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How to Feng Shui Your Desk
Last week, I told you that within days of upgrading my desk, a reporter I didn’t previously know asked to highlight it in an upcoming article in Coast Magazine.
Why Feng Shui Your Desk?
Your desk is the domain of your career, which is the gateway to your life path.
Proper Feng Shui should help energy called Chi (or “Qi”) power up your desk as you would have it energize your home. This energy can amplify your business success, as well as improve various aspects of your life.
Desk Feng Shui
The secret to adding Feng Shui to your desk is all in the Bagua. The Bagua is the center of the Black Hat Feng Shui universe and understanding it is crucial to making sure your desk serves your career goals and life path.
Simply layout your desk as if a Bagua were drawn on top, with the Career Area against the side where your chair sits. If it helps, you can think of your desk broken up like a tic-tac-toe board.
This means that as you sit at your chair, your left hand will touch the Knowledge, Family, and Prosperity/Wealth areas as you reach across your desk.
Likewise, your right hand will touch the Helpful People/Travel, Creativity/Children, and Love areas as it reaches across your desk.
The middle of your desk will be your Health Area and across your desk directly in front of you should be the Reputation/Fame area.
The five elements of water, wood, fire, earth and metal in their creative cycle.
The colors and elements (water, wood, fire, earth, & metal) you use should be consistent with those of the respective areas of the Bagua that you would use in your home. Be sure to read up on the Feng Shui Bagua for more information on this.
Symbolism you might use, however, could be relatively unique to you and your profession.
The Bagua Sections of the Desk
Career: This area is right in front of you — the bottom center square of your tic-tac-toe board. The primary element is water and the color is black. Ensure this space is clear for new work to flow in. If you have a desk with a glass top, you can insert a picture of a stream of water flowing in. Without a glass top, you can simply tape that picture underneath your desk. You don’t need to see the item for it to help you.
Knowledge: The bottom-left box of your tic-tac-toe board is for knowledge. Blue is the primary color here. You could have books related to your profession in the drawers under or a small bookshelf on this corner of the table. Having something blue here will help you concentrate and make better decisions.
Family: This area can be found in the middle-left box of your tic-tac-toe board. The primary element here is wood and the ideal color is green. Portraits of your family, friends, or colleagues in a wooden frame would be ideal in this side of the desk. Adding green here will help you feel more at ease with your family and coworkers.
Prosperity & Wealth: The upper-left corner of your desk is for prosperity and wealth. Gold, purple, and green are prosperous colors. You should also have elements here that remind you of wealth. A money plant, a picture of a dream home, or some golden trinkets would do the job in this corner.
Reputation & Fame: The top-middle square of your tic-tac-toe board is here. Fire is its dominant element, which is also represented by the color red. Candles and lights are ideal here. Company awards or even your nameplate would also be well-placed here. You should place your business cards in this area.
Love & Relationships: This area can be found in the upper-right corner of your tic-tac-toe board. Pink and love symbols represent this area well. Items in pairs represent love, as well. A photo of your spouse or a hidden description of your ideal mate fits well in this corner. I added a pair of small turtles to signify me and my husband.
Creativity & Children: The middle-right area is where creativity flows. It is represented by metal and black & white items. This is another great spot for pictures of your kids. If you are looking for an infusion of creative energy, add a metal pendulum or a picture of something creative that inspires you, such as the Sydney Opera House for an architect.
Helpful People & Travel: The lower-right corner of your desk is where you call upon the help of others, which we can always use. This is best represented by silver or grey objects. Recent business cards that you have collected or your Rolodex can work well here. Create a handwritten note detailing how someone will help you achieve your goals and hide it in your desk drawer in this corner. Swap it out periodically. You could also place a small globe or pictures of your vacation goal here.
Health: This area falls in the center square in the tic-tac-toe board. Earth is the element here and it is represented by earth tones, especially yellow. You could tape a big round yellow circle under your desk here or have objects signifying the earth, such as a jar of decorative stones. Otherwise, ensure that the center of your desk is clutter-free.
Feng Shui Desk Shapes
- Rectangle: This shape is ideal for most offices where you want to accomplish individual work. A rectangular desk helps you concentrate.
- Circle: Circular desks are good for brainstorming and creativity. Thus, they are ideal for group meetings.
- Curved: If you have trouble concentrating because people are frequently disturbing you, it may be wise to change to a curved desk. If you are inside of the curve, in the concave area, you will concentrate better. The convex area where it curves out will keep others from approaching too often.
Feng Shui Desk Material
- Wood: Desks made of wood are sturdy, solid, supportive, reliable, and long-lasting. This is my first recommendation for most job functions.
- Metal: Desks made of metal are sharp and penetrating. They provide lots of mental energy and concentration, but they can be draining to the body.
- Glass: A desk made of glass can be very revealing, meaning that you have nothing to hide. However, energy passes through a glass desk very quickly. Be sure to slow the energy with wooden accessories or plants. Glass desks may be ideal for those in sales who want to show customers that they can be open with them.
- Laminate: Desks made of laminate materials are the vanilla of desks. They do not provide much positive or negative energy.
Feng Shui Desk Colors
- Black: A black desk will attract energy inward, which encourages introspection and creates opportunity.
- Brown: A brown desk stabilizes and strengthens the body, but does not energize the mind.
- White: A white desk activates the mind, but drains the body of energy.
- Gray or Metallic: A gray desk gives you more focus, but drains your physical body.
- Green: A green desk is a good balance of body and mind. It is especially good if you have drawn-out projects.
- Earth Tones: Lighter earth tones will increase your mental focus, and will drain your physical body of energy less than gray.
- Bright Colors: Bright colors such as yellow, orange and pink will draw a lot of attention but make the body and mind restless. I suggest bright desks in rare circumstances, such as for reception areas.
- Wooden Colors: Medium-toned wood colors provide stability and strength to the body. Using lighter tones will help energize the mind. Pine, ash, oak and birch colors should be a good balance while providing just the right amount of contrast with white paper to alleviate visual strain.
Additional Feng Shui Desk Tips
Proportions: Ensure that the size of your desk is proportional to the amount of and space of work you need to do. For instance, if the extent of your work is data entry, you likely wouldn’t need as big of a desk as someone who is an architect with drawings that need to be spread across the desk. Ensure that you can reach everything without allowing your desk to look cluttered.
Strong Foundation: Desks should have strong legs that are built of strong materials. The legs are the foundation of your desk, and thus the foundation of your career and life path.
Modesty Panel: I usually recommend a modesty panel that prevents someone from seeing your legs from in front of the desk. This provides greater security and establishes boundaries. A desk with an open front might feel more intimate, however, and will allow others to feel more comfortable approaching you. Unless you are in human resources or a pure leadership role, I recommend a modesty panel.
Face Toward the Door: If your desk faces a wall, window, or partition, you need to try to move it. Though employers love to be able to look over your shoulder, it adds stress if your back is to the door. If possible, turn your desk to face the doorway, but do not have it in line with the doorway. In other words, if someone were shining a light straight into your doorway, it would not line up with your desk, but you would be able to see the light coming in.
Windows: Try not to have your back toward windows, as you can be overwhelmed with energy. This may be unavoidable in some circumstances. There are cures to help minimize the effect of windows.
Power Position: Your desk should be in an area of your office where you can see as much of the room as possible.
Keep It Positive: On your desk and in your office should be objects that are uplifting and empowering.
Add harmony and balance to your desk with this handy Bagua mouse pad. Complete with a description, element and color for each Gua, this mouse pad will help you achieve more health, wealth and luck.
Feng Shui Mouse Pad: For a boost of positive Chi and a reminder of how the Bagua should be laid out on your desk, look into getting a Feng Shui mouse pad.
Clutter: There is simply no room in Feng Shui for clutter, especially on or in your desk.
Home Office or Workplace: Be sure to Feng Shui the desk in your home office, as well as the one at your workplace. They both represent your career and your life path in general.
Next Steps
Looking for a Feng Shui consultant you can trust? Learn a little more about me and how I can help you add harmony and balance to your home or office the Feng Shui way. Contact me today!
Do you know someone that could use a little Feng Shui advice? Share this post with them on Facebook!
Be sure to register for my email newsletter or like me on Facebook to stay up-to-date with my latest posts.
Photo Credits
Jade plant photo courtesy of Steven Severinghaus via Creative Commons license. Swans photo courtesy of Fredrik Alpstedt via Creative Commons license.
Feng Shui Colors
Colors can be as important as elements in Feng Shui.
Colors can excite, enhance, or even disturb the energy around you. And they can represent emotions as well as goals.
Here are some common colors and what they mean in Feng Shui:
- Black: Career
- Blue: Knowledge
- Green: Family
- Purple: Prosperity & Wealth
- Red: Reputation & Fame
- Pink: Love
- White: Creativity & Children
- Grey: Helpful People & Travel
- Yellow: Health
As an example, if you are looking to get noticed for your accomplishments, throw on a red blouse or shirt. Ready to advertise that you are looking for love? Try on a pink hat or tie.
When it comes to adding the above colors to your home to make changes with Feng Shui, there is no need to overwhelm your space with a color by painting an entire room.
Rather, test it out first with some fresh-cut flowers or throw pillows with the colors you are looking to add. Then, you can paint picture frames, change curtains or add some artwork if you like the results.
Most importantly, in your home or office, be sure to add colors to the appropriate area of your home, as represented by the Feng Shui Bagua.
Don’t be afraid to use color!
Next Steps
To learn more about how colors play a part in Feng Shui, I suggest you read through my free information on the Feng Shui Bagua.
Feng Shui is all about harmony and balance. Make sure that as you make changes to one area of your Bagua, balance it out with changes to other areas, as well.
Have fun adding some color to your life!
Looking for a Feng Shui consultant you can trust? Learn a little more about me and how I can help you add harmony and balance to your life the Feng Shui way. Contact me today!
Do you know someone that could use a little Feng Shui advice? Share this post with them on Facebook!
Be sure to register for my email newsletter or like me on Facebook to stay up-to-date with my latest posts.
Grand and Spiral Staircases in Feng Shui
We’ve all heard that front doors opening directly to stairs are bad for Feng Shui. In fact, I’ve written about it in a previous post where I described that such designs lead to income problems.
Just as dangerous to a home or office’s Feng Shui is a spiral staircase or even a grand staircase. I want to get into why they can be so harmful and, of course, give you some remedies.
Feng Shui, translated as “wind-water”, is about harnessing the flow of a natural energy called Chi just as boulders in a riverbed work to temporarily divert the flow of water.
Spiral Staircase Dangers
When working with home builders, I always recommend against designs with a spiral staircase. Even though they are an efficient use of sometimes limited space, the benefits simply don’t outweigh the dangers. Potential buyers conscious of Feng Shui will see a spiral staircase and simply walk out.
Consider a spiral staircase to be like a corkscrew digging into a particular section of the Bagua in the home or office. Please also keep in mind that each section, or Gua, of the Bagua represents a part of the body.
As an example, a spiral staircase in the middle of a home, or Health Area, will figuratively dig into the heart of the Bagua. I have found that those living in such a home frequently have health issues related to the heart or blood pressure.
Many spiral staircases are made of metal, which only exacerbates the digging effect. The same goes for any staircases (spiral or otherwise) with metallic coloring, whether they are gold, silver, bronze, copper, etc.
Any staircase with the color red is morbidly characteristic of blood flowing down the stairs. Circulatory issues are common with residents of such homes.
Another problem related to most spiral staircases is the empty space between each step, preventing Chi, that natural flowing energy, from rising to the upper levels. Rather, energy only flows down — and painfully so.
Spiral Staircase Cures
What if you have a home that already has a spiral staircase? Certainly, replacing the staircase isn’t usually financially feasible.
First and foremost, find a creative way to cover the openings between steps. I suggest using wood because it has the energy of growing up, like a tree. Feel free to cover it in a fabric, such as carpeting.
Use neutral colors instead of black, red or metallic colors. It is better to use the colors of plants or trees.
Now, we need to find a way to work against the downward corkscrew energy. To do this, I recommend the use of lighting and plants.
The lighting should point upward from below, again pushing Chi up the stairs and working against that painfully downward force.
The use of certain plants and trees also move energy upward. Tall trees based at the bottom of the stairs will do the trick. Ivy along the railing will further influence the energy to move upward.
Grand Staircase Dangers
Luxury builders often want to utilize grand staircases. They are beautiful, opulent and, well, grand. They are also very dangerous to the Feng Shui of a home.
Because of their often circular nature, any energy that flows up the left staircase at the Family Area just goes right back down the right staircase at the Creative Area, completely bypassing half of the second floor’s Bagua.
Thus, grand staircases often prevent Chi from giving life to the upstairs offices and bedrooms representing the Wealth Corner, Fame Area and Relationship Corner. That’s simply bad for business and bad for the business of love.
The same rules apply here as with other types of stairs — metals and the colors of metals are bad. Likewise with the bloody effects of red.
When working with builders, I often suggest some very specific modifications to the design to ensure proper energy flow while maintaining the grand effect of the staircase.
Grand Staircase Cures
Again, what remedies are there to cure a grand staircase that already exists in a home (aside from tearing it out and adding the Helpful People, Career, and Knowledge areas back into the upper floor)?
First, add a red rug at the top of the right staircase. This works to slow the energy that is attempting to flow back downward.
Second, make sure that you have a large, shiny chandelier above the foyer and another shiny chandelier at the upper floor where the two staircases meet.
To keep with lighting, up-lighting or upward sconce lights along the staircase will help push and keep energy upstairs.
Just as with spiral staircases, you can use tall trees at the bottom and ivy along the edges to help influence Chi upward. You can even use wood trim designed with the effects of ivy.
Next Steps
Generally, it is best to avoid a home with a spiral or grand staircase in terms of Feng Shui. But, at least there are cures available to improve such designs to minimize their negative effects.
Spend some time learning about the Feng Shui Bagua to ensure proper Chi flow in your home or office.
If there is something unique about your stairs or layout, such as scissor-stairs, contact me to inquire about a Virtual Feng Shui Consultation because stairs can be a dangerous element.
Considering a new home? Take a look at the recent new home projects where my Feng Shui consultation services were utilized.
Do you know someone with a spiral staircase? Share it with them on Facebook!
Be sure to register for my email newsletter or like me on Facebook to stay up-to-date with my latest posts.
Feng Shui is About Harmony & Balance
While it may be tempting to make your love corner completely pink or your wealth corner completely purple, don’t overwhelm one area without balancing the other spaces in your home’s Bagua.
“I’ve turned my entire relationship corner pink and I still haven’t found love.”
This is a pretty typical of emails I get from people inquiring about Feng Shui consultations.
Whether you want to improve your health, wealth, fame, career, fertility, relationships or love, keep this in mind: harmony and balance.
Harmony and balance shouldn’t just be your desired outcome.
Harmony and balance are also required in Feng Shui placement and decor in order to get what you want.
The Purple House
The following pictures are from a home that was recently listed for sale in Middlesex, England.
For soon-to-be obvious reasons, the listing agent neglected to say much about the interior.
While the home was attractive from the outside, every room inside was completely purple.
Purple is certainly a color of royalty and wealth. And I’m not saying that I don’t like purple.
But this… is overboard.
Residents of homes like this don’t experience an abundance of money while living there.
And people certainly don’t sell homes like this at a premium, especially when you factor in the costs of the decor. (Though, this one received enough viral coverage that someone with a purple predilection may have spent too much money just to have it.)
Moreover, residents in over-the-top homes like this usually have career, health, relationship and marital issues.
Harmony and Balance
As I said, you need harmony and balance in your home’s decor and placement in order to have harmony and balance in your life. But how?
Most ideal would be to spend careful time in each area of the Feng Shui Bagua to ensure proper and steady flow of Chi, or Feng Shui energy.
At the very least, start by ensuring that opposing corners or sides of your home’s Bagua are balanced.
As you see results from the opposing areas, move onto another pair of opposing areas.
All the while, be sure to pay special attention to the Career & Life Path Area of your home by your front door by making sure that it is clear and clean to attract Chi into your home.
Remember, don’t go all purple on me!
Next Steps
Spend some time learning about the Feng Shui Bagua to ensure proper Chi flow in your home.
If things still feel stagnant for you after making the above changes, contact me right now to inquire about a Feng Shui Space Clearing or a Virtual Feng Shui Consultation because you need healthy Chi flow.
Think this purple home is hilarious? Share it on Facebook!
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Feng Shui Knowledge: Skills and Wisdom
I just added Feng Shui information on the section of the Bagua related to Wisdom, Skills and Knowledge.
If learning a new language, becoming a master at yoga, or gaining a better spiritual understanding of our world is something you are looking to accomplish, give this a read.
For more help, contact me right now to inquire about a Feng Shui Space Clearing or a Virtual Feng Shui Consultation.
Be sure to register for my email newsletter or like me on Facebook to stay up-to-date with my latest posts.
