Feng Shui Home - Staircase Decor and Colour

In the modern practice of symbolic Feng Shui decor and colour are used extensively.  While traditional Feng Shui does not encompass these aspects of the practice, the way we decorate our homes and the colours we use are a reflection of our personalities and their effects will have an energetic influence on us and the way we live.  We will either feel good about it or uncomfortable with our choice.

The staircase is a carrier of the Qi that enters your home.  When it is auspicious you want to maximise this and enhance the quality of Qi moving up the stairs.  If there is nothing to slow it down such as when your staircase directly faces the front door,  it will move too quickly carrying Sha Qi to your upper floors.  The route upstairs is usually into your inner sanctuary; your bedroom, one of the most important rooms in Feng Shui terms.  As the room you go to, to refresh your mind, body and spirit having auspicious and meandering Qi entering will make you feel safe and secure, relaxed and ready to refresh your senses.  This is why it is better if your bedroom door does not directly face the top of the stairs, especially when you have a straight staircase.

How you feel about the route this energetic journey takes and the quality of Qi will be determined by the staircase, its location in relation to your main door, and your attitude towards it.  Displaying photographs of your loved ones, your family or your friends on the walls will give you a sense of belonging and love every time you use the staircase.

Objects, paintings, pictures and lights placed at the bottom and along the walls up the staircase will all help slow down the movement of Qi.

To carry Sheng Qi to the upper floors the use of lights and colour on the walls, such as peach, pink or yellow will create a sense of warmth and a welcoming backdrop for family photographs.

Good lighting is essential on your staircase, especially if it is in a dark location or it is narrower than normal.  A wide comfortable staircase is more auspicious for you and your family and also for the Qi.  If you feel constricted when climbing the stairs, so will the energy.  Mirrors, lights, wall covering and colour, pictures of wide open spaces will all help open up a narrow space.  

Colour will play its part in bringing balance.  Earth colours will help create stability on your staircase, useful if you have an overly wide set of stairs.  The paler fire colours of pink and peach will bring warmth to a dark staircase.  Green will give a sense of the natural world and of growth, particularly important if you have a young family.  White or off-white will open up a restricted space but will benefit from lighting to ground and control this most yang of colours.

To the fulfillment of your dreams  

           

LynC

www.abundance-chi.com

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Feng Shui Home - Staircase Designs

Just like the designs of homes themselves, the difference in staircase design is wide and varied.

Straight up and down, split level, curved, spiral and double staircases are just some of the options chosen for our homes.

Is there one single design that is better than another?  Not really.  They can all have their place.  It mainly depends on the size of your home and the chosen location for the stairs.  Its size should be in harmony with the size of your home and it is better if they are positioned to the side rather than in a central and dominant position.  In our homes it is not necessary to make a feature of these functional structures; they are after all a practical way to get from a to b.

One design feature best avoided is having your staircase in the centre of the home.  Instead of accumulating and distributing positive Qi from the heart of the home, the stairs will disrupt the flow of Qi to both the lower and upper floors.

Another negative feature would be having the stairs rise up above the main door as it would press down on the Qi entering and force it out each time the door was opened.

And yet another inauspicious layout would be to have the staircase lead directly up to the master bedroom or home office.  The Qi entering either of these rooms would be unstable and not conducive to harmony.

Straight Up and Down

We have previous covered the effect of a straight staircase that is directly visible from the front door, the Qi will make its way up in a fast and aggressive manner.   However a straight staircase at one side of your door will not suffer the same fate.  When the Qi is allowed to enter your front door and gather before moving up the stairs it will be much more forgiving and will travel in a slower and more harmonious way.

Split Level

Stairs having a small landing part of the way up will allow the Qi to gather and accumulate on its way up, as well as at the beginning of its journey.  It can also help if you do have your staircase facing your main door as the turn in the stairs will force the Qi to slow down before continuing on its way.

Curved

A curved staircase to the side of the main door will carry Qi upwards in a slow and meandering way. 

Spiral

A spiral staircase is a popular addition to a modern apartment or duplex.  As long as it is not in the centre of the home it can provide a practical option that works well when space is tight.  A spiral staircase in the centre of the home resembles a corkscrew.  It symbolises a corkscrew boring into the heart of the home causing disruption of Qi and possible ill-health for the residents.

Double Staircases

These are really only an option in the more palatial and spacious homes as they obviously require a lot of space.  They are also popular in hotels, museums, art galleries, shopping malls and large office buildings.  In a smaller property they would have the effect of forcing the Qi to choose a path thereby limiting the amount of Qi able to move upwards.

Next time we will look at decor and colour for the staircase.

To the fulfillment of your dreams             

LynC

www.abundance-chi.com

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Visit http://www.abundance-chi.com to discover more about Feng Shui

Feng Shui Home - Home Staircase

Staircase - Going Up-Going Down!

Unless you live in a single-storey property you will have at least one staircase in your home.

This time around we are not talking about external stairways but those that transport Qi between the ground and first floor of your interior living space.  You may have your living area on the ground floor which is the more usual situation, or you may have your sleeping area on the ground floor with your living space on the first floor.  Whichever layout you have will be influenced by the location of your staircase.  The quality of the Qi you experience will depend on the layout of your home.

What is it you see when you open your front door from the outside looking in?  Do you have an open space allowing the Qi to enter; gather and spread slowly and harmoniously throughout the space?  Do you have a long straight hall forcing the Qi to move straight forward quickly and aggressively, rather like a poison arrow? 

Or do you have a staircase?  And does it go up or down?  Is your staircase in full view of your main door?  Is your staircase straight, curved, split or spiral?  How does this affect the flow of Qi in your home?

A staircase going down indicates difficulties for the occupants.  Eventually you may have to leave the house or you may experience blocks to accumulating wealth.  Like water that flows downwards, Qi will flow down away from your living area.  Water represents wealth in Feng Shui so a downward staircase represents positive Qi flowing away from the main living spaces.

There are a lot of questions to consider and their answer will depend greatly on the quality of Qi you experience in both the lower and upper levels of your home.

Ideally, your staircase is located away from your main door, to one side or the other.  Ideally you will have an open space inside your front door which will allow the Qi entering to accumulate and move harmoniously through your ground floor as well as up the staircase and into the upper level/s of your home. 

Knowing that Qi moves appropriate to its surroundings, if you have a staircase directly in front of your main door where is the Qi destined to go?  Up the staircase!  This will impact on the Qi in your lower and upper floors.

If your staircase is in front of your main door the Qi will enter through the door and immediately head up the stairs.  This means your ground floor will be lacking positive Yang Qi and may have a build up of negative Yin Qi, especially if the house is empty during the daytime.  If this coincides with a straight staircase the Qi heading upwards will be fast and aggressive when there is nothing to slow it down.  If you have a door, such as your bedroom door; your sanctuary; directly facing the top of this straight staircase the Qi entering your place of peace and rest, will be fast and aggressive; not conducive to serenity and tranquility.

Next time we will look at different types of staircase in the home and their influence on the movement of Qi.

To the fulfillment of your dreams             

LynC

www.abundance-chi.com

Enjoying our posts?  Register with Google+ Google Friend Connect to follow.

Visit http://www.abundance-chi.com to discover more about Feng Shui