Why Investing in Quality Rugs Is Essential for Feng Shui Balance
Feng Shui is an ancient set of principles from China, all about focusing on creating a balance between energies in environments like your home, garden, or patio. The key principles of Feng Shui stem from the ancient Chinese belief of Taoism, and there is evidence that Feng Shui was applied in the design of ancient Chinese homes and even towns. It has been an integral part of culture in China for millennia and in recent years has also gained a footing in Western culture. Now whether you believe in positive energy and flowing harmony and all that is entirely up to you, but even just aesthetically speaking, Feng Shui exudes elegance and simplicity, so even just for that reason alone, it is worth taking a look at. Well, here are some more details about Feng Shui and how every detail, even something like a rug, matters.
What is it anyway?
Before we can dive into the details, we should have a quick run-down on what Feng Shui even is. Well, as previously mentioned, it is a set of principles and practices used for design in homes and the like, promoting comfort, harmony, and positive energy called Chi through the placement of furniture, arranging lighting, and so on. So from sofas to different lights to chairs to the perfect living room rugs collection, the color, the placement, the symmetry, the shape—it all matters in Feng Shui, almost to the point of being a science. Prosperity, luck, health, all these very important concepts are said to be influenced by Chi, and whether you believe this or not, again it still looks fantastic.
The Elements
There are five elements in Feng Shui, considered the building blocks of our universe, and they are wood, earth, fire, metal, and water. To bring harmony to a home, one must try a balance between these elements, using them in strategic locations throughout the home, hopefully improving the space’s harmony and mood. To maximize that flow of energy, you can use the corresponding elements, place them in the appropriate area, and hopefully find more peace and progress. Enter Feng Shui rugs, where you can mirror the elements of your rugs to balance your interior needs. When we talk about elements, especially in rugs, we mostly mean the colors, each major color representing a different element. Now that you know about the basics, let’s get a bit more into the nitty-gritty details.
Wood, Fire, and Water
The wood element is associated with growth, vitality, and kindness, and to bring some of that energy into your home, you are going to want to invest in rugs with blue or green colors and rectangular shapes. Now, fire is related to creativity, passion, and expression, bringing energy, warmth, and comfort to a room, and to take advantage of that “fire”, you can go for rugs in red (obviously) hues and with triangle or pointy shapes. Water is some of the strongest energy around, symbolizing abundance and prosperity, so if you want some of it in your home, try to find rugs in black colors or with curvy shapes.
Earth and Metal
The earth element stands for knowledge, health, and stability, channeling positive energy around these values, and the rug colors you want here should be orange, brown, or yellow with flat or square shapes, while the metal element represents simplicity, clarity, and precision. You can incorporate the metal element into your spaces by putting down rugs in gray, white, and metallic tones and spheric or circular shapes. Now that you know what the elements are and what colors are used, you should not forget that the placement of the items in the right areas is just as essential, where even the directions, like North, East, South, and West, are all said to have an influence or be connected to the elements as well.
Entryway
The entrance is known as the Mouth of Chi in Feng Shui, the point of the space where harmonious energy enters, and as the point that brings prosperity, it is essential for you to choose the rug shape and color that will help balance the energies and get the best Chi flowing through. The earth element is supposed to be perfect for that so a rug in earth element colors and shapes would fit in great in that spot.
Bedroom
Adding a rug to the bedroom will not only improve its aesthetics but also its feel and vibe, and Feng Shui rugs under your bed are said to help ground the Chi when you are sleeping and balance the Yin and Yang energies, which you can correlate with the bed’s soft textures and hard surfaces. Pairing two rugs on each side of a table is also said to be effective. The ideal rug colors for the bedroom are red, white, and pink, tones associated with partnership, and according to the bedroom, the rug’s size and shape are also important factors.
Directions
The directions in Feng Shui matter too. North, for example, governs luck in career and the water element’s zone, so choose rugs in the water element. The South governs name and fame and is the fire zone, and although those certainly may not be the priorities for everyone, nor even should they be, getting rugs in the fire element is said to prevent loneliness and the loss of your social circle. East is said to help the health of body and mind and the family side in your home and is in the earth element. Last but not least is the West, which governs children’s creativity and luck, so perhaps it is not inappropriate if you have some rugs in water or earth elements handy.
Feng Shui goes back for millennia, and while its more religious or perhaps almost superstitious elements may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it does have a lot of very real and elegant principles that look and feel good in everyone’s living spaces. Because of that alone, it is worth taking a look at.