Feng Shui, Pets, and Animal Prints

Franca Giuliani - As I always say, our home, our rooms, our closets, and even our office desk all tell us a lot about what's really going on within our lives. And it can be an overwhelming task to tackle the space in order to start making changes. Sometimes what we just need is a push, especially if the space we're talking about seems to be very stale and stagnant.

Sometimes what a space may need is real active chi (the life force). That can easily be acquired by bringing in live animals, such as dogs and cats. And, I should know, because I recently dog sat for 9 days Tara - my “little” big yellow lab - and Zoey - the “BIG” little Havanese puppy. They wiped me out! And they definitely stirred up the chi in my home.

Now based on the Five Element Theory, pets and animals in general represent Fire and bring out a loving spirit in people. So having pets is a good thing. However, it's also a very big responsibility that's not for everyone.

Is there an alternative? The answer is "yes." You can still benefit from the animal spirit without actually bringing in a live animal. Add animal prints accessories and upholstery into your space … and I'm talking about “faux” prints.

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Feng Shui Tips - The Power of Color in Decorating

Franca Giuliani - Within feng shui as within design, color is very important and powerful. Before trying to pick out the "right color” for home decorating, let's try to understand color.

Color is energy. (And, remember,everything is energy.) Colors are specific wavelengths of energy that can be used to balance ourchi, our life force. Here's what colors can do for you and yours:

• Colors have an impact on our emotions and our vibration. They possess the power to arouse or to tranquilize, to bring joy or create depression. 
• Colors engage our eyes and influence how we interpret our emotional experiences. By understanding the emotional context of colors, we can manipulate the experience of space to benefit our energetic body.

Color Has Three Dimensions

HUE: This is the first recognizable characteristic of a color. It's the quality by which we distinguish one color from another, as red, yellow, etc.

VALUE: The quality by which we distinguish a light color from a dark color (or how clean the color is). Value is raised by adding white and is lowered by adding black. Colors change in value with light - the brighter the sun, the more light you have coming into a room, the brighter the room colors will be.

INTENSITY: The quality by which we distinguish a strong color from a weak one. Color is lowered in intensity by adding gray or by adding its complementary color. 

Color Has Harmony

This is an agreeable combination of colors, and there are two kinds of harmony.

CONTRASTED HARMONIES use colors on the opposite side of the color wheel. Most common are complementary colors - exactly opposite.

RELATED HARMONY uses colors close to each other on the color wheel or only one color. Analogous colors are

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Working with Your Feng Shui Client

 

When you're trained as a feng shui practitioner, you're literally turned loose to interact with clients and impact their home or office environments in a meaningful and life-changing way. Good feng shui consulting, as seen in the following video, is about listening to your clients needs. You're flexible to each situation, each space, and each client. You'll use your bagua to study a space and make your recommendations, but it's far from "one size fits all" because where your client would like you to go is where you should put your focus. You'll get some good technique pointers from this video of Beverly Hills based Ariel Joseph Towne, otherwise known as The Feng Shui Guy. 

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Green Fountain of Fortune

The recent Architectural Digest Show in NYC presented this water fountain that's perfect for the environment.  Flexi-Pave made the fountain from recycled passenger tires and aggregate, bound together with state of the art bonding. It is flexible, slip-resistant, non-toxic, a green product, non-flammable, and can come in different colors. As you can see in the picture these recycled pavers are round which means continuous chi flow with no stopping- very auspicious!

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