For a faster, more profitable home sale
Applying feng shui home staging basics to your home before you place it on the real estate market can bring positive and harmonious energy to those who enter.
The goal of feng shui is to allow "qi," pronounced "chi", or positive energy to create a balanced environment in your home.
If you have a house for sale and want to sell it fast, follow the feng shui home staging tips on this page.
Feng shui and home staging have similar things in common, like decluttering, cleaning, depersonalizing and repair.
Feng shui experts believe that a cluttered home has bad energy and the flow of energy is blocked by the clutter. Home buyers are sure to feel the tension. I know I do!
Simple changes in the selection and placement of furniture, accessories, and the use of color will improve the flow of energy in your home and the way people feel as they enter.
I became interested in feng shui when I worked as a real estate agent. I showed a house to a couple who were looking for a home with good feng shui.
I was intrigued by their comments as they walked through the house, discussing the pros and cons. They didn't buy the house because it failed the feng shui test, but I was compelled to learn more.
Note: Not all aspects of feng shui coexist with home staging, like the practice of hanging crystals from the ceiling, for instance. Feng shui principles can often contradict home staging rules. I will focus only on those aspects of feng shui that align with home staging.
Feng shui ("fung shway") is an ancient Chinese design practice of arranging the spaces around us. Properly arranged, they can bring you happiness, good health and prosperity.
Feng shui is a complicated practice with so many different elements that require years of training to master. This page barely scratches the surface and I am certainly no expert.
Translated, Feng shui means “wind" (feng) and "water" (shui). Feng shui enhances well-being by rearranging how "Chi," (energy), flows through a home.
According to feng shui, objects and spaces have different energies that affect each other in various ways. The objects you bring into your home are believed to have positive or negative energies.
The goal of feng shui is to balance these energies to create an atmosphere that aligns with your ambitions and dreams. Proper feng shui will promote prosperity, good health, creativity, respect, good social relationships and self-confidence.
Most of us have heard of "yin" and "yang." Polarity refers to the male (yang) and female (yin) energy in a room. Your goal is to balance the yin and yang in your home.
Yin qualities are female, soft, passive, motherly and dark, while yang qualities are male, hard, exertive and bright. The goal is to balance the dark and light, hard and soft, curvy and straight, even geometric and floral patterns when putting together your feng shui home design. Sounds a lot like interior design, doesn't it?
When energy is allowed to flow freely and is focused on where you need it, attaining your goals will just seem easier. When energy is blocked, life just feels harder.
For quick feng shui tips for your home, watch the video below by Morris Design.
The feng shui elements are wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. A basic understanding of these elements and how to use them can lead to more positive energy in your life.
A balance between the yang elements, (earth and fire), and the yin elements, (water and metal) will help you to achieve a more harmonious life.
Because the process of feng shui is so complicated and I am not an expert, I will focus only on those aspects that align with home staging. Following are some BASIC tips to get you started on your feng shui home staging.
Clutter is a deep and perplexing energy that can drain your mental and physical health. We are all familiar with the illness of hoarding. It starts with letting clutter get out of control.
Clutter keeps you from doing the things you desire-- you want to get it under control, but don't have the energy, plus you don't know how to start.
Some of us have managed to corral clutter to just a few areas, like tucked away in closets, boxes in the attic or a spare room where we throw things in and quickly shut the door.
Some people have never parked their cars in their garage because they are so crammed with stuff. Moving your clutter to another space won't keep it from preying on your mind either. It'll just prevent you from moving on.
Like home staging, feng shui recommends that you declutter, depersonalize, clean and repair. Decluttering and ridding yourself of items you have been clinging to will help clear the bad energy from your life and help you move in a positive direction.
See declutter your home for some helpful tips on getting started. You'll find that once you have a system in place, the process will go much easier. And the positive relief and energy surge that follows will simply amaze you, even if you only declutter for 15 minutes a day.
Items that hold bad memories for you should be tossed or given away. Hold onto those items that make you happy.
A bonus to decluttering is that you can make some quick money by having a yard sale!
After decluttering, you'll need to clean every part of the house. This includes the inside of closets, cabinets and drawers, spider webs on the ceiling, light fixtures, and so on.
Once your house is clean, you may notice areas where repairs are needed. If you are trying to sell your home, now is the time to repair or replace anything that is damaged. This will keep buyers from negotiating the price of your house down.
To bring more energy into the house, start moving your stuff out to make room for the new owner's stuff. The great thing about decluttering it that it also gives you a head start on your own packing.
After decluttering, cleaning and repairing, you should move on to the depersonalizing part of your plan. See depersonalizing your home for helpful instructions. Once you have accomplished all these steps, you're ready to move on to feng shui home staging.
"An important tenant to the art of Feng Shui is the energies associated with different colors. For example, metals signify withdrawal or reversal, whereas blues and greens have a calming effect. When staging your home the mood of a room is an important consideration." Quote by Proflowers blogger, Julissa Garcia.
For more information on which color combinations work best, consult this Feng Shui Color Guide.
The front entry is one of the most important areas of the home. Feng shui home design begins at the entrance, because a house absorbs its main energy nourishment through this door. The front door is called the “mouth of qi” because this is where energy and qi enters a home.
To start, clear any trees or bushes that block the windows at the front of the house. Create an inviting path to entice buyers up to the front door.
Make your front door welcoming by painting it a color that contrasts with the rest of the house.
Place round leafed plants and flowers on each side of the door, as sharp leaves can feel unwelcoming to visitors.
Keep the porch and entry spotless and don't forget to turn on the porch lights for night viewings to welcome viewers. Add a new welcome mat to the entry as well.
Feng shui tip: Engage buyer's senses at the door by hanging a wind chime on the front right corner of your house. This is the buyer's area of the home. Or place a relaxing gurgling water feature near the main entry.
Good feng shui in the foyer will welcome and direct the flow of energy into the house rather than push it away or weaken it. The front entry is usually the "first impression" room.
A first impression room is meant to "wow" buyers right away, so they'll want to see the rest of your home.
Because energy comes through doors, keep entries free of clutter and furniture that could interrupt the flow of energy.
Create a positive landing place for energy inside the main entry by placing a small round table in the center of hallway with a lamp or flower-filled vase on top.
For a small entry, place a brightly colored rug in on the floor. Colorful art or a strong wall color can also serve as a focal point. For home staging, avoid garish, bright wall colors.
If the first room off the entry is a bathroom, and it often is, keep the door shut. The sight of a open toilet is taboo in modern feng shui and home staging.
A mirror that faces the front door is bad design in feng shui because a mirror reflecting the front door pushes energy away instead of welcoming it into the home.
Home stagers love using mirrors because they expand space and reflect light, making a small space appear larger. If you are hard core feng shui, move the mirror to another wall facing a different direction.
It's truly anathema to hang two large mirrors facing each other. In feng shui this creates a vortex of energy between the two that is very combative and stuck. And why would your place a mirror to reflect another mirror anyway?
If you have a perfect "work triangle," (oven-sink-fridge) then your kitchen already has the right balance between the two competing elements of fire and water.
The most important thing you can do in the kitchen when you have a house for sale, is to keep it spotlessly clean and clutter-free.
Keep counter-tops clear and be sure to declutter the inside of drawers and cabinets, because home buyers WILL look inside to see if there's enough room for their things.
Remove everything inside the kitchen cabinets and drawers, returning only half. This is a home staging tip that makes your cupboards look more spacious inside.
Stage kitchen countertops with decorative items, a bowl of fruit, a vase of flowers, or a live plant.
In feng shui, food signifies wealth and abundance. This is why you so often see a bowl of fruit in feng shui kitchens, especially oranges.
They are valued for their color and shape. Lemons, limes, or a bowl of bright red apples are good items to display in the feng shui kitchen.
Create a vignette on the counter or kitchen island using a bottle of wine and lovely wine glasses; perhaps a small wood breadboard accompanied by a rustic loaf of bread and a pot of jam.
Above all, keep the bathroom sparkling clean and organized. A messy and unorganized bathroom will only compound the negative energy in this area.
Keep items you use daily out of sight.
According to modern feng shui, toilets and drains suck energy out of a room, so keep toilet lids down and bathroom doors shut. This is a home staging rule too.
We all love the "spa-like" look in a bathroom. It makes us feel relaxed, rejuvenated and pampered. You can't go wrong with whites and pale neutrals.
Look to nature for bathroom decorating ideas; accessorize the bathroom with objects from the earth; a bowl of seashells, driftwood, loofahs, and a live plant.
Roll fresh white towels and place in a basket. Use unscented candles to create a soothing atmosphere.
Avoid decorating the bathroom with strong water elements, such as pictures of waterfalls or turbulent ocean scenes. There is already a strong water element in the bathroom.
Don't use black and blue colors, as they will bolster the energy you need to keep under control.
The bedroom is one of the most important rooms in feng shui, because of all the time we spend there. While we sleep, we are relaxed and open to energy flowing around us.
Indoor and outdoor lighting contains energy that we have the ability to control. We can soften or activate it according to our particular needs.
Why live with harsh and ugly florescent lighting in our homes? (I like to refer to them as cadaver or operating room lights!)
It should come as no surprise to learn that fluorescent lighting is just plain, bad feng shui. It's extremely unflattering and has been known to cause fatigue, headaches, and feelings of isolation and depression.
If you can't replace your florescent light fixtures, swap out your bulbs with a "happy" lightbulb from "Verilux."
A Verilux bulb produces a glare-free, flicker-free, instant-on, bright white light that shows true colors, eases eyestrain, and saves money.
Natural light is the most preferred form of indoor lighting for home staging and feng shui. Open window treatments and let sunshine infuse your indoors.
For harsh overhead lighting, place pairs of table or floor lamps around a room to create different levels of lighting. Balance is important in feng shui and that applies to lighting too.
Place outdoor lighting along a path leading to your front door to entice night time viewers to your home.