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Inner Feng Shui - the Sanctuary Within
Feng Shui, the study of how to create human-friendly environments, observes that our surroundings are constantly making an impact on us. When you’re open and sensitive to energy, you are often the first to wilt in an unpleasant place. Your energetic sensitivity emphasizes the importance of knowing how to maintain your balance, especially in an environment that could cause you stress. When you cannot change your outer surroundings and there is nothing you can do about the discomfort of your body, it’s vital to have an inner sanctuary that holds your balance in place.
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The Five Elements - Nature's Design Team
Feng Shui views the five elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water as the basic building blocks of life and observes that health and happiness are best “held in place” when all five are included in your home’s design. Because each element is expressed in a wide variety of ways, learning to work with them is like learning a new language. The more fluent you are, the richer the elemental dialog becomes between you and your surroundings.
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Bringing the Office Home
One of the most popular trends these days in home design is the Home Office, and for good reason. Working from home eliminates the rush hour commute, gives you much more flexibility, and can save you significant amounts of time, money, and aggravation. For many people a year’s worth of work-related expenses, including transportation, clothing, restaurants, rent, and childcare, far exceeds the cost of remodeling and furnishing a home office.
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Feng Shui and the Bedroom - Return to Sweet Dreams: Bringin Serenity & Sensuality back into the Room of Rest, Rejuvenation & Romance
Everyone deserves a great bedroom. We spend about a third of our lives in our bedrooms, sleeping, reading, reflecting, romancing, recharging our batteries. Ideally, it’s a perfect combination of cozy nest, welcoming oasis, and romantic hideaway that reflects your personal tastes. Unfortunately, whenever bedrooms do not meet peoples’ needs for rest and rejuvenation, the quality of their waking life is compromised.
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Feng Shui and Children's Bedrooms
Most of the children’s bedrooms I see are neon bright and busy, busy, busy. It’s no surprise when the parents remark that their child never settles down. In almost every case, the child is being overstimulated by the bedroom decor. Feng Shui observes a direct correlation between the epidemic of hyperactivity in our children and the way their bedrooms are decorated. We need to tuck our children into the tranquil embrace of a cozy, serene bedroom that encourages them to calm down and get the rest they need.
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Feng Shui and Tender Loving De-Cluttering
Clutter… it’s the stuff that annoys you every time you look at it or have to find something in it. It seems to “mate in the night” in closets, on tables, in corners – just about anywhere – and can multiply until you’re no longer able to navigate through the house without feeling irritated, confused, or overwhelmed. Like it or not you can feel clutter, the environmental equivalent of congestion, as much as you can see it.
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Feng Shui and The Dining Room - Romancing the Good Life
The dining room holds enormous romantic potential. It’s one of the areas in the home that can be arranged to hold everyday romance in place. Taking pleasure in dining on a regular basis is one of the rewards of a balanced lifestyle. By slowing down enough to really dine, you invite a romantic quality to become part of your daily routine, one that transforms the act of grabbing a bite into a truly nurturing experience.
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Feng Shui and Front Entrances - Welcoming the New Year into Your Home
The New Year is a great time to enhance the front entrance and foyer area of your home. Here, an openly welcoming environment symbolizes your desire to embrace life’s joyful experiences, helpful people, and golden opportunities. Roll out the welcome mat, and make it literally “entranc-ing.”
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Holding Happiness in Place with the Feng Shui Grid
Arranging a home to hold happiness in place is the primary goal of Feng Shui, and one of the most intriguing tools we utilize is the Feng Shui Grid (see Illustration). Many people discover that their challenges in life are directly related to the Grid areas in their homes that they dislike, don’t use, or fill with clutter. It’s also a very useful tool when building or remodeling a home.
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Feng Shui and Guest Rooms
Summer is the high season for traveling. Whether you’re planning to be a guest or have guests, here are some Feng Shui tips to assure a “bon voyage.”
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The Feng Shui Home Office - A Powerhouse of Productivity
Make your home office your powerhouse of productivity. Whether your work is action-packed or introspective, full- or part-time, organize and arrange it to enhance your discipline, creativity, and success.
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Creating a Personal Paradise Outdoors with Feng Shui
Feng Shui, the Chinese system of environmental placement, sees the world as completely alive with everything, including buildings, streets and property, interconnected in a dynamic relationship that affects everything we experience. Practicing Feng Shui outdoors nourishes the supply of Ch’i (vital energy) flowing around and into your home or workplace. This increase of vital Ch’i then nurtures and enhances important aspects of your life including your health, relationships, happiness, and prosperity.
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Feng Shui and Master Bedrooms
A couple’s master bedroom is often an accurate reflection of their relationship. Many couples don’t realize that their bedroom can strengthen and nourish, or dampen and weaken, their marital happiness. The more active and “crazy” the lifestyle, the more crucial it is to design a bedroom sanctuary that encourages rest and rejuvenation, and maintains the intimate connection that holds happiness in place.
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Love at First Sight - Feng Shui Meets Professional Organizing
One of the greatest challenges in our abundant world is to simplify and organize our possessions. A colleague of mine swears that her belongings mate in the night, especially the ones in storage. Where there was one, a dozen now live. Crowded garages, basements, attics, and closets are often the showrooms of excess in our homes.
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Feng Shui Pools & Fountains - Liquid Serenity
Water, one of the five key elements in Feng Shui design, is related to inspiration, relaxation, and the ability “to go with the flow” in life. Simply put, water is an antidote to stress. Whether you enjoy relaxing beside a pool or listening to the soothing sounds of a fountain, the following Feng Shui design guidelines will help you choose the perfect water feature for your home.
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The Retail Recipe for Great Feng Shui
On a recent visit to a new gift shop in town, I passed a woman who was just leaving with a big shopping bag in hand. “This place has great Feng Shui,” she beamed. My curiosity piqued, I asked her, “What exactly do you mean by great Feng Shui?” “Oh, you’ll feel it right away,” she said, smiling over her shoulder. “It’s the whole atmosphere.” And indeed, the store did have a very inviting atmosphere. Inviting enough for me to buy something so I could take a little piece of that great Feng Shui home with me…
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Garden Design with a Feng Shui Eye
Feng Shui, the art of enhancing your life through design, observes that gardens do much more than beautify your home. Gardens promote a general sense of health and well being by bringing the beauty of Nature into your personal space. Here are 9 Feng Shui guidelines to get your started:
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Season of Light
‘Tis the Season when short days and cool temperatures beckon us to spend more time indoors. Feng Shui sees the winter season as a time when the Fire element, represented by the sun, is low and needs to be strengthened or “stoked” in our homes to nurture our health and happiness. To do this, we warm and brighten our interiors with lighting and other Fire-related enhancements.
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Feng Shui and Mirrors - Through the Looking Glass
Mirrors are a favorite enhancement in Feng Shui design. When well placed, they act as “windows” that bring light and beautiful views into the home. Mirrors can enhance your sense of safety by providing a view of the door when you can’t directly see it. Mirrors can also “correct” or camouflage architectural challenges such as poles, angles, and corners, as well as visually enlarge small areas like foyers and hallways that would otherwise feel very confining.
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