Recent studies have shown foreign buyers now account for a significant proportion of Australian residential sales. This influx of predominantly Asian buyers has additionally seen a growth in popularity of vendors applying Feng Shui techniques as a means to attract a larger buyer pool (including those from a Feng Shui-driven background) and maximising the sale price.

Here are 10 Western Feng Shui tips that can easily be applied to your home.

It adapts the centuries-old philosophy and brings it into the modern world. Feng-Shui’s purpose is to teach you how to balance and harmonize with the energies that exist within a given space, and to assure good fortune to those inhabiting the space. It does invite you to find the things that you personally resonate with and place them in strategic places in your home to keep them fresh in your memory and intentions.

1. Make your entryway entrancing– The entryway is considered the ‘mouth of chi’ where all of your opportunities come in. It is also the place you enter. The stronger, healthier and more balanced the front entry is, the better chi meaning –  able to nourish the occupants.

Add a fresh door mat, fresh green plants at entrance, fresh paint on the front door, replace broken bulbs and make it look like you are proud to live there. This is the first impression others get of who you are and what you have to offer, make sure you are sending the message you want!  An inviting street presence to welcome us through the door!

1.  Arrange your key pieces of furniture in the empowered position- i.e. where you can see the entrance from where you are sitting or lying, but are not in direct alignment with the open doorway. The bed, desk, and place where you spend the most time reading or watching television should always be in this position. You will never feel truly comfortable if you can’t see a flow through the room.
2.  Hazard-proof your home by removing unfriendly furniture- Anything that you bump your head on, stub your toe or bruise your shins on is unsafe. The message you want is this is a safe place to be. Replace sharp-edged furniture with those that have rounded edges and remove from sight anything that is – or even looks sharp. (i.e. poker-like curtain finials, knife racks in kitchens, pan hooks extended from the ceiling or walls)
3. Clear Clutter – This is a big deal! Feng Shui promotes that we are energetically connected to everything we own. Having an overwhelming amount of stuff to deal with drains our energy and brings us down. Have you ever said … wow I feel so much better now that I have cleared this room.

Our homes are a metaphor for our lives and will always reflect how in or out of balance we are. Learn to downsize, buy less and become conscious of the foot print you are leaving on the earth.

1.  Replace or fix anything that is broken, cracked, molding, rotting or in any kind of disrepair- Care for your home the way you care for yourself. Our homes mirror our inner and outer worlds and if we pay attention will give us profound clues to where our lives are! Mold is also very toxic and needs to be addressed immediately in the home.
2.  Move furniture you spend the most time on away from beams or ceiling fans (or/replace with friendlier looking blades). This may not be easy, though it registers as spinning overhead, and beams as a heavy object above us. 

Feng Shui addresses the subtle things in our environment and the belief that they energetically affect us a great deal because of the amount of time we spend there. Water is an important element of feng shui. Because of this, stone water fountains are the perfect addition for changing the energy of any given space.

1.  Live with what you love– Remove anything you feel obligated to keep for whatever reason. Update your home to reflect who you are now – not who you used to be. Honor who you are and give yourself permission to surround yourself with things that inspire you and use the things you love rather than saving them.
2. Bring in Nature– We come from generations of ancestors who lived in the natural world. Nature realigns our energy field and makes us feel whole. Therefore, it would make sense that our homes will make us truly feel at home when we bring nature in.
3.  Make sure your color scheme reflects your current taste and style. Color has a huge impact on us. We actually need to surround ourselves with certain colors at certain stages in our lives. Pay attention to how you are responding to colors and the ones you need to surround yourself with now to feel nurtured, happy and inspired.

Create the right amount of activity and rest depending upon the use of the room. Bedrooms are passive spaces and home offices active spaces. Creating a subtle bedroom to support getting a good night’s sleep and creating an active home office space to get things done. This is called the concept of Yin and Yang which teaches how to create a balanced home that will support everyone who lives there and the activities that need to be performed in the best possible way.