The Feng Shui Room & Yin-Yang

Feng Shui Guide

Feng shui (pronounced "fung shway" and literally meaning "wind" and "water"), a far eastern meta-physical oriented philosophy, and with origins dating back over 3,000 years, is used in design by focusing on the harmonious simplicity of room space, object placement and equilibrium.

Through careful consideration of color, spacing and alignment, the feng shui room adds positive “chi” (or life force) energy to your home, which is believed to increase mental and physical health, ward off evil spirits, and bring wealth, prosperity and serenity into your life.

There are several mechanisms for enhancing the circulation of chi within your feng shui room. Lighting and brightness serve to quell the dark forces while stimulating the positive chi within your surroundings. Likewise, plants are used to add life to the interior by both conveying chi as well as producing it.

Chinese mirrors are another great way to enhance chi, and are especially effective as a defense to troubled locations where only a weak positive or a highly negative chi is present. And water, symbolizing money, can be incorporated into the home through babbling fountains, or a clean, healthy fish tank.

In addition to the interior, additional feng shui home decorating tips in order to maximize chi include consideration of the home's exterior qualities, such as physical placement (i.e., ideally the front facing south), as well as proximity to surrounding hills and mountains (providing protection), bodies of water (symbolizing wealth), and the stars.

Yin-Yang

The ancient Chinese philosophy of yin-yang is an understanding of the coexistence of opposing forces which complement each other and seeks to unite opposites. But what does it mean and how does it pertain to Asian design styles? As a core Asian philosophy, yin-yang represents life's opposites and striking balance, which translates extensively into how Asian homes are decorated.

Examples of yin (black-female) include being dark, passive, down, wet, weak, inner, or cold. Yang (white-male), on the other hand, is exemplified by such things as light, activity, up, dry, powerful, outer and life. Light versus dark, hard and soft, round or angled, past and present, are often contrasted against each other in Asian home decor in such a manner as to weave this philosophy into daily life.

This philosophy is not about "good" versus "evil" but rather it conveys the universal truth about the inherent opposites, the push and pull, the tug of war, which occurs throughout our entire existence.

yin-yang-symbols

yin-yang symbols

One popular example of this continual interaction between opposites in Asian decor is found when black is used to contrast with lighter colored objects, such as displaying white stones against a black dish in order to achieve the illusion of balance.