Patterns and colours in Feng Shui - when is it too much?

I'm a huge fan of Bohemian-style interior design. I love the mix and mash of different patterns and colours, particularly if it involves all shades of red and pink.

Below is one of my personal favourites:

Bohemian interior design - source: smoothtwinkbottomslut.blogspot.co.uk/

However, I know that a too much of patterns and colours in one place will diffuse energy and, well, is just bad Feng Shui. Have you ever been in a room where you feel restless, nervous or anxious? Apart from various shapes or the ominous 'Feng Shui arrows', it could have been because of a mix of various patterns and shapes.

Bohemian-style interior design often involves a combination of all kinds of colours and patterns:

Bohemian-style bedroom - source: smoothtwinkbottomslut.blogspot.co.uk

In such a room, as beautiful as it may be, you might find it hard to concentrate, sleep or learn. Since all the various designs may diffuse energy, the overall energy level might be unstable and will affect you.

When are too many patterns and colours a problem:

• In the bedroom
  Unconsciously, the unstable energy level will affect you, but even consciously, all the patterns and colours may make it hard for your to sleep because your eyes can't rest - and that may cause insomnia
• In a working environment
  Whether you are a student and need to study or you are in your office and need to work: whenever you need to concentrate, make sure that there are only a view decorative items on which your eyes can rest and keep the variety of colours and shapes to a minimum.
• In a children's room
  Here, a too much of patterns and colours might be caused by posters and images of a child's (or teenager's) favourite pop stars, football teams, favourite actors...  The child may feel anxious or restless and will find it hard to do his or her homework.
• In a room where people are coming together (example: living room)
  This is very much my own experience: too many colours, shapes and patterns may make people aggressive, particularly if many shades of red are involved. People will feel anxious and balanced debates might end up in heated discussions. To keep peace and harmony with the people you live with, it makes sense to create a calm and balanced environment in communal rooms such as the living room (or kitchen).

In my experience, sometimes less is more and it may be nice to keep things simple. Below is good compromise: we've got a bit of pattern on the blanket and pillows with a slight mix of colours - but the overall look is still balanced:

These are my thoughts - please share with me your own experiences when it comes to an overflow of too many colours and patterns.

The element wood and Feng Shui - how to activate wood in your home

Quite obviously, the element wood in Feng Shui is associated with, well, wood. Everything and anything green, trees and wood activates this element.

However, as with every Feng Shui element, there's more to it.

Main characteristics of the element wood:

• colour: all shades of green
• shape: tall, rectangular objects, tall and long cylindric objects
• materials: wood, bamboo
• natural landscape: forerst, tall mountains, trees
• plants: Bonsai, tall, long plants
• patterns, stripy, long vertical and horizontal stripes

Some interior ideas to activate the element wood in your flat:

• A picture of a tree

• Tall objects out of wood:

wodden cupboard - source: objectsonline.com

• Plants

• Green blanket

• Long pillars

• Tall floor lamp

• Bamboo curtain

These are some of my ideas. But there are a lot more - I've created an entire Pinterest board dedicated to wood: Wood and Feng Shui.

The metal element and Feng Shui - how to activate the metal element in your home

The metal element in Feng Shui is activated using a variety of different methods. That's particular important for the Bagua area in the West and Northwest, which are both associated with the element metal.

Main characteristics of metal:

• Colour: white, silver, grey, Gold
• Shape: round, circle, semi-circle, oval
• Material: metal, gold, silver, copper
• plants: plants with round leaves, plants cut in round shapes
• patterns: dots, circles, round shapes

Some interior ideas on how to bring the element metal into your home:

• white furniture and interior designs

white interior design - source: home-designing.com

• round vase

round vase - source: weddinggiftsdirect.com.au

• round pillows

gold, round pillow - source: etsy.com

• Metall furniture

• round lamp

• patterns with dots

These are just some ideas. If you need more inspiration, you could take a look at my Pinterest board 'Metal and Feng Shui'.

The element earth and Feng Shui - interior ideas to bring earth into your home

For me, a very important Bagua sector is associated with the element earth: the Soutwest, which influences relationships and love. So I try hard to keep this corner of my flat strong and harmonious. The best way to do that is to strengthen earth in this sector.

Main characteristics of the element earth:

• colour: various light yellow shades, brown, beige
• shape: rectangular, square
• material: earthenware / baked clay, ceramics, chinaware
• natural landscapes: flat hills
• plants: plants with flat shapes which are spreading horizontally

Here are some of my favourite ideas on objects or interior designs which resemble earth:

• brown or beige colours

brown interior - source: fancycribs.com

• decorative stones

decorative stones - source: wallconvert.com

• Crystals



crystals - source:pheonixshb.co.uk

• square-shaped beige pillows

• a picture of flat hills or mountains

• a flat, square coffee table

• a square or rectangular storage box

These are some of my ideas. I've got a whole lot more on my Pinterest board 'Earth and Feng Shui'.

The element water and Feng Shui - ideas on how to bring water into your home

As with all elements, there's a wide variety of options on how to bring the elment water into your home. The main characterists of water are:

• colours: blue, black
• shape: wavy, crinkly
• natural landscapes: the sea, lakes, waterfalls
• material: glas
• patterns: wavy and/ or unregular patterns
• plants: long and wavy shapes, growing downwards

Below are some of my ideas on objects which resemble the element water:

The colour blue

Blue interior design (by Sara Sjögren - source: ideastosteal.com)

A picture of a waterfall
Here's some caution needed: the larger and more massive the waterfall in the picture, the stronger the energy. So a picture of the Niagara Falls might emit too much water energy...

A water fountain
If you choose a water fountain to strengthen the element water in your house or flat, there are some things to mind. I blogged about it here.

water fountain - source: kineticfountains.com

Blue flowers

A glas bowl filled with water

A picture of a sea or lake

These are some of my ideas. If you are in need of more inspiration, have a look at my Pinterest board: Water and Feng Shui.

The element fire and Feng Shui - home decor ídeas

Fire is one of my favourite elements - I love the colour red, I like using incense sticks... Decorating those bagua corners of my flat which benefit from the element fire is a real joy...

The main characteristics of the element fire are:

• colour: red, purple, pink, a very strong orange or yellow
• shape: triangular, sharp objects
• natural landscape: mountains with sharp top shapes
• patterns: spikes or jags, triangular shapes

There are a myriad of ways on how to bring a certain element into your flat. I thought I'd share some of my ideas - please let me know if you can think of other ways on how to strengthen the element fire in your flat or house.

• Quite obvious: the colour red

red interior - source: decoist.com

• Candles

• Incense Sticks

Incense sticks - source: sparksgiftwholesalers.com

• Picture of a sunflower
  Not many people seem to know this: the sunflower represents the element fire

Sunflower represents the element fire

• Triangular shapes
  Below is a triangular (wine) bottle holder

• Red flowers

These are only some ideas - the options are endless and creativity is needed to find what works for you! However, if you do run out of ideas - I've created a Pinterest board dedicated to everything and anything that represents the element fire: http://www.pinterest.com/jennyfengshui/fire-and-feng-shui/

Antique or used furniture - a good idea?

I admit: I'm a rather superstitious person. I believe in all sorts of stuff: the number 13 is bad, number 4 is even worse, I'd never walk down a road which had been crossed by a black cat before... All sorts.

So I'm not sure whether it's all superstitious thinking when I say: I don't like antique furniture or 'used' interiors in my flat.

I'm aware of all the benefits of recycling and I've got no issue with using a piece of furniture that belonged to a family member or good friend. What I'm wary of is stuff that has been used before by someone I don't know.

Chi and energy is everywhere: around us, inside us and inside objects. Furniture in your flat will incorporate your 'energy'. Example: a bed used by an unhappy couple might incorporate this 'unhappy' energy and won't emit energy beneficial for a relationship.

Antique armchair. Source: http://blog.collectables-now.com/

I firmly believe in this: all the energy and moods rub off on furniture. This is why it's so important to cleanse a new flat from the energy of its former inhabitants. One of the ways to do that is to burn an incense stick: the fire energy released will cleanse the flat and furniture from all old energy.

As I said, I'm fine with using furniture or interior stuff from people I know. The danger for me lies in used stuff from other people, or even worse: antique furniture.

A piece of old furniture, as beautiful and nice as it may be, might come with old energy. Perhaps the previous owner was very unhappy, had a troubled life or was constantly faced with difficulties and barriers. Or there's a mix of energies from various owners, in case a particular object is very old. With antique furniture, you're bringing all this into your home.

Obviously, sometimes we need to make do with furniture from previous owners. I'm a tenant in London and always had to rent furnished flats. So everytime I'm moving flats, I'm well aware of all the old energy that might be still hanging around.

So far, I'm dealing with this by thoroughly cleaning the flat and all furniture. After that's done, I'm burning a number of incense sticks.

When it comes to very old and antique furniture however, I don't take any risks. I just don't think that all the energy, particularly of furniture that's several centuries old, can be cleansed and removed.

What are your thoughts on this?