Improve the Energy of your Home with Feng Shui

Feng Shui is an ancient art that originated in China about 3,000 years ago. This art can be described as the balance of energy in a given space to promote good health and well being for those in the space. Feng Shui literally translates to wind water. In Chinese culture, wind and water are symbols of good health. The art is based largely on the essence of nature and the energy that nature brings. The Taoist belief was that the energy of the land greatly impacted those on the land. Feng Shui practice culminates the hopes of creating and inspiring good energy between objects, people and nature. To begin balancing the energy in your space, here are some tips for incorporating Feng Shui in your home.

• Feng Shui is based on direction and what is being pulled in from the land in those directions.

• The north direction is said to promote career. Use water and metal in the north facing side of your home. This can be a fountain, large mirror, or a mural or print depicting flowing water. You want to reflect your personal strength and use the flowing water as a symbol of abundance and movement.

• The south direction symbolizes fame and reputation. The south facing direction of your home should depict fire to promote positive reputation from the light within yourself. When focusing on this energy, you should ask what it is that you want to bring into this world. To depict this light with fire, use art with fire images, paint with the colors of fire, or place candles and wood elements in the area.

• The east direction of your home is said to promote health and family. You want to incorporate Earth, water and wood in this area. Life is greatly connected to the prosperity of Earth, and the Earth’s prosperity depends on water. Use wooden accents, prints with water, or a fountain and consider painting the wall with Earth tones.

• The west symbolizes creativity and children. To promote creativity and your children’s well being or fertility, use Earth and metal elements in the west facing direction of your home.  Use metal and wooden accents and incorporate Earth tones in the west direction of your home.

• The transitional directions: northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast are also part of the balance. The northeast direction promotes spirituality and personal growth through fire and Earth elements. Northwest symbolizes help and blessings with the energy of Earth and metal elements. The southeast direction promotes wealth and abundance with water, Earth and Fire. Finally, the southwest direction symbolizes love and marriage through the elements of fire and Earth.

Hip & Humble Home, in Red Bank, New Jersey, specializes in distinctive Eastern inspired furniture and accessories. The collection features many pieces conducive for creating a balance of Feng Shui in any home. With wood and metal pieces both in furnishings and accessories, and beautiful Earth tones from upholstery to accents pieces, Hip & Humble Home, can help you create a beautiful, peaceful and inspiring space.

Make it Yours: Personalizing your Home

Putting the finishing touches on a room?  It is important to make any room pop with finishing pieces that reflect your own personal style.  So you have painted the walls, put up the window treatments, moved the furniture around, and cleaned up the mess, but why doesn’t the room look finished?  Here are a few tips to complete the look of your new room:

• For a really interesting look and a comfortable feeling for your new room, combine smooth and rough, shiny and matte, and hard and soft textures in one room. The contrasts will add interest and help to avoid a boring room.  Adding contrasting pops of color add visual intrigue to the feel of a room as well.

• Everyone has a special interest. Traveling, sports, pets, flowers, children, and even a favorite book or movie can all provide focus for a room and offer ideas for adding finishing touches. By choosing a theme for your room, you’ll know what to zero in on and be able to select accessories, art, and colors to expand and enrich the theme.

• Neutral walls and fabrics look clean and neat in a room. But to really draw someone’s eye, add a punch of color with lime pillows, orange mats on black and white photos, a hand-painted piece of furniture on the main wall, an animal print ottoman.

• Instead of simple boring overhead lighting or a basic lamp, try for drama with interesting spot lights, ceiling track lighting, and decorative lamps. Focus lighting on works of art, light up a dark corner on a bookshelf, and add dimmers to wall switches.

• Add character to a boring room with one unique piece. You’d be surprised how an old chair, side table, wall shelf, lamp, or set of china will turn into a focal point and turn a room from drab to delightful.  An accent piece will be able to show your style without cluttering the room.  Think handmade artisanship that is one of a kind.

• Mirrors can transform a room from small to roomy in an instant.  They are extremely versatile in that they can represent any décor style while adding a pop to any wall or corner.  With a wide variety of styles and frames they are a great décor piece.

Looking for some pieces to finish a room in your home?  Check out Hip and Humble Home in Red Bank, NJ for unique decorating ideas.  With a distinctive collection of Eastern-inspired furnishings and art objects from around the world Hip and Humble Home offers the largest selection of Indonesian furniture in the New York Metropolitan area.  Their wide variety of pieces offers not only furniture, but a rare collection of side tables, mirrors, lighting fixtures, textiles and accent pieces.  Visit them online or head down to the showroom located in downtown Red Bank to see what they have to offer your personal style.