Experts provide home design tips 

A feng shui consultant advises homeowners to let go of things that they no longer use or open up their spaces for better lighting.

Eugene Tan, professional feng shui consultant of Feng Shui Homes, says one can start by decluttering the home of useless things.

"If you haven’t used that item, whether it’s a box or a piece of clothing or a handful of nuts and bolts, throw them out. “If you have an accumulation of many items, you have an accumulation of many other problems which have not been solved,” he says.

Tan says the entrance of every home is the most important part. There should be nothing there that blocks the way of occupants or guests, he says.

He says one must arrange the furniture in such a way that it does not block the passage of qi.

Qi, or chi, is the life energy that, according to Chinese philosophy, binds all things together. The backside of a couch or recliner, for instance, should not face towards the entrance of a room as this prevents qi from circulating freely.

He advises against placing one’s bed all the way to the wall. “You have to have space all over your bed. Leave space for the passage of qi," he says.

It shouldn’t be placed under a windowsill or directly to the bedroom door, either. If your bed is under a window, you can place something that can block out the window, at least when you sleep. You can put up curtains or blinds, “Anything that will provide you with protection,” Tan says.

Melvin Sua of guangmingfengshui.com shares the same tips when Lifestyle Inquirer asked for practical tips for the home to attract good energy in the Year of the Rabbit.

Sua says it is the hardest to do, especially if one is the overly sentimental type, but keeping old things in the house that you no longer have any purpose for will just hold old and stagnant energy.

“The more stuff you accumulate like that, the more old energies are in your house,” Sua says. Keeping them in disarray makes it worse. “If you keep them, at least arrange them nicely in the house.”

He notes that there is standard feng shui that if there’s a cement horizontal beam sticking out from the ceiling of one's home, make sure that headboard, desk, stove or altar is not under the beam.

Rooms that don’t have windows shouldn’t be used as a bedroom, study or work area. “Just use it for storage, if possible,” he says. “Because you can easily get sick, it’s like being in solitary confinement.”

The placement of the stove and sink is another important thing to consider. “This sounds a bit difficult. Usually we try to avoid the stove and the sink to be facing each other or right beside each other,” says Sua. “If that’s the case for somebody’s house or condo, that needs to be changed. That will require some renovation work.”

This is because the stove is a very important part of a house’s feng shui.  In the right location it can really help with the health, wealth and harmony of the residents. “But in a very bad location, if it’s in the sickness sector, then the residents can become sick. The more you use the stove, the more we become sick.”

Patrick Lim Fernandez, feng shui and Chinese metaphysics expert (yinandyangshopofharmony.com), also says the concept of directions is very important for feng shui.

“The two lucky sectors this year for money are the north and the south,” he says. The simplest thing you can do is placing things with movement or sound in these areas—water fountains, aquariums, analog clocks or electronics such as speakers—to help activate the money luck.

“You can also put plants or flowers, living things can also activate the area.” He recommended the fortune plant, jade plant and palm. “But in general, most plants are okay. The ones we try to avoid are the ones with thorns or the ones with very sharp edges,” Fernandez sat,

For the south area, Fernandez suggests that you introduce the element of wood. You can place wooden furniture, plants or natural fabrics such as cotton in the space.

As the color of wood is green, you can introduce the color green into a space’s south zone, as well. You can place artworks that feature trees or forests.

“There are two sectors of the house that we need to pay attention to this year—one is the east and the other one is the northwest,” says Fernandez. The east, he sats, has this sickness or health energy that we would want to guard against. “Try not to put the color red in those areas because it signifies fire which inflames some of this not-so-good energy.”

Place things in this area that represent the metal element instead. “It can be anything that’s metal, art pieces that are made out of metal, even picture frames that are metal or furniture and whatnot.”

Round objects symbolize metal as well. From a color perspective, you can use the white or metallic colors like silver, gray and gold. The metal energy can help subdue the sickness energy and also what we call the northwest disaster energy.

Those who want to enhance their relationships as well as avoid conflicts might want to consider introducing the concept of water in the southwest section of the home. Pick decor that has an irregular, wavy or curvy shape and that’s blue or black—the colors of water. You can go the easy route and place an aquarium or water fountain in this spot. “Even reflective surfaces like mirrors or metal, those also signify water,” Fernandez says.

Every year the energies change throughout the home, so you can just move these decor, which represent the different elements around the house. “You can reuse a lot of the decor, artwork or pieces that you have when you rearrange your home and it makes things fresh and exciting as well. Whenever you get a new design, it also reinvigorates you.”