Here are 10 More of Madonna’s Organizing Tips to help you get started getting more organized:

1)  Start by measuring the space. Then, decide how the space is going to be used. Start looking around you home to see what you have that can be used. Boxes, baskets, book selves, small tables, small chest drawers, and trunks.

Once you have checked out the house and got all your organizing items together, start seeing what will work for your  space. Use what you can and then decide on what you need to buy if anything. Be flexible.

2)  Place a trash can in your closet to conveniently toss out price tags, dry-cleaner bags and fabric softener sheets that are often left in the clothes.

3) Think vertically. Don’t let those few extra feet between your closet’s top shelf and the ceiling go to waste. My father always told me “you own it from ceiling to floor so use it!”

4) If you have an upstairs, anything you are removing throw down the stairs. It is very satisfying.

5) Put items you use together, Together!

6) Storage containers are a very functional way to get organized. Decorative bandboxes, are perfect for tucking away hats, scarves, and other accessories. They come in  alot of great colors, have fun with them!

7) A Storage Stool can serve as a small hamper, e.g. to store blankets and sweaters.

8 ) If you can not see in the boxes. Label them, you will be glad you did.

9) Put selves in the closet or a book case. This will keep you from stacking boxes and items and allow you quick and easy access.

10) Roll ties to help prevent creasing or wrinkles. This also helps keep the dust off of them.  There all kinds of new containers for ties and belts. Have fun shopping!

I hope all of my Organizing Tips help you start getting More Organized today!

- Madonna

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Wind chimes are extremely effective as they not only attract ch’i but also become an affirmation every time you hear them.

The pleasing sounds they make will remind you that the ch’i is flowing.

Wind chimes can be metal, wood, or ceramic.

Metal wind chimes are extremely useful in activating the children, career and mentors areas of your home.

Bamboo wind chimes are especially useful in the fame, family, and wealth sectors.

Metal wind chimes should NOT be hung in the family or wealth sectors as these areas represent the wood element and metal, of course, chops wood.

Wind chimes can be used both indoors and outdoors.

Placed outside the front door, wind chimes will double the amount of ch’i that comes in.  This is particularly useful if your front door opens on the shaded side of the house.

You can even hang wind chimes in areas where the wind will never cause them to make sounds.

You can activate them yourself whenever you go past. Each time you do this the pleasant sound will attract ch’I and prosperity into your home.

A gong in the dining room is good to attract ch’i.

Bells are also used to attract ch’i.

Radio and televisions are good to attract ch’i with their light and sound.

The human voice can also do the same. Sing!

Live objects attract ch’i.

Pets have been proven beneficial in reducing stress and in keeping old people alive and healthy.

Pets also help to circulate ch’i energy.

Aquariums containing fish serve as silent affirmations of wealth and prosperity, and also attract ch’i.

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you encourage more wealth and positive energy into your home and life!

- Madonna

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The Feng Shui Money Plant :

The Money Plant ( Crassula ovata ) is the plant we called it the Jade plant when I was gowing up in Indiana.

The money plant has been adopted as the Feng Shui plant.

The name helps, but the round succulent leaves are representative of Metal energy.

Its leaves resemble coins and Metal energy.

Use money plants in the west and north-west.

If used in the south-east (the wealth area) their metal energy will be in conflict with the wood energy of that direction.

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you encourage more wealth and positive energy  into your home and life!

- Madonna

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1) The living room should be welcoming and reflect your personality and interests.

You should feel totally relaxed and comfortable in this room, and so should your guest.

2) Many of you only use the living room for special occasions. This is not a good thing in feng shui.

The living room is an important part of the house and if not being used properly, the result will be that other areas of your life will be constricted.

Make this room comfortable and pleasant and use it regularly. If you are not doing the already, you will notice a big difference in the quality of your life as soon as you do.

3) The ch’i should flow freely through the living room. This encourages the family to spend quality time together. The ch’i also makes your guests feel relaxed and comfortable.

4)  The placement of furniture should also be done to allow the ch’i to flow freely, creating feelings of warmth and companionship in the room.

People should be able to move around the furniture freely.

L-shaped arrangements of furniture are not good, unless they are in a corner of the room. This is because they create a shar when located in the middle of the room.

5) The furniture should be arranged with care in the room. If the furniture is placed largely on one side of the room, the room will appear unbalanced and lop-sided. This can lead to feelings of constriction. Anyone sitting in this room will feel vaguely uncomfortable, but not know why.

6) People also feel uncomfortable when they are setting with their backs to the door. Consequently, chairs and sofas should be arranged so that the people using them do not have their backs to the doors. If your rooms does not allow this, it is considered good manners to offer your guests chairs that face the door, and sit in one that has its back to the door yourself.

7) Ideally, the head of the house should sit in a chair that faces the main entrance to the room. The people doing the entertaining should not sit with their backs towards a window, as this indicates a lack of support. A solid wall behind them increases confidence and makes them naturally more outgoing and hospitable.

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you encourage more positive energy into your home and life!

- Madonna

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Numbers in Feng Shui:

Feng shui began with the tortoise crawling out of the Yellow River some five thousand years ago. The markings on its shell formed the basis of feng shui, the 1 Ching, Chinese astrology, and Chinese numerology. The magic square on the tortoise’s back contained all the numbers from one to nine.

Consequently, numbers have always been an integral part of feng shui.

Every number has a meaning that can be looked at in a number of different ways.

If your house number is 2469 for instance, each of the numbers could be looked at individually, or they can all beaded together and reduced down to a single digit.

In the west, it is standard for numerologists to pay more attention to the final result of adding all the numbers up and reducing them to a single digit.

In the east it is more common to evaluate each separate number.

Numbers are divided into yin and yang. Even numbers are yin and odd are yang. Yang numbers are considered to be more favorable than yin numbers, but balance is required.

Consequently, it is better for your house number to contain both yin and yang elements than to be either all yin or all yang.

You may have noticed that Asian people like the number eight. This is because the Cantonese word for “eight’ sounds like prosperity. They also like the number two as it sounds like easy. However, they dislike the number four it sounds like death. So this means that if you house number was to be 24 that would be interpreted as easy death. All of this is because the Chinese use homophones to help determine the meanings of numbers. If the number sounds like something pleasant or desirable, it is considered good.

Traditionally the number four relates to the positive traits of love, sex, and education.

Here are the homophonic interpretations for each number:

ONE: sounds like honor it also sounds like won.

TWO sounds like easy

THREE sounds like growth.

FOUR sounds like death.

FIVE sounds like nothing.

SIX sounds like wealth.

SEVEN sounds like sure.

EIGHT sounds like prosperity

NINE sounds like long life.

I hope that all of my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

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Traditionally, the north side of the house is considered the best location for the toilet and bathroom.

The bathroom and toilet should not be placed in the wealth fame or career sectors of the house. The death, disaster, six shars, and five-ghosts locations are all good places for the toilet.

The bathroom needs to be kept clean. Unpleasant smells, leaking taps, windows and doors that stick, and any other problems in the room all create negative ch’i, that can adversely affect the wealth and well-being of everyone in the house.

The water pipes should be concealed, if possible. Exposed pipes allow you to see the water-which equals wealth –drain away.

Consequently, this room should not be situated in the north or southeast parts of the house these are the career and wealth sectors.

Keep the bathroom door shut if this room can be seen from the front door, living room, dining room, kitchen, or anyone lying in bed.

A toilet facing the front door is believed to flush away all of the ch’i that enters the house.

The Chinese prefer to keep the doors to the toilet and bathroom closed anyway, as a matter of good etiquette. They also keep the lid down on the toilet as they do not like to see their money being flushed away.

Any upstairs toilets and bathrooms should not e situated over the front door or kitchen. Both of these locations are related to family problems.

A toilet above the kitchen means that water and waste is flushed directly past the most important room in the house.

En-suite bathrooms are not recommended from a feng shui point of view, as they spread negative ch’i out into the bedroom. The remedy for this is to use extractor fans as well as natural ventilation to get the negative ch’I away from the bedroom itself. Ceramic surfaces can also act as a remedy for en suite toilets.

It is interesting to note that ceramic surfaces are frequently used in bathrooms and toilets around the world. Perhaps people subconsciously knew that these surfaces can act as a remedy for negative ch’i.  Naturally, there are remedies for any problems caused by the placement of the toilet and bathroom.

A mirror on the outside of the door will remove any problems caused by these rooms facing the front door, or being directly above it.

I hope that all of my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

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A family room should be comfortable and informal.

The furniture should be casual and arranged in a way that encourages comfort and communication.

This room should also be uncluttered.

Family rooms often serve as storage rooms as well.  There is no problem with this as long as the items being stored are put away tidily out of sight.

The family room is a room that is always growing with the family.

Each area of this room relates to a different member of the family as shown by the pa-kua. Items belonging to the oldest son , for instance, should be kept in the east. Items belonging to the youngest daughter should be kept in the west, and so on. Clutter in different parts of the room will relate to complication in the life of the person affected by the direction.

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you improve the positive energy (ch’i) flow of your family rooms!

- Madonna

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The five elements can be used in conjunction with the Aspirations of the Pa-kua to determine which colors can be used to enhance different areas of your home.

When the pa-kua is overlaid on top of the cycle of the five elements, with earth being placed in the center, we receive an interesting mixture of colors that can prove extremely useful.

Wealth area: Green, red, violet, and blue

Fame area: Red, green, and yellow

Marriage area: Red, pink, and white

Family area: Green, red, and blue

Children area:  White and gold

Knowledge area:  Black, green, and blue

Career area: White and black

You can use these color schemes in the areas of the house that relate to the pa-pkua, or alternatively keep objects of these colors in the relevant areas.

Softer colors are ideal for the bedroom. Any color that makes you feel peaceful and relaxed is ideal here. Pink, peach, cream, ivory, beige, tan, and light green are warm and gentle. Avoid strong colors, such as red and orange in the bedroom.

Earth colors, such as yellow, orange, brown, and green are suitable for the kitchen. Avoid blue in the room as it relates to the water element. In fact, speaking blue is not good as the dominant color in any room ( except the bathroom) as it tends to make people introspective and quiet. It is also inclined to make people feel cold. I have been in living rooms where a blue works. (  I have a grayest blue in my house) but it is a difficult color to experiment with. It is better to introduce blue in the form of throw rugs, paintings ornaments, and other objects.

Sensitive colors:  Black and red are the two most sensitive colors in feng shui. Traditionally, black should not be used on gates, doors and walls that face north or south. Red should not be used on gates, doors and walls that face east or west. It is believed that bad luck will come to the occupants of the homes that break these rules. Black and red should always be used with great caution.

Light and pastel colors can be used to make small rooms appear larger. Red, yellow, and blue do the opposite and decrease the size of rooms. Good use of light colors can brighten up a dark corner. A well-lit, sunny part of the house can be painted in light or dark colors. Hot colors, such as red, create stimulating environments. Conversely, cool colors such as blue, are restful and encourage quieter activities.

Color in your home:

All colors are either yin or yang, and as you know we are happiest when we are in perfect balance of yin and yang in our home. Red, orange, yellow, and black are yang. Green, blue, and white are yin. Purple can be either yin or yang depending on the combination of red and blue.  If there is more red than blue it is yang and conversely when there is more blue than red it is yin. Yin and yang colors can be used together to create balance, but ideally should each be of the same strength.

These are, of necessity, very general guidelines. Use the colors that you personally like. It is important that the colors in your home reflect you and your feelings.

It is best to start designing a room by choosing one color to be the dominant color in the room. Choose another color for the carpet or furnishings. Add a third color to either harmonize your two colors together, or to create a contrast. This method is simple, but effective.

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

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1) The ideal position for the bed is diagonally as far as possible from the entrance to the room.

2) The foot of the bed should not directly face the door to the room.

3) Make sure that you can see anyone coming into the room without turning your head more than forty-five degrees. Use a mirror, if necessary, to enable you to easily see anyone coming in the doorway.

4) The bed should not be placed under a beam. If there is no alternative, it is better for the beam to run the length of the bed, rather than the width.

5) Place the bed against a solid wall, if possible, rather than under a window.

6) A round mirror in the bedroom will enhance your relationship.

7) Do not place a mirror directly in front of the foot of the bed. If you wake up during the night, you may startle yourself by seeing your reflection.

8 ) The bed should be accessible from both sides if you want to attract a partner into your life.

9) Allow sufficient room under the bed for the ch’i to flow. We want the ch’i to circulate above, below and on at least one side of the bed. If underneath the bed is used as a storage area, you are probably constricting the ch’I and not gaining the full benefit of the bed.

10)  Do not place the dresser directly opposite the door, as this can lead to relationship problems. Dressers usually have mirrors which, in this position, reflect the beneficial ch’I in the bedroom, creating apathy and lack of passion for the people using the room.

11)  A live plant can help stimulate the energy of a bedroom. However, do not have too many plants in this room as they can use up all the available ch’i

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you improve the positive energy (ch’i) flow of your bedrooms!

- Madonna

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1) The dining room should be either a separate room or a clearly defined part of another room.

2) The dining room should not be at a lower level than the living room.

3) The best shaped dining room table is round, oval or octagonal. Ensure that your square or oblong tables have slightly rounded corners

4)  Do not overcrowd the people sitting at the table with too much furniture. This constricts the valuable ch’i. Avoid clutter. The simpler this room is the better.

5) Even if you live alone, have at least three chairs around the dining room table. Make sure that you do not sit in the same chair for every meal. If all the chairs are used, you will encourage guests into your home.

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

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The effects different colors create is very powerful.

This is a fact that has been known for thousands of years.

Primitive humans used colors to ward off evil and to increase luck and virility.

The ancient Chinese used colors as symbols to represent the different seasons.

Green symbolizes wood and represents spring.

Red symbolizes fire and represents summer.

Yellow and orange symbolize the sun casting its warming glow on the earth; they represent the end of summer.

White symbolizes metal and represents autumn.

Blue symbolizes water and represents winter.

Colors have both positive and negative effects upon us.

Faber Birren,  a color psychologist, reported that normal people tend to find favorable qualities in different colors, but neurotics are more likely to notice the unfavorable.

We all react to color whether we are aware of it or not.

Imagine sleeping in a bright-red bedroom or cooking a meal in a jet-black kitchen.

Colors provide the emotional tone to the room.

Some colors excite us,  others make us angry.  Still others calm us down. An interesting experiment was done some years ago when violent prisoners were kept in cells that had been painted pink. This color drained the inmate’s aggression, and they became model prisoners. As this experiment shows, color can have dramatic effects, so we need to be careful with what colors we choose and how we use them.

In feng shui, colors control and assist reflected light.

The combination of color and light should provide the best possible conditions to live in.

It is best to choose your color schemes in the rooms themselves,  as colors have a habit of changing when looked at under different types of lighting.

Warm lights, for instance, make warm colors appear even warmer, while cool lights do the opposite.

Naturally, you should have the colors relating to the different elements of the people living in your home, but you should have a variety of other colors simply because you like them.

Be careful not to have opposing colors, though. For instance, too much red would not be a good choice for you if you belong to the water element, as fire and water do no harmonize.

Choose the colors of your ceilings carefully.  Light colors are generally better than dark.  Dark colored ceilings remind the Chinese of dark rain clouds overhead.  Dark colors also prevent the ch’I from rising.  Consequently, the ch’I does not circulate the way it should and your wealth, health, and good luck can all be affected.

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

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In Part 8 of Madonna’s Feng Shui Tips Madonna shares some Feng Shui Tips regarding how you may use Feng Shui to improve the positive energy (ch’i) flow of your living rooms:

The living room should be close to the front door and on the same level.

If the living room is on a lower level to the front door and effective remedy is to hang a crystal in the center of the room to encourage the ch’i upwards. Potted plants can also be a attractive remedy.

Do not place couches or chairs under exposed beams. This can cause overhead shars and can be oppressive and create discord. Two bamboo flutes hung from the beam act as a remedy if there is no alternative but to place the furniture under the exposed beam.

A fireplace makes a focal point in the room and creates warmth and cheer. However it can also allow the ch’i to escape up the chimney. The remedy for this is to hang a mirror over the fireplace to reflect the ch’i back into the room.

In many homes all of the furniture is oriented towards the fireplace. Although tis may make good sense in winter, it is better feng shui if at least some of the chairs face each other to encourage conversation.

It is also common to have all the chairs facing the television . The television creates positive ch’i in the room, because it produces light and sound, but it can also kill conversation.

The furniture in the room should be a mixture of yin and yang. This means that the some items should have square corners and others round.  Some authorities insist that everything have round corners, but this is not practical, and is likely to concentrate  peoples thoughts on the money.  It is better to create a harmonious mixture of furniture that you personally find attractive.

The living room should be well-lit, but make sure that the lights are not too strong and harsh. Balance the overhead lights with table or floor lamps to light up different parts of the room. Place a pa-kua over a floor plan of the room to determine the positions that you want to activate.

The wealth sector is particularly strong in the living room. Make sure this sector is well lit to reap the rewards that you deserve. It is also an excellent place for a prized possession, a potted plant, or the television.

You may like to organize your furniture to make the wealth sector the focal point of the room. Other good areas to highlight in this way are the marriage and family sectors. Alternative is if the room is not large you may place comfortable chairs in all of these sectors, arranged in such a way as to encourage conversation.

Negative ch’i is created in the living room when two doors directly face each other at opposite ends of the room. If possible, use a screen to hide one of the doors. Alternative is to place a wind-chimes or hang a crystal by one of the doors this acts as a remedy. A door and a window opposing each other also create negative ch’i as do two windows. The remedy is to keep the blinds pulled over one of the windows.

If the opposing doors form a passage that is used all the time, try and arrange the furniture so that entertaining in this room is not affected by people walking through the room. If the doors are near a wall a mirror will remove the shar-like effects of the straight line through the room.

I hope all of my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

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The toilet and bathroom are extremely important rooms in the house as they are places where water (money) drains away.

The ch’s should be allowed to flow smoothly into and out of these rooms without impediment.

Consequently, overly ornate bathrooms are not good from a feng shui point of view as they tend to hold the ch’i inside the room.

In fact, the Chinese prefer relatively simple, functional bathrooms with little in the way of ornaments or other decorations.

All the same, you should make this room a pleasant one with delicate colors and one or two objects that you find attractive.

A potted plant can also help encourage ch’i into this room

Green and blue colored towels help you relax, while at the same time, encourage the water to flow freely down the pipes. Blue is also a good feng shui color for the bathroom and toilet as it relates to the water element.

If the bathroom is located in the middle of the house in the good luck area, it will send negative ch’I through out the house. It will also send all your good luck down the down the toilet. If the toilet is located here, it is known as a “dead” toilet. The remedy for this is to place mirrors on all four walls inside the bathroom, which symbolically make the room disappear. It is also a good idea to place a mirror on the outside of the door to a dead toilet.

The other unfavorable locations for the toilet and bathroom are in the southwest, northeast, south, and beside or facing the front door. It is believed that if the toilet and bathroom are placed in the southwest and northeast the occupants will squabble and not get along with each other. If if is placed beside or in front of the front door. It is believed that the occupants will get a bad reputation

The bathroom also should not be located at the end of a long hallway, as this creates a shar heading directly toward it. This means that the beneficial ch;i that has come in through the front door ends up in the toilet! The remedy for this is to keep the lid down on the toilet and to keep the toilet door closed. It would also be beneficial to place a mirror on the outside of this door to make the room symbolically disappear.

These are traditional interpretations, and there is a remedy for each of these locations. A mirror on the outside of the door reflects the ch’i away from the toilet and bathroom.

Mirrors are necessary inside the bathroom, of course. Avoid mirror tiles though, as they create a netting effect that constricts the flow of money.

Light colors are better than dark ones in the toilet and bathroom. Different shades of blue to represent the water, element make a good choice. However, any color works well here. Except for red ( as water and fire oppose each other)

The one exception to a simple, purely functional bathroom is when it is located in the marriage sector of your home. If it is located here, make the bathroom as beautiful and as attractive as possible. Display favorite ornaments and hang a crystal from the ceiling to encourage the ch’i.

Ideally, the bathroom should have a window to allow light and ch;i to enter. This is because the bathroom is considered a negative location in feng shui. We do not want all the love and romance to be symbolically flushed down the toilet.

Enhance and beautify this room by encouraging ch’i in and effectively remedying what is normally a negative situation.

I hope my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/topics/feng-shui-tips/

and …

and/or …

Please also Post any your questions you may have regarding how you may encourage as much positive chi‘i as possible into our home, ok?

Please see Madonna’Staging Interior Redesign Services at:

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/services/redesign/

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Kitchens should be well lit and have a feeling of spaciousness, as the kitchen symbolizes the family’s wealth.

Being well lit encourages as much ch’i as possible into the room.

If it is dark and gloomy, you will not want to spend any time there.

The cook should be able to see anyone who enters the room without turning his or her head more than forty-five degrees.

If this is not possible, place mirrors to  allow the cook to see the doorway.

The stove must be kept clean and in good condition, as it relates directly to the wealth of the family.

Use all of the elements on your stove as this helps your prosperity.

Keep the kitchen well stocked with food to give the impression of abundance.

Try to conceal all pipes and drains, as they symbolize wealth draining away.

The Kitchen should have an airy, spacious, and welcoming feel. This will ensure plenty of ch’i to come to your kitchen.

I hope my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/topics/feng-shui-tips/

and …

and/or …

Please also Post any your questions you may have regarding how you may encourage as much positive chi’i as possible into our home, ok?

Please see Madonna’Staging Interior Redesign Services at:

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/services/redesign/

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However, we do not want the door to open directly onto the living room as this destroys the privacy of the occupants

The remedy for this is to partially screen the entrance.

A bookcase, decorative screen or a large potted plant can provide the necessary privacy without detracting from the feng shui of the room.

The interior should be well-lit to encourage the ch’i to enter.

Dimly lit and gloomy entrances discourage ch’i.

The remedy for this is to increase the amount of light in the entrance area.

A chandelier would be perfect for this, as the crystals energize the ch’i and reflect it in every direction.

It is bad Feng Shui for the front door to open directly onto a staircase going either up or down.

This confuses the ch’i as it does not know whether to upstairs or into the rooms on the ground floor.

It also means that the occupants will be inclined to come into the house and immediately go to their own rooms, rather than socialize with other family members.

This does not apply if the staircase is at right angles to the front door as this arrangement allows the ch’i time to get used to the layout of the house.

The remedy for a staircase that goes directly up from the front door is to hang a crystal from the ceiling above the bottom step.

The ch’i will be attracted to this, rather than to the staircase.

Usually  a staircase going downstairs from the front door will have a door.  Keep the door closed whenever possible

It should not be possible to see the back door from the front door.

This situation allows the ch’i to enter the house, only to immediately leave again.

Also, if the back door is at the end of a long hallway leading from the front door, you have an internal shar. If possible, change the position of the back door.

Alternatively, a screen could be put up to conceal the back door from anyone entering the front door.

Crystals or wind chimes can be hung up immediately inside both the front and back doors to encourage the ch’i to linger.

Finally, if the back door is solid, a mirror can be placed on it to encourage the ch’i back inside.

For those of you out there that are starting to get your home more attractive, more comfortable and more balanced, …

I hope my Feng Shui tips will help you!

- Madonna

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/topics/feng-shui-tips/

and …

and/or …

Please also Post any your questions you may have regarding how you may encourage as much positive chi’i as possible into our home, ok?

Please see Madonna’Staging Interior Redesign Services at:

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/services/redesign/

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Here is a exercise that may be very revealing and make you see your home in a new light.

Take photos of the front of your home. (photos are very important you will see thing in photos that you do not normally see).

Start at the curb and take pictures as if you are a potential buyer.

We all view our homes with our emotions and it is hard to see it the same way a stranger would.

By doing this exercise you will be able to make the improvement that are needed. Not only for the sale of your home if you are wanting to do so …

But also for feng shui, it is very important to keep the front of your home clean and in good repair.

The placement of the front door is of extreme importance in feng shui.

The positions of the front door and the stove are the most important aspects in feng shui.

The size of your front door should be in keeping with the size of your house.

If the front door is overly large compared with the size of the house your fortunes will suffer.

If it is too small, ch’i is constricted and there will be disagreements in the family.

REMEDY Any shars that may be afflicting your front door.

This is the most important single aspect of feng shui.

Look for angled roof lings of neighboring houses, straight lines, streetlight poles, a single tall tree, and anything sharp, angled, pointed  or straight.

For instance, if your home is facing a T-junction you will need to make the road that heads towards your front door “disappear.”

A pa-kua mirror above the front door will do this.

Fences and trees can also create an effective remedy.

For those of you out there that are starting to get your home more attractive, more comfortable and more balanced, I hope my Feng Shui tips will help!

- Madonna

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/topics/feng-shui-tips/

and …

and/or …

Please also Post any your questions you may have regarding how you may encourage as much positive chi’i as possible into our home, ok?

Please see Madonna’Staging Interior Real Estate Staging Services at:

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/services/real-estate-staging/

and/or …

Would you like some help encouraging as much positive chi’i as possible into our home?

Please see Madonna’Staging Interior Redesign Services at:

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/services/redesign/

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In Part 3 of Madonna’s Feng Shui Tips Madonna shares some Feng Shui Tips regarding how to encourage more ch’i into your home:

The front door should be easy to locate.

If your guests find it hard to find, the ch’i will find it hard to find too.

A front door that opens in rather then out is better.

Doors that open out discourage ch’i  from entering.

The front door should open onto a bright, well-lit room, giving a glimpse of part of the interior of the home.

We want the entrance foyer to appear expansive.

If the front door opens onto a small lobby area, the ch’i is constricted and confined.

The remedy for this is to put up a large mirror. The mirror should be large enough that it does not appear to cut off your visitors’ heads.

A mirror in this position makes the entrance area appear larger and encourages the ch’i inside.

It can be a good idea to place the mirror above a small side-table or other piece of furniture.

Fresh flowers or ornaments could be placed on top of this to help attract the ch’i indoors.

The interior should be well-lit to encourage the ch’i to enter.

Dimly lit and gloomy entrances discourage ch’i.

The remedy for this is to increase the amount of light in the entrance area.  A chandelier would be perfect for this, as the crystals energize the ch’i and reflect it in every direction.

For those of you out there that are starting to get your home in balance, I hope my Feng Shui tips will help!

- Madonna

and/or …

Please also Post any your questions you may have regarding how you may encourage as much positive chi’i as possible into our home, ok?

Please see Madonna’Staging Interior Redesign Services at:

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/services/redesign/

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1) The bedroom should be kept clutter free, so the ch’i can flow freely.

2) If a doorway and the head of the bed share the same wall, it can make you restless and disturb your sleep and if there is a door to the bathroom on the same wall it should be kept closed.

Front Door:

Your front door represents you and your approach to life. We just come in and out of our doors without noticing anything. It can be an interesting exercise to enter your home and try to see all the things that a stranger would notice when he or she visits. Ideally you want your front path and front door to be cheerful and welcoming. But does it? Is your paint on the front door in good shape? Is all the front clean? Does your door bell work? If not this is all bad feng shui!!! If your front is welcoming, plenty of light, flowering plants and an uncluttered entrance all this creates good feng shui!

3) Your front door is of supreme importance in feng shui as it is the main location where ch’i enters the house.  In feng sui we want the front door to be slightly larger than the back door.  We do not want the beneficial ch’i to come in the front and go immediately out the back door.

4) The front door should be in proportion to the size of the house. If it is too large it will allow valuable ch’i to escape.  This will cause financial problems.

5) We do not want the door too small either.  If it is too small the amount of ch’i able to come in is restricted. This will cause finacial problems also. And also make your guests nervous and apathetic.

6) In feng shui your front door is the door most frequently used. So if you always come in and out of your home through a door other than the actual front door that becomes your front door in feng shui.

7) Your front door should be on the left side of the house. That means if you are standing inside your home the front door should be on the left side of the front of the home.  I know you have no control over this if you are already living in your home., but for the ones buying a new home it is something to kept in mine.

The story behind this is that the dragon looks over the left-hand side of the house, and his energy and bountiful ch’i enters the more easily when the front door is located on this side.

A door in center is better than having the door on the right.

Front doors are also good to have facing east or south.  That means that you will be warmed by the morning sun when you leave for work.  This will put you in a better mood.

9) You do not want any shars to affect the front door. This is the single most important aspect of feng shui. The front entrance must be protected. The most serious shar of all occurs when the house is sited on a T-junction, with a street heading directly towards the front door. This is made worse if the street heads downhill towards you front door.

10) The path leading towards the front door can also create a shar if it consists of a straight line leading from the road to your front door.
There are remedies for all of this. Your can plant a hedge or put up a fence, so that the street is not longer visible. The path can be changed to a gentle curve or put something to make the path to a angle just before the front door. If you can’t do any of these things. You can put a pa-kua mirror above the door which will serve to eliminate the potential harm coming from these shars. A pa-kua mirror symbolically captures the shar and reflects it back where it came from.

For those of you out there that are starting to get your home in balance, I hope my Feng Shui tips will help!

- Madonna

and/or …

Please also Post any your questions you may have regarding how you may encourage as much positive chi’i as possible into our home, ok?

Please see Madonna’Staging Interior Redesign Services at:

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/services/redesign/

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Ch’i is the universal life force.

It gathers near gently flowing water and is created whenever anything is done perfectly.

To operate effectively we need to encourage as much chi‘i as possible into our home.

Ch’i can be both positive and negative.

For instance, gently moving water creates positive ch’i, while stagnant water creates negative ch’i.

We want as much good ch’i as possible, but naturally want to eliminate any negative ch’i.

Ch’i needs to be nurtured and gathered.

Chi’ is made up of both YIN AND YANG.

Yin and yang are the two opposites in the universe. For instance night and day, short and tall. None of these can exist without the other.

The ancients never tried to define yin and yang, but just collect lists of opposites.

YIN is represented by black, and YANG is white.

The concept began many thousands of years ago when the ancient Chinese called the shady, northern slopes of the mountain YIN and the sunny, southern slopes YANG.

The ancient Taoists used the familiar symbol of yin and yang to represent completion.

This symbol, which looks like two tadpoles in a circle, symbolizes the universe.

One tadpole is black with a white dot in it and the other white with a black dot in it.

The dots indicate that inside every yin there is a certain amount of yang, and inside every yang is a degree of yin.

If your property is too yin, (t0o flat) you can remedy this by planting shrubs and trees or perhaps by the introduction of rocks or a garden shed. It is important to think ahead.  Small trees grow into big trees, which can alter the feng shui of the immediate area.

If your area is too yang,  (too hilly) you may be able to flatten part of your property to create a balance of yin and yang energy.

Even the house itself is divided into yin and yang areas.

The front of the house, which serves to greet people to the property, is outgoing and yang.

The farther inside the house you go, the more yin, and private, the rooms become This is why bedrooms usually feel better if they are situated well away from the front door.

For those of you out there that are starting to get your home in balance, I hope my Feng Shui Tips will help!

- Madonna

and/or …

Please also Post any your questions you may have regarding how you may encourage as much positive chi’i as possible into our home, ok?

Please see Madonna’Staging Interior Redesign Services at:

http://blog.madonnastaging.com/services/redesign/

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