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Fact or Fiction - Feng Shui

I'll admit right now it is 10:30 and I am tired. I don't feel like searching for my answer - so I am reaching out to my AR friends.

Which would be considered "good" Feng Shui?

To have the bed facing the door or not facing the door?

Is it true that if your house number ends in the number 4 that there will be death at that house?

What about mirrors facing the entryway? Good for staging because buyers can see themselves living in the house because they see themselves upon entering? Or bad because it reflects the good energy coming in and sends it right back outside?

I ask because a fellow stager and I were discussing these topics and we did not agree. I will see her again tomorrow and can pass on the right information.

Thanks all!

Posted by Cari Pilon, RE:STYLE Home Staging on 05/22/2008 09:36 PM

Comments (23)

home staging, feng shui

Post is included in group: Stage It Forward...
Post is included in group: Real Estate Staging Association

23 Comments on Fact or Fiction - Feng Shui

MAY

2008

Cari,

I can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with but I think you should at least be able to see the door from your bed.

Cari ~ Carole Provenzale would know. I hope she sees your question.

Yes. I had thought of emailing her directly, but I figured that others may benefit from the information as well. Thanks, Kathy.

I don't know about the bed Susan, I thought I remember something about your energy being able to be sucked out throught the door. ??????

Hi Cari - good questions. I had posted that same problem with the bed facing the door here. Then, funny thing but I was just reading an article about mirrors in entry's this morning...and the number four in Chinese sounds just like the word death but I don't know that it would mean someone will die there. Waiting for Carole........................................................

Thanks for the links Sheron. I am sorry I missed your original post. I'll admit I had a hard time following the mirror article and can't figure out the answer to my question. I'm going to drop Carole a line and see if she will pop in for a consult - hee-hee

I don't know any of the feng shui rules and I really think that most of them make Staging VERY difficult, so I decide not to pay any attention to any of them. Good luck with your research!

Hi Cari~ From what I remember...it's best to have the bed facing a door so you can see who is coming in to the room...I know it's a major faux paus to have your feet facing the door as that is tied in to resembling death. I am trying to remember the rule for the mirrors...I know one rule is that it can't be a mirror that breaks up your reflection...but other then that, I can't remember any thing that would make a mirror a bad thing in the entrance. I know they are a no-no in the bedroom area. If you get enough of the right information...I have seen feng shui and real estate work together wonderfully! Good luck with whatever it is you are working on.

Cheers!

Tori - I know, I know! This is actually more of a silly case of two personalities that know they are right - but we can't both be right -right? Of course the actual answers to the questions could possibly serve us well in the future. I would hate to bring bad energy into a house I was trying to help get sold.

Thanks Gina for some answers. I went to Carole's blog and found this post on mirrors. It seems that it is a good thing to have them in the entry way as long as they are large enough so that they don't cut off your head and they are not broken up (you were right).

She and I didn't exactly disagree on the mirror question - that was just one I had always wondered about.

Cari, Hi, sorry I was so late to the rain today. The bed should be facing the door, in Feng Shui we don't like an "unprotected back." Oftentimes this leaves your "feet out the door" in which case you can hang a crystal. It doesn't have to be hung very long or really show very much, it diffuses the energy.

The number 4 in Feng Shui sounds like the word "death" in Chinese. It's like our #13 here. They not only look at the number 4, some see if 4 is in the address or if the numbers add up to four. If they know in advance they may not even want to look at it (which would actually save the realtors a lot of time).

I wrote a whole post on just Mirrors but won't add the link. You can look it up if you like it's called Mirror, Mirror---Wait! Don't Hang me Yet! Mirrors have different Intentions and they can make a person feel "graced in to a space" or "pushed out." It is recommended to hang a mirror if it's a short distance to the wall---to intentionally draw people into the space. In longer hallways it's more difficult to tell how it will make someone feel...before hanging a mirror someone whould hold it up and see how it feels first. And they should always be bigger then your head or it cuts your Aura (Energy Field).

I hope that helps :) I'm waiting to see what your friend has to say :)

Cari, I just saw Tori's comment and thought I would add that using Feng Shui in Staging is a wonderful thing to incorporate and does not make it more difficult....it helps homes sell and is something that I really believe both Realtors and Stagers would benefit from. I am working on a post about it in case you want to incorporate some really simple things to do.

Okay I will admit when I am wrong....

I was wrong about the bed. (I've actually been felling guilty for four years about the placement of my son's bed - I can get over that now) BUT (here's me trying to be right again... Is there a difference between facing to door and actually being directly across from the door? Like my bed faces the door, but the door is to the far right and not in direct line of the bed. Where my son't bed is direct line with the door.

I'm assuming on the #4 that I was right based on Carole's explanation.

So we break even.

Thanks for the consult Carole, I linked to your blog because I found it to be very well written and informative. I can't wait to read about staging. Simple is the key word there.

Based upon my Feng Shui training (Western School of Feng Shui) the bed should not be positioned so that your feet face out the door because this is the way you are carried out when you are dead.

We stage a lot of homes that are marketed to Chinese buyers in my area. I am always aware of the Feng Shui of what we are doing, but pay even more attention when staging homes where the buyer will most likely be Chinese or SE Asian.

Cari, Michelle is right but oftentimes trying to accomplish one thing can lead to another issue. I was taught both black sect, western and compass feng shui and I use a blend of them all.....So, from my perspective, you should be backed up in ife (a solid headboard) and you should be able to see who enters...which can sometimes lead to your feet facing out. It's not ideal but we were taught to hang a crystal to disperse the energy. We have so many forms of Feng Shui and Perspectives that oftentimes two consultants will not see things the same way...it doesn't matter how you employ it or which school you use, if it's done with good intentions, it works!

MAY

2008

Carole: I in no way intended to disrespect what you said or your school of Feng Shui, only to add a slightly different perspective. I respect your Feng Shui knowledge, and your willingness to share it, tremendously. I agree with what you said. In an ideal world, the bed would be situated so that our feet would not face out the door, but that we had a clear view of the door. The best layout would be with the door on a wall that ran parallel to the sides of the bed. Without that option, the crystal is good remediation. And I agree about a solid headboard or at the very least a headboard with a solid, sturdy appearance.

Michelle, I emailed you, I'm sorry if my comment made you feel I felt disrepected...not at ALL. I appreciate your knowledge of Feng Shui and know that you are a trained professional as well. I'm so sorry if you thought that, I should have clarified my answer better.

You guys are cute... thanks you both so much for answering because it is very interesting that there are different "schools" - I did not know that.

So if I read your answers correctly, I need to spend the weekend moving my son's bed over a bit because his feet are in direct line with the door, I need to move my daughter's bed because her bed is on the same wall as the door and she doesn't face it and I have to go buy my third child a headboard. lol

Seriously, thank you both again.

Cari: When I read your response above, I left off the last line, and I thought you said "I have to go buy my thrid child". I missed the "a headboard" part, and I thought "Wow, how is she going to do that?". I guess I need another cup of coffee to wake up!

haha, we thought two was enough and then along came number 3 (which we didn't buy, but have been paying for ever since haha). We knew three was enough and now due in October will come number four...

Is there a Feng Shui remedy for birth control? LOL

Cari~So chuckling over your final comment. I have 3...two who were 17 months apart and then lo and behold...the third nearly 9 years later. Definitely affected my chi...but in total blessings so I wish the same to you and your ever growing family.

I have so enjoyed the commentary here. I have been teetering as to whether or not to add feng shui to my business. I so believe in it, but wouldn't do it unless I truly had all the education necessary. I have put the " training thought " on my vision board in hopes of finding the time necessary to approach it in the future. In the mean time, I do apply what I learn in my own home and find the results amazing.

Cheers!

JUN

2008

Okay, looking for the "right" answers...

Haha! Busted Margaret...

JUN

2008

And the point is??? As Carole says, if it feels right and is done with good intention, it's probably fine. If it's not broken don't fix it. I love feng shui and would love to learn more. Carole, what's the best layman's book on the subject?

And, Cari, congratulations. We have three daughters and number three came much as you described. hum. And she's a jewel. So, it's meant to be and meant to enrich your life. And so it will.

Thanks Terrylynn, we are actually very happy. I believe in "meant to be"...

Feng shui is very interesting, but it seems very complex too.

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