Lunar New Year Feng Shui Staging Tips for Your Home

The Lunar New Year is a time for bidding farewell to things that no longer serve us and welcoming in a new, prosperous year. Similarly, when staging a home for the real estate market, it’s important to remove elements that detract from the beauty and functionality of a space and instead focus on the positive emotional connection created in each room of the home. This is where Feng Shui staging can be a huge help!

The art of Feng Shui follows this practice. Feng Shui is a “living art form,” designed to move energy (chi) and create balance in the environment. By creating balance in the home, a person responds to the dwelling on a molecular level – physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – thus achieving the health, happiness, relationships, and prosperity they desire by living in harmony with their environments.

Unfortunately, too many times I have read advice where using Feng Shui in staging contradicts the fundamental staging principle that the room must appeal to the most number of potential buyers. While there are some wonderful Feng Shui truths to incorporate into home staging (i.e., removing knives and other sharp objects from counters), others techniques (i.e., hanging crystals in the entry) don’t lend themselves as well to the selling process.

**(Please note:  Feng Shui — whether Flying Stars, Ba-Gua, Form School, or intuitive–is an ancient Asian art and science that requires many years of study and practice to become proficient. Thus, please regard these tips simply as guidelines. Feng Shui is FAR too expansive to summarize in a single blog post!)** 

Photo by Erika Lam – Browse living room ideas

Interior Feng Shui

If chi, which is the vital energy that flows through all things, can’t get in and move around, chances are the home interior will feel stale and flat. It doesn’t take much to liven up the chi in a home, encouraging it to flow smoothly throughout the space. Simple changes in the selection, color, and arrangement of a seller’s furnishings can help the space come alive!

• Minimize and remove clutter. Welcome chi with a spacious looking home.
• Be careful the flow to and from a room is not blocked by furniture.
• Minimal art (if any) in hallways – no furniture. A few exceptions might be if the hallway is extremely large and needs movement – usually not the situation.
• No shoe racks FILLED with shoes or hat/coat racks FILLED with items by any door.
• Keep fewer than five pots hanging on a pot rack in the kitchen — ideally you’ll probably want zero pots for staging.
• Pack away knives from the kitchen counter; nothing sharp or pointed anyplace in or around the home.
• Doors should not squeak or stick, have broken handles, or loose latches.
• Minimal books and bookcases (judgment call) and leave some shelves clear.
• Limit accessories to three on tables.

Photo by David Watson Architects – More dining room ideas

Exterior Feng Shui

The main “mouth of Chi” enters through the front door of the home, circulates through the interior, and exits through secondary doors and windows. Since chi follows the same pathways that people use, make sure there is nothing obstructing those passages, thus blocking chi. Some of the things that can block chi from entering into the home (AND are staging no-no) include

• Cracks or uneven paving stones in a cement path leading towards the front door.
• Overgrown bushes or tree branches hanging in the path (cut them back).
• Inadequate lighting.
• Unstable steps, decking, or handrails.
• Outdoor clutter (garden hoses, toys, bikes, and broken outdoor furniture and pottery).

Photo by David Watson Architects – Discover exterior home design inspiration

Following the practice of Feng Shui can contradict some of the staging know-how with which we are so familiar. So walk the fine line and know that buyers’ emotions and mass appeal come first when it comes to staging.

Need a little help make your home flow well for potential buyers? Take a look at what we offer:

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