Tag Archives: round mirrors

TEXTILES AS ART = GOOD FENG SHUI

The Canary Hotel in Santa Barbara, California was one of the stops I made on my recent visit to Los Angeles. Go to their website and you’ll find out how fabulous the rooms are and the service is. Be sure to book a spa treatment, too, and they will come to your room to do it. That being said, I was happy to see the feng shui of their lobby was so fresh and welcoming.

Canary Hotel lobby.

Check out the photo above as there are some great ideas for your own home. Note the large textile piece hanging over the couch. This is perfect for rooms with high ceilings and it takes the place of fine art. This would also work behind a bed to create a mock headboard effect, anchor the bed, and to balance out the bed with a taller chest of drawers in the room. This particular textile is wonderful because of its colors as well as it adds some round yin energy to the otherwise squarish yang shapes. Note there are matching lamps to either side of the couch yet the art next to the textile on either side is different. You can use this approach when hanging objects and art in your home–create a balanced look even though it is asymmetric.

Great use of round mirror.

In the lobby lounge and restaurant bar, the bright colors used for the furnishings lifted the dark color wood flooring and bar. Here you see a bright red very large round mirror—great feng shui! The yin shape balances out the square lines of the chairs and even the chairs have rounded edges. The mirror brings light into a dark corner as well.

Most people are afraid to use color in their homes but as you can see from the top photo, you can have a neutral color couch and add touches of warmth through the wall color (ie: yellow) and the bright accents in the textile piece. A quilt used as a wall covering would do the same thing.

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Filed under Feng Shui, Interior Design, Travel

REFLECTIONS ON HANGING MIRRORS

Photo from the LA Times

The latest trend in mirrors according to the “LA at Home” blog at the Los Angeles Times are these ‘masculine leather strapped designer mirrors’ that cost a pretty penny. In feng shui terms, the round shape automatically puts them into the feminine yin category but I agree that having leather and bronze trim and a rather rustic simple hanging fixture does lend a masculine yang balance.

* If you have a room with a dark area you can hang a mirror to reflect and bring in more light. The mirror creates the illusion of a window and that stimulates the ch’i energy as well. (Darkness is equated with stagnant ch’i.)

*If you have a missing sector of your bagua map you can hang a mirror to seal and enhance, thereby replacing the missing sector. This one is a little tricky and I suggest calling in an expert to help you with placement.

* Often at the top of a stairs landing a mirror can help solve a poison arrow (too-fast-moving ch’i).

*If you can’t place your desk or bed in the Command Position, you’ll want to place a mirror so you can see who is entering the room while you’re sitting on your bed or at your desk.

*Reflective surfaces behind a stovetop multiply and magnify the burners symbolizing wealth and abundance.

* A bagua mirror can deflect negative energy from a street, from a telephone pole, from a difficult neighbor if hung properly.

Where NOT to use mirrors? Never hang a bagua mirror inside the house. The mirrored side should always be facing outside. Children may have trouble sleeping in a room with large mirrored walls as the energy is over stimulated by bouncing light (hang a drape over a mirrored closet). The same is true for adult bedrooms. Sometimes the opposite effect occurs: the over stimulated ch’i energy creates a situation where one feels tired all the time and is sleeping too much if not too little. Another situation is hanging mirrors opposite each other—one wall is enough.

Keep in mind that you want the ch’i energy of mirrors to be “contained” within a frame and you want to always hang them high enough so that nobody’s head is being cut off when looking into the mirror.

See also the Feng Shui By Fishgirl archives: Mirror, Mirror and Feng Shui Mirror Cure as well as Impact of Windows on Feng Shui.

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Filed under Design, Feng Shui, Feng Shui Home, Feng Shui Office, Interior Design, Qi