notion, she has written 6 bestselling books on Feng Shui, as well as she created a home-study program that is available online. She has taught numerous students from around the world through her books and home-study programs, as well as by phone and online consultations.
Jami Lin’s award-winning ColorAlchemy book helps people to unlock their potential by learning and mastering colors and their use. This can help one reveal the potential within their body, mind, and soul. Jami also offers youth-enhancing ColorAlchemy skincare that can help one enhance their look and feel.
Jami Lin teaches the meaning and potential of colors internationally and provides advice for Feng Shui interior design. Her area of expertise includes: assessing properties in terms of color and Feng Shui, space clearing, redesign, remodeling, landscape design, garden design, furniture placement, developing color schemes, enhancing the lighting, and many more. Her main three interests are design, color, and Feng Shui, and she enjoys sharing her knowledge with others.
Anyone can schedule a consultation with her to co-create a gorgeous, functional, and inspirational environment from scratch. Jami can work with customers remotely (Skype/phone) or in person. Jami Lin’s testimonials prove that her talents as a Feng Shui designer help people. She can help anyone, regardless of their budget, style, or focus. She strives to deliver the most affordable solutions, which means that you don’t have to break the bank to test new design ideas that she suggested. If her initial ideas do not please the customer, she will keep working on other ideas until the customer is satisfied.
When it comes to Feng Shui, Jamie’s capacities are virtually endless. For instance, she can construct and build a home from the ground up. The home will be built according to the best traditions of Feng Shui. She has even built round homes, which complies with one of Feng Shui suggestions. She manages the entire process of building the home she designs. Jami can also help to redecorate and refurbish an already built home. This can include orienting the rooms in the most practical and decorative way, positioning furniture, and remodeling the indoors with new colors. Everything she does is devoted to maximizing good Feng Shui and enhancing the practicality and visual appeal of the premises, whether it’s an entire home, garden, or just one room. She can also perform space clearing to get rid of any negative energy, and boost the good energy.
About the Author: James Brickman runs http://www.fengshuicrazy.com which teaches the ancient art of feng shui. Please visit his website to learn more about Jami Lin.
Using feng shui for career typically refers to organizing your workspace the proper way. A good workplace is the key to improved work quality and emotional balance. Let’s review how to organize your work space so that it assists your career, rather than hinder it.
One of the most important factors to consider is the spatial position of your desk. Some positions are best avoided, or need to be improved if there’s no way to move the desk.
According to feng shui for career, sitting with your back to the entrance door is best avoided, as it may allow your colleagues to work around you for promotion. If there is no other option, put a mirror on your table to see those behind you.
Sitting with your back to the window is also a disadvantage, as it may make you feel “unsafe”. For gaining a sense of safety, consider placing a large object at the window, such as a plant or bookshelves.
It’s best not to have your desk crammed into a corner or squeezed between cabinets. Try to move it so that you can access your desk from the front and back. In Feng Shui, an open space symbolizes prospects.
Try not to sit facing a colleague either, as it may cause your energy to start dissipating.
In accordance with feng shui for career, sitting right next to the entrance door is the worst. No matter what job position you have, the passer-by will take you for someone they can ask for information. The hustle of people walking by and distracting you may become very tiring. Consider changing the location of your desk.
It’s acceptable to face a wall. However, try to hang a picture of a wide lake or valley on the wall in front of you to expand your visual perspective. You can also hang a picture of a flock of birds or a plane to increase your ambition. You can also hang an image of mountains – in feng shui, mountains symbolize assistance and rise.
According to feng shui for career, the best way is to sit with your back to the wall, and face the entrance door diagonally. Try to make your desk visible from the door, and not blocked by filing cabinets or anything else.
If there are many shelves with piles of documents and reference books where you work, try to review these and dispose of the obsolete ones. Those that are used seldom can be moved to a storage room. Cluttered and clogged cabinets and shelves prevent something new from coming in and limit your professional growth. Keep your workplace clean and tidy to circulate the positive Qi energy. Rooms with musty air, dirty windows, disordered furniture, and piles of documents will create bad Feng Shui.
Good lighting is another great way to attract positive energy. It’s good to have additional lighting on your desktop, such as a desk lamp. The light source must be located on the left (for right-handers). If you work on a computer, aim the light directly at your keyboard. Bright sunlight may interfere with your work, so consider using blinds or curtains to dim it. However, try not to switch to artificial lighting altogether.
If there are no windows in your room, be sure to have a photo of natural landscape on the wall, or have a small aquarium, flowers, or plants in the room.
About the Author: James Brickman runs http://www.fengshuicrazy.com which teaches the ancient art of feng shui. Please visit his website to learn more about feng shui career.
By Candace Czarny, CFM, ASID, LEED AP, Subtle Energy Expert
When people think about solving their problems using Feng Shui most of the time they think about how the inside of the home is arranged, when is fact what is happening outside the home could be the culprit.
The energy from your neighbors’ homes, the cars on the street and the lay of the land could be taking your money, relationships and health.
Your home is where you come to relax and to enjoy yourself. When your home is not properly balanced, you may experience troubles with money, health, and love. In the practice of Feng Shui, you can begin to adjust the energy of your home, helping to make these parts of your life more prosperous and more effective. Here are some basic Feng Shui tips you need to employ.
The Outside Matters Too
Many people don’t think of the outside of the home as being a place that needs to be changed when it comes to Feng Shui. Too often, books and websites focus solely on the interior of the home. But the exterior of the home is the first area where energy can either enter or be blocked, thus this part of the home needs special attention. By spending time on developing the outside of the home, you can begin to see changes on the inside as well.
It all begins by creating space for the energy to enter your home. Your front door should open easily and it should be easily viewed from the street. Whenever you can, make sure to keep this door open to promote the flow of energy in your house.
Your front entrance is where the energy enters your home. If your neighbors are always arguing or you have a lot of “sha” energy(hard energy) from cars because you live on a busy street this is the energy that is coming into your home. The goal is to change or transmute this energy before it enters your home.
Protecting Your Home and Family
Sometimes, there is little you can do about the surroundings of your home – especially a busy and noisy street or loud neighbors. In order to help energetically protect your home from these disruptions, you might want to add some statuary to your yard. Feng Shui practitioners like to use Buddhas for their calming influence, but angels or dragons can work just as well. Find symbols of protection to place around your yard and your energy will be defended.
Elements to Use
Feng Shui also believes that balancing the elements of your home is important to energy restoration. Try to find ways to include water, fire, earth, metal, and wood in your landscaping. This way, you will be able to balance the energies outside and then bring these balanced energies inside your body as well.
Your home is the place where you should feel relaxed and at ease with your life. The energy should not promote struggles that are not there. With Feng Shui, you can make sure your energy flows.
About the Author: Candace Czarny, ASID, CFM, LEED AP, “Award Winning” Interior Designer, Feng Shui Expert & Author of 20 Minute Feng Shui is continually ranked “Top 10” in Google and Yahoo. Clients testify of dramatic results!
Feng shui relationship secrets and advice can help you create and maintain a solid relationship. Everyone wants to find their soul mate and keep them. Those who have a partner in life may want to make their intimate life brighter and strengthen their bond. Here are some feng shui relationship secrets for those who want to attract, retain and strengthen their love.
Let’s start with the basics – making a home attractive for relationships. This can be achieved with the Bagua octagon – a tool for improving energy in any premises. It helps to relate the environmental elements with the aspects of life. According to the octagon, the southwest direction is responsible for relationships. Its color is brown. Its symbol is earth. This sector is connected with your partner, whether current or potential.
The first is the front door. The vital energy Qi penetrates through the door into the home, so the door should attract it. The Qi accumulates near the door, and is let inside by the incoming or outgoing people.
There are three optimal directions of the front door. Southeast: helps to preserve peace and prosperity in the family. If your door faces this way, you don’t need to add anything. Southwest: helps to build harmonious and stable families. If your door faces this way, you can add colors / symbols of wood next to the door, such as an image of bamboo or plum blossom. West: helps to increase romance and pleasure. If your door faces this way, you can add earth elements next to the door, such as crystals or objects of stone.
Even if your door faces another direction, it’s not a problem. Decorate it using the color brown or place plants there.
Next is the feng shui relationship advice for the bedroom. Ideally, the bedroom should be located in the southwestern corner of the house, which is responsible for love, loyalty, and caring for family members. If the bedroom is located in another place, do not worry. Feng shui has a list of tools that will help make it more harmonious. First of all, the bedroom should be kept clean everywhere. If you have any devices or exercise equipment in the bedroom, if possible, divide the room into sections, blocking the bed from these.
The bed should not lean sideways into the wall. It is believed that a partner who sleeps near the wall will have less say. When there’s space on both sides, both partners will feel equal.
The bed should not be too broad, as this does not encourage romance. The bed should be small enough to provide intimacy in the relationship. The mattress should not be double; any longitudinal stripes on or above the bed will symbolize the rift in the relationship. Avoid water mattresses and any objects that embody the element of water, as water can carry happiness away. Do not place your bed near a wall adjacent to the bathroom, as your happiness may go down the drain.
Now let’s review the feng shui relationship tips for objects to place in the bedroom or the room located in the southwest direction, in order to activate it. You can enhance it with an earth element (crystals, rose quartz or amethyst) and fire element (candles and red objects, such as a red lamp). Also place love reinforcing symbols in the bedroom, such as double objects: a statue of a man and woman, a pair of ducks, or a dragon with a phoenix.
About the Author: James Brickman runs http://www.fengshuicrazy.com which teaches the ancient art of feng shui. Please visit his website to learn more about feng shui relationships.
What is feng shui? That is a very challenging question to answer. Feng shui is an ancient Chinese art that seeks to restore the balance of vital energies in the environment. It is a system of aesthetics that is believed to utilize the laws of both heaven (astronomy) and Earth (geography) to improve your life by receiving positive energy. This positive energy is also known as the “chi.” It is believed that this balanced flow of energy can bring good health and prosperity to those who respect and follow it. The chi, according to Chinese philosophy, is the essential energy that can make or break the kingdom. Traditionally, feng shui has been used to determine the best place to live, to farm and to be buried.
Feng shui has been somewhat reinvented by new age entrepreneurs since Richard Nixon’s trip to China in 1972. Its popularity has risen from the American’s desire for magic and mystery as well as order in their lives. Feng shui design has become a popular trend for interior design in residences as well as in corporate settings.
In English Feng shui means wind and water. “Chi rides the wind (feng) and is scattered, but it is retained when encountering water (shui).” These two elements symbolize harmony according to Chinese beliefs. But what is the modern perception of feng shui? Many people have begun to learn the principles of feng shui because of its exoticism. Some have used it to redecorate their homes and offices in an effort to bring balance and attract abundance in their lives while living and working in these places. But is that all there is to feng shui? Is there more to learn and understand about how this ancient art can affect your entire life?
Deeply rooted in Taoist symbolism, feng shui is the understanding of the laws of nature and the knowledge that the earth and humans exist together as one. The contrast theories of yin-yang and that of the five elements complete the vision of life in harmony or disharmony with the environment around us. From the feng shui perspective, the basic analysis of a place will involve the identification of the elements that break the chi or flow of energy. Items are rearranged or moved to the background so as to promote balance. It is believed that you can accomplish this balance and a compatibility with nature by a careful and correct placement of the furniture and objects in the house and office.
While a feng shui master could probably easily answer the question, “what is feng shui?” it may be difficult to understand. Obtaining information through the use of the compass, Chinese astronomy and the bagua may seem confusing to some. You may be surprised to learn that feng shui goes beyond just redecorating a room or an office. It takes into account the way the entire structure interacts with the surrounding environment including the local climate, the topography of the land, the presence of nearby bodies of water, vegetation and soil quality.
About the Author: Cheri Brennan is a organization and planning specialist. For more great tips, articles and resources about Feng Shui click here now! http://fengshui.newinfohighway.com
Colors can change the mood of any person. Colors can change the mood and ambience of any room – be it home or office as well. Good luck seems to just flow from the right or best color choice. It is similar to choosing the color of a new car. The same car to the same person can well seem miles apart when viewed in different color choices and shades by friends, family and neighbors.
In a similar manner the same room or area can seem bigger, smaller, warmer or less inviting all by color choices. Similarly the use of simple mirrors or even shiny surface wall coverings or paint can greatly enhance the apparent size of any area.
In Feng Shui, the compass points have particular colors associated with them. Ideally of course the main color of a room should be the one that complements the direction that it faces. You do not have to use the color in its primary state – red yellow and blue- you can use the tones that are more suited to your personal taste and the particular space or area in question – be it home ,office , condo apartment or even hotel or motel rooms. Or hospitality banquet facilities.
If for instance your bedroom faces east, it will catch the warm morning sun. No mater what the color of the room. At night of course, you will want the room to be restful, so it would be wise to choose the blue/green colors of the east which are associated with the element wood.
If you find that you do not like the color or colors associated with a particular orientation, then you can always choose a more neutral color for the walls and use “Feng Shui” colors as accents in soft furnishings and ornaments. Black accents. for example, combine well with natural tones.
Color can be used as a remedy in Feng Shui when you are not physically able to change the layout of a room. For instance, to make the qi flow more slowly in a study or hotel hospitality facilities you should use yin colors like cool blues and greens.
Rooms facing in northward directions in the northern hemisphere ( the U.S. , Canada and Mexico as opposed to the Southern Hemisphere of Australia, New Zealand and South America) , will be cool and thus benefit from the Yang of warm red colors and color shades , whereas those rooms in houses and buildings that are in the Southern Hemisphere – again Australia , New Zealand , South America among other geographic locales , will be warm and are best in cool Yin blue and green colorations.
In the end to a great degree – it’s all about perceptions not so much the absolute location and geography of an abode or business area. At the end of the day, with the correct and full appreciation of the principles, practice of, and applications of Feng Shui principles, the same room or rooms of an abode or building can have the outstanding auras of good luck, good chance and a projected welcome trait.
Feng Shui offers a myriad of cures when it comes to the evils found at home or in our travels throughout the globe. The cures can be within our spaces or they can be without – that is external in nature and origin. Regardless everyone likes a cure to their ills, their problems and concerns. Everyone likes to be positively reinforced and receive positive reinforcement – whether from friends, family or co-workers on the job.
In the world and travels of Feng Shui there are two broad types of solutions. The first is called Rushi or Rooshi and deals broadly of places, events and things in our direct world and contacts. The other is those problems that are of the physical domains. For example installing a windows in a wall casing in a windowless wall , would be on a physical level and would fall into the Feng Shui category of “Out of this World” or “Chushi” often referred to as Choosi.
Throughout the millennia and centuries many types of Feng Shui observed “cures” were developed, assembled and grew into a large respected collection of veritable cures. The powers and persuasions of these cures have come to be greatly respected and appreciated over time. Their powers and roles in healing and dealing with problems – be it of family, friends of basically most people ,places and things are becoming ever more appreciated..
Chushi cures – whether they are in the form and forms of mirrors, crystals, flutes, fish tanks and others are among this vast proven collection of Feng Shui – in the Chushi areas and domains. These can and are well being regarded as “psychological cures” because the subtle adjustments that Chushi Feng Shui cures offer the most intrinsic as well as subtle and sublime adjustments. While apparently, on the surface it may appear to have little initial or lasting effects on your environment, these will greatly spread, distribute and even shower their effects on our very perceptions.
It occurs, more than commonplace, and more than often that a full rushi, that solutions may not be practical or even economical or thrifty. A Chushi solution will be utilized instead. Your problems and concerns may be facilitated , dealt with and eventfully overcome through a combination or combinations of both rushi (into this world) and chushi (out of this very world) solutions. If one tack or approach does not work – then try the other. However it’s often not one viewpoint or approach but rather a combination of the two that brings the matter and matters to a reasonable as well as fair fitting end and conclusion satisfactory to the initial person and indeed to all parties involved in the problem, problems or debacle.
If there is one ongoing point and viewpoint – or viewpoint to adhere to, emphasize and appreciate it is to remember that to maximize the power and powers of a cushi or cushi cures. Pay great and the greatest attention to any spaces and the spaces themselves where you use and utilize them the most. For example it can be said and noted that clutter around wind chimes or a reflective mirror or mirror like surface will not allow the power and great powers of Feng Shui – be they Chushi or Rushi to express themselves and exert themselves to their greatest positive potentials and helpful effects to you, your family, friends and co-workers.