Feng Shui for Outdoor Spaces
Spring is actually springing here in the Bay State of Massachusetts. That means it’s finally enjoyable to hang out outside without a coat! What a relief!
So, thinking about the new season and getting outdoors, did you know that you can apply Feng Shui principles to your exterior space too?
Feng Shui is an ancient Chinese practice of arranging spaces to welcome harmony and well-being into your life. The goal is letting good energy flow freely through your home and garden, and balancing your spaces with the five natural elements—wood, fire, earth, metal, and water—to enhance your overall prosperity.
In Feng Shui, each element has a corresponding type of energy (Qi). Water energy, for example, is related to healing and wisdom, while wood energy relates to new growth and vitality.
The five elements affect how we feel in our surroundings. Think about your favorite place to walk in nature. I bet it feels great when you’re walking there. For the most part, nature tends to have a balance of all five elements, so it can feel soothing and uplifting to us when we spend time outdoors in a natural setting.
That’s an essential concept of Feng Shui itself: maintaining the connection to our Earthly surroundings. Just as it’s really important to pay attention to our indoor spaces, it’s also important to be mindful of outdoor living areas to give us that sense of balance, harmony and healing energy.
So that brings us to your patio, firepit, or other hang-out place in the garden.
First, prepare your outdoor space. Clear the clutter from Winter–branches, leaves, weeds, dead or dying plants. Also clear all of your outside pathways to prevent obstacles. Plan a harmonious color scheme that includes your house color, landscaping and garden furnishings.
Then you can begin to see which elements might be missing from your space so that you can make adjustments to restore balance here. Most people will have enough of the Wood element, but perhaps you’re lacking a metal element. Adjust this by bringing in a metal chair or garden sculpture.
Below is a graphic I made for you that lists the 5 Elements, their corresponding colors, and the adjustments you can make with them.
Hopefully these ideas will inspire you to add some energetic balance to your patio or garden this season.
Cheers,
Nan
About Nan
I’m an interior designer focused on helping people turn their homes into their sanctuaries without the pain of renovating. I’ve been working as a professional designer since 1995 and one thing I love about interior design is how it can evoke a mood and create whatever feeling you want in your space. In that way, it’s kind of magical.
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