Feng Shui in Real Estate - The Landscaping

Feng shui can help you examine whether the landscaping of a home is good for ch'i (energy). The most ideal layout allows for energy flow, as well as providing an increased sense of space and movement throughout your home, although these principles apply equally well to your office or any other place that needs energy flow improvement.

1. Landscaping is important to the feng shui of a property as well. Are the trees healthy? Are there birds or squirrels around? That’s good. A big, open yard is good too, allowing for lots of good energy to flow into the front door. But remember, any garden should be larger in the back than it is in the front, and it should never be bigger than the house itself. This goes for swimming pools, patios, or a gazebo, and anything inside the house as well. Everything should be proportional to the house —doors, windows, or a fireplace. Anything that looks too big probably is, and that throws off the balance.

2. Straight lines are never good. For example, the front path should not be a "straight and narrow" sidewalk. A wide, winding path is a much better, allowing for a steady flow of good energy. (This is not a deal breaker though—a narrow path can be decorated with plants or statues to break up the line.)

3. Trees should not be super tall, especially close to the house itself. If they dwarf the home, they block light and hinder the flow of ch’i. The further from the house, the higher they can go. This is not really too big a deal when thinking about buying a property, as it’s easily corrected —there are, after all, many companies that can take care of this for a fee. But it’s something to think about.

4. The entrance is very important in the feng shui of the house, as it is how the energy gets into your home. There’s a lot to think about when it comes to the front door. It should not be set too deeply in the frame, it should face out into the street (not sideways, like in many duplexes), and it should open inwardly. It should not be further back from the garage, as the good energy should reach your door before any other part of the house. And once in the door, there should be no direct lines to the back door, a bathroom, the kitchen, or the bedroom, or you let the energy just flow right out. So watch for that.

These feng shui principles basically deal with balance and flow of the property. The goal is to promote a better living environment, and they might be something to consider when purchasing a home. In Part 3, we will discuss the interior feng shui principles. While these principles are important to keep in mind, the key to using feng shui is to combine it with your own aesthetic sensibility in order to improve your surroundings in a way that is meaningful to you.

As an agent in the Austin real estate market Ki works to help customers find the right home. You can search the Austin MLS on his website as well as learning about the market on his Austin real estate blog.