Interior Design with Feng Shui: The Living Room

Feng Shui is an art of interior decorating creates balanced, relaxing and attractive rooms to add harmony to people’s lives.  Clean, clutter free living rooms that are airy and well lit have a good energy foundation from which you can start creating good feng shui. The aim here is to create a living room that nourishes and supports your energy, makes you feel happy and content. Here are a few tips to get you started.

Free Flow

The correct placement of furniture is the first step towards having a living room design with good Feng Shui. Feng Shui recommends an interior design layout in your living room that provides for clear, unobstructed flow of energy. Ideally furniture should be placed as close to the walls as possible. The main couch or sectional sofa in the living room must always face toward the entrance thus giving the person seated an unobstructed view of the whole room.

Balance the Elements

Feng Shui talks of balancing the five elements, fire, earth, water, metal and wood in your interior design plan. However, this shouldn’t be taken too literally. Some simple ways of balancing elements in your living room design is to place a mirror (glass is a water element) above a fireplace (fire element) or include a few plants (element of wood) in an industrial themed living room.

Reflect Right

Mirrors are a common feature in almost every living room design. They not only add to the aesthetics of the room but also make the space look bigger and create more light. In Feng Shui, mirrors are a representation of the water element and bring a refreshing and calm energy with them; thus Feng Shui recommends placing a mirror in the living room. However, the placement of mirrors is very important. Mirrors should never be placed so as to directly reflect each other and should also not be placed directly opposite the main door.

 

Make Love not War

Your living room design should always be such that it makes people feel warm and welcome. Ancestral homes and palaces in India usually have swords and hunting rifles displayed in living areas. According to Feng Shui displaying weapons like this brings negative energy into the room and should be avoided. This same principle of Feng Shui also suggests replacing sharp edged décor articles with curios that have a softer profile and rounded edges.

Live in rooms full of light.

A living room should be well lit at any time. In addition to natural light, table lamps, chandeliers etc act as beautiful light sources and simultaneously add to the aesthetic appeal of the room. Natural light must never be blocked but Feng Shui dissuades Interior Designers from designing a living room with more than two rooms or excessive windows. This is because ‘chi’ or energy both and enters and exits from openings such as doors and windows.