When it comes to carpeting versus wood floors or tile, many feng shui clients want to know if it makes a difference. Does the flooring of your home or business change the energy of a room? The answer is yes.
Carpeting is comfortable, soft on the foot and it buffers noise. This is the obvious part. But the color of the carpet also has the potential to affect the room. When you have blue carpet it vibrates the water element, as does the color black. Green carpeting vibrates the wood element and red, maroon or burgundy carpeting vibrates the fire element. Any shades of beige or brown carpeting adhere to the earth element and white or gray carpeting is the metal element.
Since every house is a mixture of elements in each room, it is not ideal to have the same color run throughout the entire house or business. This ends up being challenging for people on a budget because one color throughout, such as wall paint, is the least expensive way to go.
I often tell people on a budget, that if they must go with only one color throughout an entire space, to keep it light beige or light gray in order to have the least affect on the room. (A house I bought in 2002 had blood red carpet in every room except the kitchen and naturally all the red carpet was the first thing to go! Having that much “fire” element in a house will definitely contribute to accidents and arguments.) At the same time, red color via a carpet or area rug can do many positive things when it is correctly placed.)
Like wall paint colors, the flooring covers a large area, so the more noticeable the color, the more it is having an affect on the room as well as the psychological affect on the person who uses the room.
Wood floors can go just about anywhere and tile is not necessarily good or bad, but the color of the tile will have a similar affect as the color of carpeting.
Lighting is often discussed in a feng shui consultation because many people suffer from poor lighting. Lack of sufficient natural light can lead to sickness or depression. When feasible, skylights are a great solution and the “Solatube” lights take up very little space and can usually be installed in an hour.
When a ceiling slopes downward on one side of a room, up-light sconces are a way to help lift up the energy and make the lower ceiling less obvious. Lighting fixtures can themselves be a combination of elements. As an example, a brass lamp is a bit of the metal element, but when lit it is mostly the fire element. Since fire and metal are usually in conflict with each other, care must be taken when deciding exactly where to place the fixture.
It is also possible, though less common, for people to have too much light pouring in. This can cause eyestrain, headache and irritability. The remedy is usually simple in the form of window treatments to control just how much light should come in. It is an easier problem to have over not enough light.
To know what color flooring to use or if you need extra lighting for the fire element, it is essential to use the Flying Star School method, which is based on the age of the structure and its compass alignment. These pieces of information reveal what kind of energy field exists in each room or area of a structure.
Author: Kartar Diamond
Company: Feng Shui Solutions ®
From the Architecture and Design Blog Series
