We are so excited to share some tips with you from our resident Feng Shui expert: Veronica Loreto!
We sat down with her to discuss helpful, digestible tips for incorporating Feng Shui practices into home design, daily principles, office setups, and senior living design.
ORIGIN
Feng Shui is “an ancient Chinese belief that the way your house is built, or the way that you arrange objects affects your success, health, and happiness.” A trademark of the ancient practice is incorporating the five elements (earth, fire, wind, metal, and wood) into a space.
Whether you’re a firm believer in harnessing your qi (pronounced CHEE), or the closest you’ve come to energy work is drinking a Redbull, Veronica will have a morsel for you to enjoy. Let’s dive in!
AT A GLANCE
While the art of Feng Shui (pronounced “fung SHWAY” or “fang SHOO-ee”) is vast and worth an internet deep-dive, we are going to focus on beginner tips, and ways we’ve gotten our feet wet when incorporating it into senior living design.
YIN AND YANG
Every space requires balance. Yin represents passive energy (evening) while yang represents active energy (daytime). According to the room, there will either be a sense of urgency or relaxation. Incorporating high vibrational colors (reds, oranges, yellows) in a room that sees more traffic is embracing the yang in the space. While using water elements or colors that soothe the eye (greys, blues, purples) in a space that requires rest is leaning on yin principles.
Energetic, bold patterns and textures pictured here at Immanuel Lutheran Communities (2012) using high frequency yang design.
Leaning in to yin with soothing, tranquil blues and grays for this relaxed sitting room at Tamarisk NorthShore (2020).
RIPPLE EFFECT
Veronica recounts a story of reaping immediate prosperity after incorporating accents of green into her kitchen! “If you do it right, it really benefits you as a person. It can be so detailed: in your relationships, in your work — so many things. I like how it could change your life!”
BAGUA MAP
If her story has you rushing to add green decor into your kitchen, that’s what we thought, too! However, Feng Shui is more nuanced than providing a universal fix for every dwelling. In fact, there is a literal map, a bagua map, that changes the location of prosperity, good fortune, and general living for every household.
According to practitioners, the bagua map is a tool that divides a space into nine different areas:
Career and life journey
Wisdom, spirituality, and knowledge
Family
Wealth
Fame and reputation
Health
Marriage and relationships
Children and creativity
Helpful people and travel
Depending on the layout of a space, the bagua map tells where each of these energies thrive.
BITE-SIZE MORSELS
Clearly the art of Feng Shui is a complex and effervescent pool of information. But what about taking small steps towards embracing these principles?
Instinctively, we already know one of the cornerstones of Feng Shui: decluttering!
If we’ve heard it once, we’ve heard it a thousand times: getting rid of clutter is the fastest way to cleanse a room. Specifically looking at clutter near doorways: the entryway for energy.
IN SHORT
Let’s end with three easy ways to invite Feng Shui into your space:
Clear out the clutter (especially near your front door)
If you don’t already, start using your front door to enter your dwelling (it promotes positive energy flow)
Choose one of the five elements (earth, fire, wind, metal, or wood) to bring in to the space you’re hoping to update
Shout out to Veronica for letting us interview her for this blog, and happy Feng Shui-ing!
MORE FENG SHUI RESOURCES:
https://mindfuldesignschool.com/
https://www.thespruce.com/your-feng-shui-bagua-guide-1275056
https://badi.com/blog/en/feng-shui-basic-principles/
https://www.wellandgood.com/bagua-map/