Feng shui originates from the Chinese belief that the entire world is a living body with vital energy (chi) running through it. In literal translation from Chinese, feng shui means “wind water”. These are two of the key elements which make up the entire world and which should be included in any room of a house decorated according to feng shui principles: water, wood, fire, metal and wind.
What Is the Purpose of Feng Shui Furnishing?
The reason for adopting the feng shui decorating and furnishing principles is to focus the chi, or the vital energy, inside your house. A house with a powerful chi is home to happy, healthy and prosperous people, who enjoy harmony in their family life and success in their business endeavors.
As a home-based business owner you certainly want to be successful in your work, so why shouldn’t you try embracing the feng shui principles? If nothing else, your house will look beautifully decorated and welcoming, and your office will be well organized to encourage productivity.
Here are the key feng shui principles for home offices.
1. Choose the Location of the Office Carefully
One of the principles of feng shui philosophy is to keep family life and business life as far apart as possible one from the other. The interference of the two weakens the chi and causes unhappiness and trouble in both aspects of your life.
This is why your home office should be as far as possible from the master bedroom. Leaving aside feng shui principles, it is a great idea to set up your office in a quiet corner of the house, away from distractions and noise.
2. Arrange Your Desk in the Commanding Position
In feng shui, the commanding or power position is the position in the room with the strongest concentration of chi and which favors your mind to be open to inspiration and focused on work to increase productivity.
The commanding position is one where you have both the door and the window in your line of vision. In this way, you command the exit and entrance of people, and you welcome natural light – a key element to life and prosperity. However, do not place your desk exactly under the window: all your chi energy will flow out into the open.
3. Arrange Symbols of the Key Elements in Strategic Areas
Feng shui decoration and furnishing is based on the bagua map which identifies areas with various significances: love and family, children, money and prosperity, success and productivity, etc.
For the home office, the strategic areas are:
⦁ The south which represents Fame and Reputation – in this area you should place items which symbolize fire, and avoid at all cost any image of water (such as a photo at the seaside)
⦁ The north representing Career – the feng shui elements are water and metal. A fish tank is a great symbol to place in this area;
⦁ The southeast representing Prosperity and Abundance – you should place representations of money as well as anything symbolizing wood. Avoid fire representations.
4. Avoid Overcrowding the Office
The chi energy is the strongest in rooms with plenty of space, natural light and air. Order and neatness focus the chi and allow it to pass through the entire space and bring its positive influence. Plus, a home office with minimal furnishing and decorations looks clean and allows you to focus on your work and keep your mind free of distractions.
5. Select the Adequate Color Palette
Colors have a powerful meaning in feng shui. They should be chosen carefully, depending on the function of the room (bedroom, kitchen, office). For the home office, the best colors are:
⦁ Green – signifies work potential and health. It fuels your energy in your work and keeps you motivated and in a positive mindset;
⦁ Yellow – stands for energy and life. A lively color, it maintains an optimist atmosphere, charged with creative energy;
⦁ Black – used sparsely as accent color, it enhances your sense of perception. Too much black will drain your vital energy.
As you can see, these principles of decorating and furnishing your home office make a lot of sense, even if you do not fully embrace the feng shui philosophy. You will still have a neat and clutter-free office where you can be productive and help your business grow.